Matassa, "El Carner Rouge" 2022

A chance internship brought New Zealander Tom Lubbe to the south of France where he fell in love with both the winemaking and the winemaker's daughter, Nathalie Gauby. After learning the Catalan winemaking ropes from his future father-in-law Gérard, Tom and Nathalie struck out on their own in 2002. They purchased ancient Carignan vines in the remote hillside village of Vivier, saving these 100+ year old beauties from extinction. And so Domaine Matassa was born! Fermenting their first vintage in their living room before upgrading to Gérard's old cellars, Matassa works with old vines of traditional varieties like Carignan, Grenache and Macabeu. These wise old vines, farmed naturally by hand, yield concentrated wines of intense focus rarely seen in the south. With native yeasts and no additives besides a kiss of sulfur at bottling, Matassa's wines are a subtle, acid-driven revelation.