Olla Blanc VdF 2025

Wine description for Olla Blanc VdF 2025 by Matassa

Colour & appearance

Distinctly hazy, shifting between orange and copper – unmistakably a macerated white wine even in the glass.

Nose

Expressive and fragrant, like a zesty lemonade for grown-ups: hop shoots, elderflower, grapefruit juice and zest, along with nutmeg, pineapple, apricot and mirabelle plum – all bright-toned, airy and feather-light.

Palate

Juicy, fresh, lively and tonic – a summer wine with backbone. The skin contact lends pronounced grip, fine tannins meet a bitter, zesty austerity and a saline note. At just 10.5% alcohol, it drinks astonishingly effortlessly.

Finish

Zesty, saline, crisp – the bitter spice lingers long and keeps the palate alert.

Terroir & origin

The grapes come from once-abandoned vineyards around Calce in the Roussillon, reclaimed by Tom Lubbe at altitudes of 500 to 600 metres. Calcareous clay with a high iron content shapes the cool, mineral baseline – here, in a region that otherwise relies on power, Matassa harvests early and focuses on freshness.

Grape variety & vinification

Roughly equal parts Muscat à petits grains and Macabeu, picked by hand into small crates in the early morning. Not destemmed, fermented whole-bunch spontaneously in stainless steel, gently pressed, eight months on the lees in 2,000-litre concrete tanks. Bottled unfiltered, unfined and without added sulphites.

Food pairings

A versatile everyday wine with an edge: with grilled vegetables and aioli, apricot tajine, spicy Asian dishes featuring lemon and coriander, for instance, or simply with goat’s cheese and crusty bread.

Special features

The ideal introduction to the world of orange wines: Tom Lubbe, who thinks about the Roussillon more freshly than almost anyone else, shows here that skin fermentation need not be heavy – just 10.5% alcohol and an aromatic profile like a spritz of citrus and blossom. Incidentally, since 2015 not a single drop of sulphur has left the cellar at Matassa.