Flight Club 3 - Mayfield Selections Featuring Domaine Matassa

Domaine Matassa founded in the Rousillon region of Southern France in 2003 by South African native Tom Lubbe. Tom kicked off his winemaking career in South Africa’s only winery using indigenous yeasts and lower yields. After a three month internship at Domaine Gauby in Calce, he befriended the winemaker Gerard Gauby, married his sister, and was invited back for three more consecutive vintages before starting his own estate. He now works with traditional Catalan varietals such as Carignan, Grenache and Muscat. The vineyards are farmed naturally without any chemicals, and are certified Organic by EcoCert. Tom uses biodynamic techniques activating and nourishing his soils, harvesting much earlier than most, finding higher levels of acidity and lower levels of alcohol than many wines of the region.

Domaine Matassa wines have been intentionally declassified to the Vin de France designation allowing the freedom and flexibility to be creative in the way the wine is both produced and blended. The white wines all spend time macerating on the skins, while the reds prefer whole cluster “infusions” opposed to extended maceration and high extraction. Everything is bottled without fining or filtration, and zero sulphur additions since the 2015 vintage.

Mayfield Selections, founded by David Mayfield, is one of the most well known importers and distributors in the state of Texas, representing some of the more notable natural wine importers in the country such as Louis Dressner, T. Edwards, and Scuola di Vino. The wines they source come from small, family owned growers where everything in the vineyard is done by hand.