Tomàs Cusiné Pell de Llop 2024, Costers del Segre, Orange Wine, Organic

Pell de Llop is Tomàs Cusiné’s skin-contact Macabeu, a certified organic and vegan orange wine from El Vilosell in the Costers del Segre, inland Catalonia. The grapes come from vineyards in the Serra de la Llena at around 730 metres, on stony, calcareous soils, and are picked by hand. They are destemmed and fermented on their skins with their own yeasts in stainless steel for 11 days, with daily punch-downs. The wine is then aged for six months in a large 3,200-litre French oak foudre, made with minimal intervention and no added sulphites. The name, ‘wolf’s skin’, nods both to the skin contact and to ‘llops’, or wolves, the nickname of the people of El Vilosell.

In the glass it is golden with amber glints, and a little natural sediment is normal. The nose shows orange blossom and white flowers, pear, citrus and herbal notes, with light oxidative and saline touches. The palate is broad and textured, with light tannins from the skins balanced by good acidity, and a long finish of fine bitterness, ripe fruit, orange peel and gentle spice.

Serve lightly chilled, at around 10–12°C, so its texture and aromas can show. It is a versatile food wine: try it with tapas, cured meats, roast chicken or pork, oily fish, aged cheeses and spiced dishes. Enjoy it over the next couple of years while its fruit is fresh.

Tomàs Cusiné founded his own winery in 2003 in El Vilosell, a village in Les Garrigues, in the Costers del Segre DO of inland Catalonia. It was his first independent project, after years of experience at his family’s wineries, Castell del Remei and Cérvoles. El Vilosell sits where Costers del Segre meets Conca de Barberà and Montsant, below the Serra de la Llena hills that separate it from Priorat. Tomàs owns 30 hectares of vineyards and works with around 70 more hectares from contracted local growers. Many of the vineyards sit at 700 metres or more, largely on north-facing slopes, and 17 grape varieties are planted. His own vines are farmed organically, using only organic compost and keeping sulphur and copper treatments to a minimum, and the wines are certified organic by the CCPAE, Catalonia’s organic body.