The 2008 L'Estanya - from a 112 year old vineyard of Carignan with Mourvedre a bit black and white, on dark Marne and schist - displays a Tempranillo-like smoky and ashen character, accenting blackberry fruit, with piquant notes of huckleberry, rosemary, and pecan husk and a peat and crushed stone sense of schistic identity extending the finish. This firm, pithy wine that was matured in older barrels is not about charm, but it ought to be impressive and fascinating to follow for the better part of a decade if not longer. Lubbe says he picked it much later than he would have considered ideal, but he was tied-up because pressing went so slowly in 2008. As a result, he says, "in the first year it was like new-school Chateauneuf-du-Pape and I just put the bung in and figured I'd wait and maybe send it to the distillery. But when I re-visited it two years later, I couldn't believe the change." 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