Matassa Blanc

Vintage: 2022

Origin: Roussillion, France

Grapes: Grenache Gris, Macabeu

Alcohol: 11%

A Macabeu and Grenache Gris cuvée with everything. Vines cling to slate, and thanks to strict soil greening and compost management that cools the soil, Tom Lubbe's wines almost never have more than 12% alcohol by volume, so it's amazing how much concentration and elegance he manages to achieve. Blanc is matured in 2000L foudre and 500L wooden barrels. This wine has hints of orange peel, lemon, chamomile, and almond blossom. Blanc is packed with super crisp acidity. We are huge fans of the Matassa Blanc 2022 because it is incredibly light. This is wine at its most pure: precise, clear, and full of pure terroir flavour.

After working with the only estate in South Africa (Welgemeend) that championed indigenous yeasts and lower yields in the late ’90s, Tom came to Roussillon and interned at Domaine Gauby for several years to explore Mediterranean varieties and climate. During this time, Tom met his wife, who just so happens to be Gauby’s sister and together they started Matassa in 2003. Today most of the vineyards are 60-120 years old, co- planted with different varieties on schist & marl and yielding extremely low quantities. All the vineyards are worked naturally without any chemical aid; some biodynamic and plant preparations are used to activate and nourish the soil’s life.

Whites are whole bunch basket pressed, and reds are whole-bunch fermented with one pigéage in the beginning to get the juice out and the spontaneous fermentation started. They are usually pressed off half-way through fermentation and the sugar fermentation is finished in old demi- muid as well as large Austrian barrels where they also go through malolactic fermentation.