As I keep saying in these pages, I love finding new wines. Wines made in countries, regions or from grape varieties that are new to me continue to excite me. After 30 years in the wine business I can still find new things that I have never tried or even heard of before, which I think is wonderful.
With winter settling in I seem to be drinking a bit more red, although not exclusively, and I recently found a really terrific wine and so made it my Wine of the Week.
Wine map of France – Provence is on the eastern Mediterranean coast.
Côtes de Provence showing the location of Clos Cibonne – map courtesy of De Maison Selections.
2014 Clos Cibonne Tibouren Cuvée Speciale
Clos Cibonne, Domaine André Roux
Cru Classé Côtes de Provence, AC Côtes de Provence
France
If I am honest Provence somewhat passes me by most of the time. Obviously I know about the famous rosés, loved some Bandol reds and rosés, have tasted the odd Cassis (the white wine, not the liqueur) and remember being very impressed by some fine Priorat-like reds from the Les Baux-de-Provence appellation too, but my experience of this region is very limited indeed. In fact I have never been there and must put that right as soon as I can.
The Clos Cibonne is an old estate that the Roux family bought from Royalist Navy Captain – the French Navy base of Toulon is nearby – Jean Baptiste de Cibon in 1797. In 1930 André Roux completely modernised the winery and had the label designed too. Such was the estate’s renown, that Clos Cibonne was created a Cru Classé with the classification of the vineyards of Provence in 1955. The classification of Provence was similar to that of Bordeaux in 1855 in that it ranked estates and was not concerned with the vineyard or soil like the Grand Crus of Alsace, Burgundy or Champagne.
The harvest at Clos Cibonne, everything is done by hand – courtesy of De Maison Selections.
Clos Cibonne had fallen on hard times again by the late 1990s when André Roux’s granddaughter Bridget and her husband Claude Deforge took over the running of the estate. They nurtured the vineyard back to life and renovated the cellars, but kept the traditional winemaking ways and the old wood foudres.
The 100 year old foudres at Clos Cibonne –
Today the Roux-Delorge family farm 15 hectares just 800 metres from the Mediterranean. The vineyards are surrounded by the Maure mountains that make the estate a sort of amphitheatre facing due south. This gives perfect sun exposure and allows them to achieve remarkable ripeness and to minimise vintage variation. The sea breezes also temper the effects of the sun and allow them to have excellent freshness and acidity in their wines that makes them very drinkable indeed. While not certified organic, they do practice sustainable viticulture or lutte raisonnée.
The family remain committed to the local Tibouren grape that is widely used in Provence for the rosés, but not so widely for the reds – in fact only 15% of production in the region is red, so Clos Cibonne are unusual in focussing on making red wine – although they do craft a rosé from their oldest vines. This Cuvée Speciale red is 90% Tibouren together with 10% Grenache which lends some richness and fat. The wine is traditionally aged under fleurette (a thin veil of yeast, but that just gives complexity, it is not Sherry-like) in 100-year-old, 500 litre foudres.
The nose offers gorgeous wild herb aromas – garage – together with ripe fruit, earthy, savoury notes and a light touch of the sea. The palate is quite fleshy with excellent concentration of fruit and medium body, some nice refreshing, cleansing acidity and an inky feel which sounds odd, but is actually delicious. Those wild Mediterranean herbs return on the palate too. The wine is deliciously smooth, with light supple tannins and lovely balance between savoury characters, ripe fruit and freshness. The finish is very, very long with fruit and savoury, earthy flavours lasting the whole time. I was thrilled by this wine, it is so obviously a genuine wine that speaks of a place and has a style all its own, although if you enjoy Rhône wines, Burgundy or good Beaujolais you will enjoy it – 92/100 points.
Available in the UK from Red Squirrel wine for around £20 per bottle.
Available in the US through De Maison Selections, Crush Wines and Spirits – for other stockist information click here.
In the summer this would be a great barbecue wine, even lightly chilled, but in winter it is perfect with game, roasts, pies and casseroles. It would be even be a great choice with Christmas dinner.
Quentin Sadler's Wine Page 