Escudo Rojo Pinot Noir Reserva

Just like the previous post, we come by this wine via a vendor's choice placement in the store.  Eric is so reliable we let him mix up a few cases of wines he thought might do well here and as always, we're grateful for his acumen.

Escudo Rojo is Chilean Pinot Noir from the Baron Philippe de Rothschild organization, which not so humbly calls it an iconic brand in their promotional literature; which is tooting their own horn, I would say.  

The wine is a big business endeavor sourcing their pinot grapes from the Casablanca Valley, which does well with that variety.  They blend grapes from the flatlands of the Atlantic side of the appellation with those from the higher terrain eastern side to achieve the level of quality they need.  They say the maritime-influence and sandy soil of the western side provide freshness while the higher elevation eastern granite soils bring minerality and elegance.  The wine is then aged in new oak for six months before seeing a year or two in old barrels.

The result shows an inviting nose of fresh and complex forward red fruit and almonds followed by an attack of elegant, succulent tannins along with the fruit on the palate, then finishing with the fresh red fruits again.

All of the above text is derived from the Rothschild promotional material.  Here is what we would like you to know: Pinot Noir needs the savory side of the palette spectrum and that's what Chile does so well.  We all love fruitiness in wine and if a producer has great pinot fruit and wants to feature that without the oak then we're all for it.  Truly great pinot is a wonder to behold.  What is all too often the case though is that the pinot is mediocre and the winemaking adjustments meant to amend the problem only seem to make it worse.  That's where savoriness comes into play.  So much of pinot magic happens when the fruit meets savoriness.  That kind of complexity is to die for.

Tibouren Clos Cibonne

When this one came through the door I thought, WTF, a $45 rose?  How am I ever going to sell that?  Svetlana is aces as a wine supplier; so much so, I let her write her own orders and occasionally I end up with stuff like this.  It will be a hard sell, sure, but I need to take a deep breath and relax because whoever purchases this one is going to get a helluva rose.

Along with the wine's name across the top half of the front label, the words Cotes du Provence Cru Classe run across the bottom, which I concluded was just marketing.  To my knowledge there was no classification in Provence.  Upon googling the question, I was humbled to learn that yes, back in 1955 an official classification of the producers in Provence was created with Clos Cibonne (est. 1804) residing in the top tier. 

Tibouren is the grape variety, by the way, and it has its own story beginning around 500bc in Mesopotamia.  Greeks are credited with bringing it to Rome and, for all practical purposes, Provence became its permanent home.  Ninety-eight percent of the world's Tibouren grapes reside in Provence (2% in South Africa) with one half of Clos Cibonne's twenty-four hectares being planted in Tibouren.  The other half is some combination of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault.  

Tibouren is a black thin-skinned grape that makes full-bodied roses with a floral, berryish, earthy bouquet.  Garrigue is the name of the fragrant ground cover in Provence that wine makers believe imparts its aromas into the vineyard grapes which in turn become a part of the wines' aromas.  Jancis Robinson is the reigning wine expert of the world and she describes Clos Cibonne's garrigue aromas as intense. 

So why is the Tibouren grape so obscure in the current wine scene?  The answer is obvious.  It's difficult to grow.  It is a cultivar, a grape variety that is cultivated using grafts, clones and hybrids in order to maintain its desired characteristics.  That separates it from the greater world of grape types. 

If you are a rose lover and want to taste the best there is, stop in for some Tibouren Clos Cibonne.