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.