Brutal Orange VdF 2024 1500ml Magnum

A skin-contact white wine that stays dry and lean at 10.0% Vol. The tannin remains fine, the acidity carries the wine, and the finish is saline and slightly bitter. Alongside this come apricot, orange zest and baked apple, underscored by wild herbs and rosemary.

Domaine Matassa is located in Calce in Roussillon, where Tom Lubbe and Nathalie Gauby farm around 20 hectares. The parcels are spread across the hills around Calce and Espira-de-l'Agly, some in high-altitude garrigue sites up to about 450 metres, surrounded by scrubland, cedars, fig trees and wild rosemary. Many of the vines are 60 to 120 years old. The soils consist of schist and marl, including black schist and black marl.

Macabeu, Roussillon's Catalan white variety, ferments here on the skins — a practice Tom Lubbe has followed since 2008. Harvest is early, sometimes starting in early August. Fermentation happens spontaneously, with no fining or filtration, and since 2015 no sulphur has left the cellar. Ageing takes place in whatever suits the wine best: wood, clay, concrete, preferably fibreglass. Ecocert certifies the vineyard work, which includes cover cropping, compost and manual labour.

Tannin and acidity make it a table wine for marinated vegetables, mixed antipasti and mezze with hummus. It also pairs well with vegetable tagine, saffron rice, aged goat's cheese and mature hard cheese. Serve chilled.

Tom Lubbe, a New Zealander with South African roots, bottled his first vintage, 2003, in his living room, in the old cellar Gérard Gauby had handed over to him. The Brutal Orange is offered here as a 1500 ml Magnum.