Tasting Notes
Idoine 2020 is 100% Merlot from vines that are 30 – 40 years old which were planted by Laurent’s father. Vinified initially in two tanks, the whole bunches had five days maceration. As mentioned above for the Otium, this short period of maceration ensures that not too much tannin and other harsh polyphenols are extracted leaving a surprisingly fresh and lively wine, showing that Merlot is capable of presenting many faces if treated properly.
One tank had a little pigeage and the other none to keep the floral aromas from the semi-carbonic maceration. The two tanks were mixed after pressing and aged in stainless steel tank. This is a very clever way of dealing with Merlot.
It is interesting to see just how good Merlot can be when the wine is made by sympathetic winemakers. Now that so many consumers are moving to lighter styles of red wine rather than the brutish wines of twenty years ago, Merlot is finding a niche.
They found the name ‘Idoine’ in a book Laurent’s uncle had written. It means ‘the good stuff’. We agree! This wine has no additions, including no added sulphites, and no fining or filtration. - Importer Note
Roussillon is the Catalan region of France lying on the Mediterranean side of the country in sight of the Pyrenees mountains that divide Spain from France.
Mataburro is the name of small domaine established in Roussillon by rising stars Laurent Roger and Melissa Ingrand. Their wines are natural and very delicious!
On our visit to their winery and vineyards this year the quality of the wines was as high as ever due to the attention, love and care with which they tend their vineyards and apply to their wines.
Laurent worked for several years at the venerable Paris bar à vin Le Verre Volé and after that returned to Roussillon to work directly with Alain Castex, then of Le Casot des Mailloles.
Towards the end of 2017, armed with what he had learned from Castex, he and Melissa set up Mataburro as their brand and took over the remaining three hectare vineyard from his father and are returning it to its organic past.
In 2019 they started biodynamics and they are using cover crops to improve the soil quality. In fact, during our morning of walking around all of their vineyards in the spring of 2022 we were very impressed with their understanding of the role the soil plays in the vineyard. The same applied in 2024 when we visited.
Alain Castex taught Laurent the importance of the soil. He also had this concept reinforced by Tom Lubbe and Axel Prüfer.
Now, Mataburro consists of almost 5 hectares of vines, split into several parcels near Rivesaltes and Espira-de-l’Agly in Roussillon, Laurent and Melissa’s objective is always to make fresh wines which have low % alcohol, wines that are suitable for drinking in the hot Mediterranean climate in which they live. It also makes them very welcome arrivals for this time of year in Australia.
The winemaking at Mataburro usually consists of short macerations of whole bunches with no foot stomping to limit the extraction. They believe that foot stomping makes wines that are less delicate.
All macerations take place in fibreglass with, for the most part, the wines aged in stainless steel. The wines are not filtered and have no added sulphites. Laurent recommends serving all Mataburro wines in a carafe. - Importer Note
| Product Type | Wine Red Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot & Friends |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Country | France |
| Region | Roussillon |
| Sub Region | Riversaltes |
| Winemaking Practices | Natural |
| Vineyard Practices | Organic/Biodynamic |