Matassa

Originally from South Africa, Tom Lubbe had an early interest in organic winemaking. However, as his interest in Mediterranean viticulture grew stronger, he ended up at Gerard Gauby in Languedoc-Roussillon.

After a few years as a cellar master at Gauby, Tom knew the area and the potential of the terroir quite well. Then, in 2003, he acquired a spectacular parcel of a wild, uncut plot of ancient Carignan vines called Matassa, it was the birth of the winery he founded with his wife Nathalie and friend Sam Harrop. The first vintage was still produced in the newly married couple's living room and when Gerard heard about it, he felt so bad that he gave Tom his old cellar in 2004! After acquiring more Carignan plots in the mountain village of Le Vivier, they were then able to increase the production significantly.

Domaine Matassa, which now covers around 15 hectares, is farmed purely biodynamically and the yields from the old vines are extremely low, averaging a regular yield of 12- 18hl/ha. Compared to conventional farms, this is an astonishing 50-100hl/ha less, which has a huge impact on the quality and concentration of the grapes.

Tom Lubbe is radically stringent in his use of soil greening, which leads to an interesting effect: the drastic drop in alcohol content. Within 15 years, he was able to reduce it by a total of 3%. His vision is to produce wines with a cool style and high tension on the palate.