Cuvée Romanissa VdF 2023

A lean, high-acid red that puts freshness before power. At 11.0% ABV it stays light without feeling thin: the tannin provides the backbone, the ethereal spice leads, the fruit sits behind it. A wine you have to learn to love.

Domaine Matassa farms 20 hectares in the hills around Calce and Espira-de-l'Agly in Roussillon, high-altitude garrigue plots up to around 450 metres. Romanissa is one of these parcel names. The soils consist of schist and marl, black schist and black marl, surrounded by maquis, cedars, fig trees and wild rosemary. The domaine's plots often carry vines aged 60 to 120 years.

Grenache. Tom Lubbe, who trained with Gérard Gauby in Calce and vinified his first vintage in his living room in 2003, harvests early; his wines rarely exceed 12% alcohol. He ferments the reds as whole-cluster infusions, spontaneously and often without destemming. In the cellar he prefers to work with fibreglass, which he finds more neutral than stainless steel. No fining, no filtration, no added sulphur since 2015.

Pale ruby red with light reflections and visible haze. On the nose, first a veil of reduction, then wild raspberry, sour cherry and morello cherry, alongside goat shed and dried grass from wild herb meadows. On the palate fresh, juicy and taut, drawn out despite its light body. The acidity is high and expressive, pine needles, rosemary and wild herbs sit ahead of redcurrant and raspberry; fermentation and reduction leave an impression of fresh sauerkraut.

An uncompromising natural wine from a region that usually relies on power. Ecocert certification confirms the vineyard practice: no chemicals, but cover crops, compost and handwork. Tom Lubbe has specialised in soil health, and the earthworms are back.