A despicable act in Priorat

V

VS

Victor de la Serna
I've just received this statement from our friends Dominik Huber, Eben Sadie and Jaume Sabaté of Terroir al Lìmit, the renowned Priorat estate:

"On the night of the 13th of June 2011, in the village of Torroja del Priorat, Spain, an appalling and almost unthinkable event took place at the cellar of the Terroir al Lìmit winery.

The cellar locks were broken open, and a terrible act of vandalism followed. The taps of some tanks were simply opened and wine allowed to flow out onto the floor. Many casks of wine in the cellar were ruined by contamination with household bleach.

The owners of Terroir al Lìmit, Dominik Huber, Eben Sadie and Jaume Sabaté, strongly condemn this unexplained act. It was not as direct or dramatic as an assault on human life, but is in some way an assault on mankind and a crime of unthinkable measure. Was it some expression of hatred or sheer vandalism? There is no obvious underlying reason, and no-one has admitted responsibility for the cowardly act of destruction.

The case is being investigated by the police, and local authorities. The Denominació d'Origen Priorat will issue its own statement. The case is also being refered to the Generalitat de Catalunya (Provincial Govenment), whose viticultural and wine department (Institut Català de la Vinya i el Vi INCAVI) is to analyse all the wines remaining in the cellar. Any contaminated wines (perhaps some 25% of the production) will be destroyed by INCAVI.

Terroir al Lìmit was formed in 2004 from the union of two wines made in this cellar - Sadie’s Dits del Terra and Huber’s Arbossar. It has very quickly become one of the most respected and acclaimed wineries in Spain, with local and international awards and recognition.

The three men responsible for its vineyards and its wine, while deeply shaken by this hateful and senseless vandalism, are adamant in their determination to move forward with their project. They say: “We thank all those who have already supported us unconditionally from the moment they heard of this senseless act."
 
Terrible news, and unfortunate confirmation that there are idiots all over the world.

I wish the folks at the winery the best in the investigation, and more importantly in moving forward with their wine.
 
You read something like this and wonder whether it was for a reason (some grievance against the owners?) or just to wreak havoc for it's own sake. I find myself hoping for an actual motive, and actual perpetrators who can be caught and brought to justice. The idea that people would do this just for the fun of destroying something valuable is too alarming.

(The business with the bleach suggests to me that this was deliberate, and that therefore there was some discoverable motive, and that therefore the identities of the perpetrators can also be discovered.)
 
Cowardly, spiteful, and wasteful.

My condolences to the winemakers on their loss.

My encouragement to the police to find the perps.
 
originally posted by David Erickson:
You read something like this and wonder whether it was for a reason (some grievance against the owners?) or just to wreak havoc for it's own sake. I find myself hoping for an actual motive, and actual perpetrators who can be caught and brought to justice. The idea that people would do this just for the fun of destroying something valuable is too alarming.

(The business with the bleach suggests to me that this was deliberate, and that therefore there was some discoverable motive, and that therefore the identities of the perpetrators can also be discovered.)
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It sounds so much like what happens when you don't pay for protection that it's hard to believe that the owners see no obvious underlying reason. Maybe they have their suspicions, and issued that statement so the perps don't go deeper into hiding while the police investigate. Or maybe I've been watching too many episodes of Law & Order.

In any case, it is weird that an actual motive, no matter how dastardly, seems preferable to sheer, wanton vandalism.
 
This is horrible to hear. I recently attended an exhibition of Priorat wines this past May. Not unexpectedly, many of the wines were very hard to get through - hot, extracted, muddled flavors. The Terroir Al Limit wines were one of the rare exceptions and most definitely stood out in a very profound way - very aromatic and pure, almost delicate, none of the alcohols were over 14%. I met Eben and Dominik, and they seemed to be on a different plane in terms of wine-making. They farm all of the vineyards they source from, most of the vineyards are north-facing, they plow (which almost nobody does here), and no chemicals are used in the vineyards. All of the grapes, which are mostly Carignane, are foot-trodden and fermented with wild yeasts with no pre-fermentation sulphur, I was told "we do not extract, we infuse"... You get the idea. Anyways, the wines are phenomenal, very much drinkable, and, yes, very expensive. I got the question from a lot of producers that I tasted with as to which other wines at the exhibition had stood out for me. I always started my answer with Terroir Al Limit. I usually got a glazed look thrown back at me. I feel almost bad for this. There is no doubt there are a lot of haters in a D.O. (that is feeling the Australia effect at the moment with a drop in U.S. sales) where everybody is essentially trying to make the same modern wine, which obviously these guys are not. I am truly sorry for their troubles, and I hope to see their wines in the States at some point.
 
