Tutti Frutti Ananas Morango Red Blend 2019

Morango is a four-grape red from Tutti Frutti Ananas, sourced primarily from the sector of Saint-André in the Banyuls-sur-Mer area of Roussillon, declassified to Vin de France rather than labeled under the Collioure AOC. The blend is Syrah, Carignan, Grenache Noir, and Mourvèdre grown on organic-farmed vineyards over schist, sand, and quartz soils along the Côte Vermeille, where steep terraced slopes keep yields very low.

In the cellar, the Syrah, Carignan, and Grenache are direct pressed, while the Mourvèdre receives 10 days of skin maceration. Fermentation is spontaneous with native yeasts. The wine is aged in stainless steel and concrete tanks with no fining, no filtration, and little to no added sulfur.

Tutti Frutti Ananas was launched in 2017 as a negociant project by Manuel di Vecchi Staraz (Vinyer de la Ruca), Zé Tafé (La Cave des Nomades), and Joachim Roque (Domaine Carterole), all based in Banyuls-sur-Mer. The goal was to produce an affordable, high-volume-by-their-standards expression of the same Roussillon terroirs that yield their serious, low-production estate wines. The name Morango means strawberry in Portuguese.

The result is a light-on-its-feet Mediterranean red with sunkissed red fruit, savoury garrigue, a balsamic note, and a faint seaside salinity. At 13% ABV it drinks easily and benefits from a light chill in warmer months.