El Carner Rouge VdF 2023 1500ml Magnum

A red wine made from pale-skinned grapes, just as Tom Lubbe has been crafting it in Calce for years: bright, fairly transparent cherry red with a slight haze, with a nose full of fruit showing ripe red berries, sweet cherries, cherry candy and red peaches. Beneath that lies a slightly herbal note, with hints of animal character. At 10.5% vol., it sits exactly where Lubbe wants his wines: picked early, low in alcohol, fresh.

El Carner is the name of one of the parcels scattered across the hills around Calce and Espira-de-l'Agly, some rising to around 450 metres, surrounded by garrigue, cedars, fig trees and wild rosemary. The soils consist of schist and marl, including black schist and black marl. On Tom and Nathalie Lubbe's 20 hectares, vines aged 60 to 120 years stand in many places. Ecocert certified, which is simply standard practice here anyway: no chemicals, but cover crops, compost and manual labour.

A blend of 60% Grenache Gris and 40% Macabeu. After a few days of carbonic maceration with whole clusters, the wine was pressed and continued fermenting in ceramic eggs, where it aged for eight months. It was bottled without added sulfur and unfiltered; since 2015, no SO₂ has been used in any cuvée at Matassa.

Dry, with a touch of residual carbonation from the maceration and a texture like fine sandpaper. Alongside this, lively acidity and ripe red fruit. Serve lightly chilled.

It's precisely this gripping texture that shines at the table: roast beef sandwich with pickles, melting cheese and parsley, tomato tarte tatin with olives and thyme or harissa chicken skewers with tomato salad.

A red wine made from grey and white grapes, bottled without added sulfur and unfiltered, in magnum format for the long table.