Fuck you and welcome to Wine Disorder!

This really is the best place on the internet to commiserate with others about how awful those people are.
 
originally posted by Chris Barnes:
a D.O. (that is feeling the Australia effect at the moment with a drop in U.S. sales) where everybody is essentially trying to make the same modern wine, which obviously these guys are not.
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A bit outdated this, Chris. Producers who, like Terroir al Lìmit, are going back to the land and not looking for fruit bombs or oak soups, are more and more numerous in Priorat, although not yet a majority, of course.

Álvaro Palacios' conversion has been the most stunning development, with wonderful wines in 2008 from the very expensive to his basic Camins del Priorat (12 euros here).

Some other names: Viñedos de Íthaca, Familia Nin Ortiz, Meritxell Pallejà, Marc & Adrià 'Les Cousins', Mas de les Pereres. (BTW - Terroir al Lìmit's Torroja Vi de la Vila 08 is excellent and not overwhelmingly expensive, 30 euros in Europe.)
 
I haven't talked to Álvaro lately, but you could see it coming four years ago as he was increasingly interested in elegance and terroir (he was almost obsessive about the great European terroirs which had been identifiied and cultivated by monks for many centuries), he had added eight concrete fermenting vats to his large oak vats and was using those increasingly over his stainless steel vats (meaning: a slower, less tumultuous fermentation), extracting less, using larger amounts of 2- and 3-year old barrels, sometimes with reductive 'bonde de côté' aging with no oxygenation... Things were changing, and the '08 vintage (and subsequent ones, tasted pre-release) show the clear results. I think it'll be important for the region, as is the progress of Terroir al Lìmit and the other 'no fruit bomb, no oak soup' producers.
 
Victor,

Have Alvaro's wines really changed that much? I haven't had anything of his since the '06 vintage.

Who else would you say has changed their view on what they want the wines to be?
 
Take a look at the three Priorat tastings we recently published in elmundovino and you'll get an idea of the current styles. I haven't seen anybody change as clearly as Palacios - except for Terroir al Lìmit itself, which changed course markedly with the 2006 vintage. Other 'non-bombs' have been consistently that way in the past, including those I mentioned above and the few oldtimers which always went their own way, such as Costers del Siurana (Clos de l'Obac) or even Mas d'en Gil (Clos Fontà).
 
originally posted by VS:
originally posted by Chris Barnes:
a D.O. (that is feeling the Australia effect at the moment with a drop in U.S. sales) where everybody is essentially trying to make the same modern wine, which obviously these guys are not.
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A bit outdated this, Chris. Producers who, like Terroir al Lìmit, are going back to the land and not looking for fruit bombs or oak soups, are more and more numerous in Priorat, although not yet a majority, of course.
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Victor, well, outdated is where I would like to be in this context, and of course I haven't tasted everything. I am just speaking on my limited State-side experience and my two times visiting the region.

Álvaro Palacios' conversion has been the most stunning development, with wonderful wines in 2008 from the very expensive to his basic Camins del Priorat (12 euros here).
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I agree about Alvaro. I stocked the 2008 Camins. The aromatics were just pure Mediterranean goodness. Quite stunning for the price. Indeed.

Some other names: Viñedos de Íthaca, Familia Nin Ortiz, Meritxell Pallejà, Marc & Adrià 'Les Cousins', Mas de les Pereres. (BTW - Terroir al Lìmit's Torroja Vi de la Vila 08 is excellent and not overwhelmingly expensive, 30 euros in Europe.)
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Hail, Hail the Puig's of Ithaca. Joseph is a mensch, and Sylvia is hardcore. I love their wines. The others I would love to taste, but unfortunately have not. Some more reasons to go back to Priorat. Also, a young guy Fredi Garcia at Sao del Costers is making some nice wines. As is Sara Perez of Mas Martinet. Her 2008 Mas Martinet Bru is a fantastic if elegant bottle. The time I had tasted it the aromatics had such peppery, floral lift. She told me she hasn't yeasted her wines in a number of vintages, as well as skipping sulphur pre-fermentation the past three vintages. I think she is one bright lady. I am looking forward to seeing what happens with her domaine as well.
 
We were somewhat disappointed by the latest vintage of Mas Martinet. Maybe unlucky there. (Adrià Pérez of Les Cousins is Sara's brother, BTW, and Marc is her cousin, of course.) And I should have included Fredi - my bad. Saó del Coster is very good. Heck, and although he's 30 years younger than me, we share a curious background: we're the only two Spanish growers who grew up in Switzerland...
 
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