Cuvée Tradition Tibouren Rosé Cru Classé

Cuvée Tradition is the historical heart of Clos Cibonne - the line the estate traces to 1930, when André Roux rebuilt the domaine around the antique Tibouren. The blend is 90% Tibouren with 10% Grenache off the sunny schist slopes of Le Pradet, close to the sea near Toulon; the sea breezes are part of the point, since Tibouren is thin-skinned and rot-prone and needs the ventilation. The Grenache is there only to satisfy appellation rules - Claude Deforges told Jamie Goode in 2018 the wine would otherwise be pure Tibouren - and the cuvée runs to around 60,000 bottles, mainly off the younger vines. The estate was classified cru classé in 1955 and is one of the eighteen holders that still carry the mention, out of twenty-three originally classified. Farming is organic, certified from the 2019 vintage.

The signature is in the cellar. Fruit is destemmed, pressed and settled without much concern for keeping oxygen away, ferments in stainless steel on wild yeasts, and skips malolactic. The wine then goes into century-old 5,000 litre foudres which are deliberately left unfilled, and in that headspace a veil of yeast forms on the surface and stays for about a year - fleurette, the Provençal cousin of Jura's voile and the flor of Jerez. It is what pulls Cibonne's rosés toward sherry-adjacent territory and buys them ten years or more of life. Worth knowing that the domaine's own pages describe only the stainless vats and the 300-litre casks used for the Prestige cuvées; the fleurette account comes from Goode's visit to the estate and from the importer De Maison.

The house is run by André Roux's granddaughter Brigitte and her husband Claude, with their son Olivier, fifth generation, in the vineyard and cellar since 2012. This bottling is lot L25231, 13.5%, with 2.5 g/L of sugar.