Grenache blend
Otium 2024
Mataburro

Grape Variety: Grenache, Grenache Gris, Macabeo, Carignan

Producer: Mataburro (Laurent Roger and Melissa Ingrand)

Region: Rivesaltes, Pyrénées-Orientales, Roussillon, France

Wild Scale: 3/5

Vegan friendly wine

11.5% alcohol

Winemaking: Organic Grenache grapes from 80 year old vines were harvested by hand and lightly crushed before a 10 day whole bunch maceration. Fermentation with indigenous yeast in stainless steel tanks. Some juice from Grenache Gris, Macabeo and Carignan grapes was then blended into the wine. Bottled with no fining, filtration or added sulphur.

This Wine: The 2024 vintage of Otium is the first to include some Grenache gris grapes from the vineyard of the late, great Alain Castex who was a mentor to winemaker Laurent. A darker, deeper colour than 2023, this is still all about about bright red fruit with refreshing minerals and a citrus twist. Drink it chilled but savour the delicate complexity. 

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.