Matassa Tattouine 2024

Tom and Nathalie Lubbe make Tattouine at Domaine Matassa in Calce, in the Roussillon hills of southern France. The estate is farmed biodynamically and the wine is made naturally, with minimal intervention. Despite the warm Mediterranean setting, this is a deliberately light red picked early to hold the alcohol to just 10%, a register that keeps the wine fresh and digestible. It blends Grenache Gris and Grenache Tinta, the grey-skinned grape lending pale colour and a delicate, almost saline lift, grown on the schist and limestone soils that define Calce and give the wine its stony backbone. It spends nine months in barrel, used and neutral, which softens the texture through slow oxygen exchange without adding oak character. The colour is pale, between deep rosé and light red. The nose is bright and perfumed, with red cherry, redcurrant, pomegranate and crushed garrigue herbs. The palate is light bodied and fresh, the tannins barely present and the finish savoury and saline. This is a chillable, low-alcohol red built for pleasure over power. Serve at 12 to 13 degrees, well chilled. It is versatile across lighter dishes.