Farming : Organic

Winemaking : Hand-Picked Grapes | Native Yeast Fermentation | Unfined | Unfiltered | No Added Sulfites

Region : Roussillon, France

Grape : Macabeu | Muscat d’Alexandrie | Muscat Petit Grain

Alcohol by Volume : 12.5%

Notes:

Have to try this! Short skin-contact. Apricot, peach and minerals dominate but there is so much more!

How does a New Zealander who grew up in South Africa end up starting an iconoclastic estate in the Roussillon? This isn't exactly an everyday occurrence, but so it goes for Tom Lubbe of Domaine Matassa. In the late 90's, Tom was working at the only estate in South Africa using indigenous yeasts and lower yields. Interested in working with Mediterranean varietals, Tom managed to score a three month internship at the legendary Domaine Gauby in the village of Calce. Gérard Gauby quickly befriended Tom and asked him to come back for three consecutive vintages as a cellar hand. During that time, Tom met his wife Nathalie, who just so happens to be Gérard's sister.

The birth of their first child made Tom reconsider moving back to South Africa, opting instead to stay in Calce to start his own estate. Matassa was founded in 2003, with the first vintage entirely produced in the recently married couple's living room. Gérard felt so bad about this that he gave Tom the old Gauby cellar in 2004!