Matassa 2005 Rogue

Every once in a while you come across a wine that makes you understand why people the world over have become crazy about vinous beverage.  On rare occasions you stumble upon a wine you could write sonnets about.  Matassa is one of these wines.  I currently have a bottle of the 2005 Rouge sitting on my wine wrack, and just knowing it is there puts a smile on my face.

Matassa is farmed in the Roussillon.  Tom Lubbe is responsible for this wine and I had the pleasure of meeting him at a wine tasting some time back.  Tom in young, congenial, and in all respects a very cool guy.  I found him to be a delightfully light and amusing breather from the general stuffiness, snobbery, and aloofness of an NYC wine tasting.  A man who really knows his stuff, but isn’t a stuck up bastard because of it. He’s the people’s wine maker.  I got to talking to him about his vineyards, which are near the sea and in the forest.  He’s a proponent of natural wine making and his favorite vineyard, to which he alone tends, is very tricky to get to due to the trees, bushes, and brambles blocking the way.  I looked this vineyard up and it is 1,800 feet above sea level, surrounded by forest (a great barrier for blocking airborne pesticides from neighboring farms), and holds 112 year old carignan vines.  As Tom took my through a tasting of his wines, including white, red, and a sparkling (not his, we “borrowed” it from a neighboring table) my love of wine blossomed and grew.

The Matassa labels warrant mentioning.  They are very simplistic labels, only one word, Matassa, and a small symbol.  Recently I have only seen labels of this simplicity from the American North West and the Alto Adige in Italy.  The labels refreshingly differ from the usually crowded, text-heavy, and garish labels of French wines.  The labels reflect the wine itself, simple yet profound.

My most recent tasting of Matassa was the 2005 rouge.  This wine is truly something to behold.  It is a nice deep red color, true red, without any purple.  It smells of red berries, moss, and damp soil – basically, it smells of a berry patch in the woods after a light rain.  The palate is superbly balanced.  I would call this a big, powerful wine, but it shares nothing in common with the “fruit bombs” that have become all the rage.  The fruit in this wine tastes real, with freshness and some tartness, but none of the saccharine sweetness you get in so many fruit filled reds these days.  These fruit notes are supported by the taste of earth and pepper.  While it would be a great wine with food I personally like to enjoy it on its own.  The wine truly satisfies the taste buds, making for slow sipping and deep enjoyment.  One glass of the 2005 Matassa rouge will you last three times a long as a lesser wine, simply because you’ll want to take the time to savor it. 

Most unfortunately, in this world of war and sin, nothing can be perfect.  The Matassa currently runs between $50 and $60.  About double what I usually consider paying for a good bottle of wine.  It is worth the price though, and I will seek out these expensive bottles and keep them in my wine wrack, where, until opened on those rare special occasions, it will make me happy knowing they are there.