2024 Matassa, Cuvée Marguerite, Vin de France Blanc, Languedoc-Roussillon, France.
From time to time, I feel the need to explore and check in on the state of “Natural Wine” and I’d heard great things about Domaine Matassa, which was established in 2003 by Tom Lubbe in Calce, Roussillon, France, and is renowned for its commitment to natural winemaking practices. So I had a glass of this 2024 Cuvée Marguerite skin contact “Natty” white wine (Macabeu and Muscat) had it with a range of small bites and found it well made, not too funky and more enjoyable that I had expected with a subtle aromatic nose and a dry tannic structure along with a range of stone and citrus fruits. This golden and slightly orange tinted wine is medium bodied, bone dry and gives off a nice burst of acidity with dried apricots, muskmelon, lemon oil, a touch of spearmint tea, grilled herbs, bitter almond and wet stone. Lubbe, I learned is originally from South Africa, and gained experience at Domaine Gauby, who’s Gerard Gauby, has been a leading figure here in Roussillon since the 1990s, before founding his Matassa label here in the South of France at the edge of the Languedoc as it nears the Spanish border. Matassa now farms approximately 14 hectares, featuring old vines that range between 30 and 115 years. The vineyards here are planted with many indigenous Catalan grape varieties, including Grenache Gris, Macabeu, Muscat d’Alexandrie, Lladoner Pelut (a Catalan strain of Grenache or Garnatxa), Carignan, and Mourvèdre.
One of the wine world’s most notable “Natty” producers, Tom Lubbe of Domaine Matassa, who’s Cuvée Marguerite is a highly sought after “Orange Wine” from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. This cuvée is named in honor of Domaine Gauby’s Nathalie Gauby’s grandmother Marguerite and is a blend of Macabeu, Muscat d’Alexandrie, and Muscat à Petits Grains, sourced from old vines, in the Côtes Catalanes area of rocky, schist soils with some over a hundred years old, though being expressed this way doesn’t really allow for terroir or purity to shine much. The grapes are, as would be expected of a natural wine, all hand-harvested from organically and biodynamically farmed vineyards with great care taken to bring in healthy well sorted fruit to the cellars. Lubbe lets the whole clusters undergo, I presume a cold soak, skin maceration for five to seven days, followed by spontaneous fermentation in concrete tanks using indigenous yeasts. This Domaine Matassa Cuvée Marguerite is aged on its lees in 2,500-liter foudres for under a year and then bottled without fining, filtration, or any added sulfur. Macabeo, also called Viura, as seen in Rioja, or Macabeu in Catalan, is a Spanish white varietal that is a workhorse grape, also found in this part of Languedoc-Roussillon, and typically shows of crisp range of citrus fruits and traditionally blended with Xarel·lo to make Cava as well. Here it forms a nice core of restraint, as the Muscat, which is wildly floral intense, needs a bit of control. A pleasant surprise, I am now excited to try the other Matassa wines, especially the reds.
($48 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive