Macabeo
Memo 2023
Mataburro

Grape Variety: Macabeo

Producer: Mataburro

Region: Rivesaltes, Pyrénées-Orientales, Roussillon, France

Wild Scale: 4/5

Vegan friendly wine

11% alcohol

Winemaking: Organic Macabeo grapes were harvested by hand. Crushed and macerated for a few days before fermentation with indigenous yeast in fibreglass tanks. Aged in stainless steel. Bottled with no fining, filtration or added sulphur

This Wine: Natural skin contact wine. When Laurent heard that a plot of Macabeo grapes close to his own vines was up for sale, he jumped at the chance. Whilst going through the historical records, he discovered his grandfather had planted these vines and they used to be owned by the family. Once he secured the purchase, he even noted that the gaps between each vine were precisely the same as others planted by his grandfather. So the cuvée is named Memo in memory of him. Now on it's 3rd vintage, this is quite a different style to previous iterations. The skin contact is more noticeable and it brings a saline and savoury edge along with a beautiful golden colour in the glass. 

Notes on the Winemaker: Mataburro is the project of natural winemakers Laurent Roger and Melissa Ingrand in Rivesaltes which isn't far from Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales region of Southern France. Laurent comes from a a family of winemakers who threw in the towel at the turn of the millenium when the sweet Muscat historically produced in this region fell out fashion in the global market. He had left his hometown of Rivesaltes to work in Paris where he fell in love with natural wine. To his father's amazement, he returned home with a clear vision to return to the vines that he had worked as a child. Inspired by time learning from natural wine legend Alain Castex, Laurent creates wines with amazing freshness considering the warm Mediterranean climate. Mataburro means Donkey Killer which refers to a railway that runs through the vineyard. When it opened in 1910, a train sadly killed 2 donkeys on the first day.