Informed by the Lladoner Pelut variation on Grenache plus a bit of Carignan, the Matassa 2009 Cuvee Romanissa smells intensely pungently of rosemary, juniper berry, and diverse tiny red fruits; comes to the palate bright, sappy, and invigorating; and - as if the pungent, resinous herbal elements already adumbrated on the nose were not enough - adds salt, white pepper, and cherry pit in a tenacious and vivacious finish. "The way I heard it," says Lubbe of Lladoner, "very little got re-planted after the phylloxera because for vin doux it's not great: it ripens late, and the alcohol never gets above 13.5. Beyond that, it's smaller-berried, with thicker skins and more acidity. The 'fur' (pelut, for which it's named,) evolved to protect the vine from transpiration in the heat, conserve moisture, and reduce stress, just like the corresponding fuzz on rosemary or other Mediterranean plants. Another adaptation: It never breaks in high winds, so you can plant it anywhere. Mine is in the most exposed site in Calce. On especially windy days you can't even work there because you get blown over." Lubbe notes that if he gets enough foudres, this wine would be in line to benefit from one. Given its 3.25 pH at 13.5 alcohol it is sure to exhibit stamina and levity from the bottle, too, for half a dozen or more years. "No winemaking handbook would prepare you for the likes of this," concludes its author! Tom Lubbe - for much more about whose work, consult my report in issue 183 - continues to experiment and fine tune, and there are some new cuvees and ideas here since I last visited. Speaking of which, beginning with 2011, Lubbe will have some old and impeccably cared-for foudres to utilize, as he was able to pick them up from Weingut Georg Breuer in Rudesheim whose cellar renovations were incompatible with their largest barrels. (Pity the freight company tasked with trucking them up to Calce!) I quizzed Lubbe this year about his reliance on so little sulfur; and he sought to assure me that "'tis enough, 'twill serve." But he also noted that contrary to widespread practice among advocates of low sulfur, he applies his sole dosage not at bottling, but rather right after the wine comes out of malo, so as to shock it only once; to have longer to observe the emergence of any potential problems; and above all because he believes that this is the most vulnerable moment in a wine's elevage, and hence the point, if any, at which it requires sulfuring. Lubbe notes that despite the drought in 2008, his vines produced a larger crop (relatively speaking!) than in other (warmer) recent vintages. He shares an opinion I heard from quite a few growers in the wake of recent experience that ultimately it's heat, not drought, that by promoting shut-down wreaks mischief with quality. (Incidentally, New Zealand-born Sam Harrop M.W. - known inter alia for his work in the Loire - is now no longer a partner in Matassa.)Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334 8191