2020 Clos Cibonne 'Cuvée Spéciale' Tibouren Rouge Côtes de Provence

Winemaker Notes: Château Cibon Cuvée Marius is a tribute to Marius Roux, the modern founder of Clos Cibonne and defender of the tibouren grape in Provence in the 1800s. Marius Roux, born in 1875, led the estate’s destiny, passing it to his wife Valentine, who inherited the lands around the Castle of Cibonne. It was Marius who first focused the estate solely on wine production. The label is a recreation of the original labels of the late 1800s, when the winery was called Château Cibon. This design predates their iconic labels designed in the 1920s, which still adorn their other cuvées today.

Cuvée Spéciale Tibouren is Clos Cibonne’s easy-drinking, elegant red wine, made mainly from the native tibouren grape with a small percentage of grenache. This Mediterranean wine will make you reevaluate preconceived notions about reds from Provence. Great with a slight chill.

Vintage  – The 2020 harvest in Provence is a top vintage with very high quality. The winter was unusually warm, the warmest in 62 years, so frost-sensitive buds appeared on vines in the Var department already in January. Unfortunately, frost came the last week of March, with temperatures down to -7°C. The chill affected all of Provence, where only colder areas survived because the budding had not come as far. The summer was exceptionally pleasant and mild, without the intense heat waves which hit Provence in 2017 and 2019. The nights were cool, which preserved acidity in the grapes, yielding fresh wines. Grapes in 2020 had a good balance between the phenolic ripening and the sugar content, with high levels of natural acidity. Quality is excellent; however, the grape loss due to the frost means that the volume is down.

Vinification – After an early morning manual harvest, the grapes are destemmed and fermented with native yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Maceration lasts ten days, with twice-daily pump-overs. After fermentation, the wine is racked into foudres, where it ages for six months before bottling.

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