2021s from Matassa!

I can't remember the first time I met Tom Lubbe, but I will never forget him! Anyone who knows Tom will certainly understand why. He's witty, intelligent, sarcastic, thoughtful, and warm-hearted, and meeting him leaves an impression. He also happens to be a darn good winemaker! I do recall that I was in the Loire Valley when I first met Tom, most likely at L'Herbe Rouge, the quaint restaurant that was transformed into a intimate and lively wine tasting every January by the importer Louis/Dressner Selections back before COVID came to town. I was surrounded by French vignerons, and here was this scruffy gent, going on in fluent English about some of the British tourists who descend upon the Roussillon during the Summer. His use of profanity was timed perfectly, and accentuated the storytelling. Tom reminded me of the rustic and down to earth winemakers I had met in the Roussillon over the years, a bit like Thierry Navarre or Eric Laguerre, but with a much more "creative" vocabulary.

Tasting with Tom over the years has revealed an upwards arch in the clarity and balance of his wines. Though this is partly due to changes he has made to his approach at harvest time and in the cellar, it is also a direct effect of the diligent work he does in the vineyard, with cover crops, and regenerative agricutlure. He is as obsessed with earthworms as our own David Lillie, or dare I say it, even Claude Bourgignon. As Jules Dressner describes in a post on the Louis/Dressner website, "Tom feels that earthworms, whom unperturbed can freely create tunnels in the soil, are directly related to the flavors of his wines." It's something that has been explained to my by my father several times while driving around France, but I don't fully understand. The secret life of earthworms! There is much research on this (see Claude Bourgignon), not only on the earthworm's ability to digest mineral material that vines cannot absorb and turn it into something that vines can absorb, but also on the important cycle that worms are a part of, taking matter from deep beneath the surface and turning the soil every so slowly, actually creating hummus that is rich in nutrients. Though it may take decades to create an inch of new hummus, this has not deterred Tom from making every effort in his vineyards to support and develop biodiversity in his vineyards and provide a land of opportunity to the worms of the Roussillon.

Domaine Matassa began in the early 2000s, when Tom and a friend from New Zealand bought a small plot in the Roussillon called Clos Matassa. Tom had spent over a decade in South Africa working with Louise Hofmeyer at a domaine called Welgemeend, which was the only winery in the 90s that was dedicated to native yeast fermentation. He traveled to the Roussillon to work at Domaine Gauby, and ended up being invited to work full-time. After this time at Gauby, arguably one of the most important estates in the region for producing high quality, low intervention wines, Tom found some land with which to begin his own project. The Matassa project now spans several vineyard sites, many co-planted with white and red varieties, on a variety of terroirs, namely red schist, the rare black schist, granite, limestone and some clay. He is just over a hill from Calce, a commune that has become notable for the attention from wine writers and enthusiasts, due to the amazing potential of the area to produce complex and dynamic wines. There has been a fair amount of attention on the Roussillon lately, with respect to the promise of the region for producing fine wines. The reputation for years has been that of good values and easy farming, always linked with the Languedoc ("Languedoc-Roussillon"), which is a region that differs from the Roussillon in many ways. Now we are hearing some buzz. Of course we are also seeing issues with drought and heat as climate change continues to pose problems to agricultural pursuits.

Tom's approaches to vineyard management and vinification seem to be well suited both to the newfound interest in the wines of the region and the challenges of the changing climate. His farming is focused on generating life in the soil and plowing less, and his winemaking style often works with shorter macerations, infusion, co-fermentation of red and white grapes, and overall less extraction. His wines are pure and fascinating. They showcase the garrique, spice, and mineral complexity (especially of the schist soils) of the region, while also tasting unlike most of the wines that are typically produced there.

Today we present a line-up of 2021 wines from Matassa. By Tom's account, 2021 saw a "long harsh summer, not particulalry hot, but the driest ever (200mm from end of harvest 2020 to beginning of 2021), with endless Tramontane wind." The Tramontane is much like the Mistral (an intense current that sweeps through the Southern Rhone), but is felt strongly in the Roussillon, especially around Perpignan. Tom found the fruit in 2021 to have good acidity, and the wines to be "more structured than last year [2020]" so he "kept the macerations short accordingly." We have at times had Tom's wines on the shelf, but it has been a while since there was an opportunity to present so many at the same time. Though not a complete lineup, there is a great opportunity to experience the range of styles and expressions of the Matassa wines. The "Olla" wines, named after a vineyard called "Coume de L'olla," are always balanced and delicate, clearly the gateway drugs, suggesting the freshness and high toned energy to be found with the estate wines. Alexandria and Marguerite were wowing wine-drinkers before the orange wine craze, and the style of these wines is related to experiments Tom first made in 2008 with skin inclusion during fermentation. It seems all white grapes now see some skin contact during fermentation. If I could choose only one word for the reds, it would be "vibrant," not just thanks to the prevalent use of small percentages of white or grey grapes with the reds, but also due to Tom's intent to seek acidity and balance. His macerations are short for the region, and aging is usually in large 2500L foudres, fiber glass or demi-muid. No over-extraction or new oak here. I'd be surprised if he even had a barrel as young as 4 years old. We hope you enjoy the wines!

Big thanks to Tom Lubbe for being relatively prolific on Instagram and inviting us into his little world, and to Jules Dressner for compiling some great interviews and material for the Louis/Dressner profile of Domaine Matassa.

-Eben Lillie