Mataburro – Introduction
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.
The photo below was taken in the Mataburro cellars. It shows a large stainless steel vat containing the 2019 juice for the Idoine cuvee which we will be receiving this year.
In an email sent by Laurent and Melissa recently they talked about the difficulty they have had over the past couple of years due to the droughts experienced in the south of France:
We have been experiencing a severe drought since 2021 (250 mm of rain per year on average) which is causing the entire vineyard to suffer. Despite the vines being greatly weakened by this lack of water, and thanks to a lot of work in the vineyard, we are still happy with our harvest, we brought in some nice grapes, the fermentations went well and the juices are delicate as we wanted!!
Mataburro Otium 2025
This year’s Otium is an infusion of Grenache Noir, (90% of the wine) picked from 80 year old selection massale vines planted by Laurent’s grandfather in Espira d’Agly.
Laurent says it’s an old variety of Grenache with nowhere near as strong a colour as newer clones and very little tannin, which allows the complexities the soil offers to be better expressed.
It was infused for 11 days with Grenache Gris (the other 10% of the wine) from the Fourques vineyard the previously Alain Castex farmed and aging was in a concrete tank which fittingly belonged to Castex.
It is pink and we possibly should have it as a rosé. The pinkness is deceiving though. It is complex with a slight bitterness to finish so we feel more comfortable thinking of it as a light red. It ideally should be served chilled.
11.5% ABV
RRP: $65
Mataburro Idoine 2024
Idoine, as usual, is 100% Merlot.
It comes from 30 year old vines in Rivesaltes planted by Laurent’s father on quite heavy clay soils.
The meticulous pruning in this vineyard, and then strict disbudding in the spring has, Laurent thinks, contributed to much more even maturity this year.
Whole bunches were macerated for 3-4 days (fewer than last year) but the wine seems slightly more concentrated this year.
It was aged 80% in concrete tanks and 20% in wood. The wine is particularly juicy with aromas of ripe black cherries. “It’s our Gamay” according to Laurent.
The wine is 12.5% this year.
RRP: $66 (SOLD OUT)
Mataburro Mura Mura 2025
As usual this rosé is made from several separate components, and this year is a blend of Grenache Noir, Merlot, Muscat à Petits Grains, and Muscat d’Alexandrie. These four grape varieties are ones that thrive on the soils and climate in this area.
The main component is the Grenache Noir, which is from the Rivesaltes vineyards, as is the Merlot.
Each variety had a short maceration but was vinified separately, partly because the picking window extends over 10 days.
It is light, fresh and highly aromatic.
The wine is 12% this year.
RRP: $64
Mataburro Quartet Rouge 2025
We’ve classified this wine as a light red, which is a good representation of its colour, but in reality this one drinks more as a white than a red.
It is yet another case of Melissa and Laurent judging what is best each vintage, not sticking to a regular formula, because each year the weather and all the other factors influencing the grapes can change dramatically, so they do what they think is the best expression of their grapes.
An interesting blend of Grenache Noir and Muscat d’Alexandria. The Muscat’s delicate floral notes and the fruitiness of the Grenache Noir help steer your mind in that direction.
It was aged in a concrete tank.
11.5% ABV
RRP: $62
Mataburro Quartet Blanc 2024
This is a négoce wine, possibly a one-off, made with grapes purchased from a neighbour whose vines are in Espira-de-l’Agly, about 200 metres from Laurent and Melissa’s Macabeu vineyard from which they make Memo.
The vines in red clay are some of the earliest to be certified organic in the region.
The wine is made in two parts. At first Viognier was directly pressed. A few days later, while it was still fermenting, destemmed Grenache Gris was added to the juice. (This is unusual. Mostly they work with whole bunches.)
After a few days it was pressed. We’ve classified it as ‘bacerated’ because of that short period on skins.
It is 40% Viognier and 60% Grenache Gris. Laurent describes the Grenache Gris as adding tension and the Viognier imparting richness, but of course tempered by the Grenache Gris.
Fermentation as always was natural and carried out in tanks.
The wine was bottled without fining, filtration or added sulphur.
The wine is 11% this year.
RRP: $66 (Enquire)
Mataburro Totem 2025
The 60 year old Mourvèdre and Grenache Noir vines for this red wine grow on a very distinctive parcel of very black marl and shist. It is difficult to work and there were not enough grapes to make this wine in 2024.
Many were eaten by birds and some Mourvèdre which salvageable, and which extraordinarily was still at 11% in September(!), went into the 2024 Mura Mura.
This 2025 vintage is, we think, the final vintage from this complicated plot as Laurent and Melissa have decided to stop renting it. (They have some nice plans for a replacement, but we will have to wait until next year to see the result.)
During maceration they did a little pigeage then the pressed juice was aged briefly in amphora, barrel, and tank.
12.5% ABV
RRP: $71
Mataburro Memo 2024
The wine is made from approximately 70 year old vines growing on clay and rolled pebbles of limestone in Espira-de-l’Agly.
The vines were planted by Laurent’s grandfather but they purchased the vineyard from a subsequent owner a few years ago.
It is a maceration of Macabeu. This year they made two passes through the vineyard, five days apart and macerated each pick in separate tanks.
The early pick was macerated for four days and the second one for 5 days. After pressing, the wine was aged in fibreglass.
At the start of the palate it is all flowers and fruit but it finishes speaking of the soil, with a steely mineral statement. 10.5% ABV.
RRP: $68 (SOLD OUT)
If you want to know more about the wines of the Roussillon region then you can find a summary here.
We also import some amazing vinegars from a producer who operates quite close to some of the vineyards of Laurent and Melissa which you can read about here.
