2010 Vin de Pays Blanc Cotes Catalanes

In illustration of the vicissitudes that vintner Tom Lubbe takes in stride, his 2010 Matassa Blanc was very slow to complete alcoholic fermentation or malo, and only bottled after 24 months – making for 20 months more elevage than the corresponding 2011! And even then, the wine was still full of gas from its slow, stop-and-start fermentation, but Lubbe decided to bottle it in virtually petillant state anyway. The result is a bracing, firmly-textured amalgam of fresh apple, lime and orange, with lentil sprout-like nutty-vegetal piquancy that reinforce the cut and positive bitterness of citrus rind. Wafting, musky scents of narcissus along with whiffs of fennel frond and pollen add allure to this refreshing if highly unorthodox (i.e. even by Roussillon or Matassa standards!) libation. Given its uniqueness and the for this bottling unprecedented role of CO2, it’s fatuous to speculate about how this will evolve in bottle other than to heartily recommend that one enjoy finding-out. Tom Lubbe (for much more about whose work, consult my reports in issue 183 and 195) continues to experiment and innovate, but especially to push the envelope on such ongoing themes as early harvesting – conditioned, he would insist, on his biodynamic regimen that pushes flavor development even as potential alcohol remains low – and of fermentative extraction in reds by infusion with scarcely any manipulation of the cap. In 2010, for example, Lubbe finished harvesting with his Mourvedre, and it was only August 20; more importantly, the resultant wine is sensational! One thing that doesn’t seem to significantly respond to Lubbe’s meticulous, carefully thought-through and labor-intensive vineyard regimen is yields: they might be subject less-dramatic swings, but remain at their highest low even by Roussillon standards. Along with the even-ripening of 2011, reports Lubbe, came unusually rapid fermentations, most of which – incredibly (though one must factor-in Matassa-typical early harvest) – went dry by November, and some of which kicked into and ploughed through malo-lactic only two or three weeks later. In 2012, too, though, Lubbe reports none of the sluggish or otherwise awkward fermentations that plagued some of his Roussillon colleagues that year (or him in 2010). Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334 8191