Somm's Table

Perfect pairings from the other side of the equation.

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Back in May of 2018, I had the chance to visit Gamble Family Wines in Oakville, Napa Valley. My friend Laura accompanied me, and we had the chance to tour the winery and chat with Tom Gamble about his winery, the history of Napa Valley, and the role his family has played in the unfolding of that history. My friend Laura accompanied me on the visit, which then turned into two, because we were so engrossed in the conversation and their story. 
The Gamble family has been involved in agriculture in Napa since 1916, first in cattle ranching and farming other crops. Tom Gamble shifted his focus to commercial grape-growing, purchasing his first vineyards with partners in 1981 at the age of 20. He grew and sold grapes for twenty years after that point. Over this time he also increased his vineyard holdings. Then in 2005, he finally established Gamble Family Vineyards and began building his winery a few years later in 2012. The land which it’s built includes an ancestral farmhouse, barns, and water tower, which Tom and his wife, Colette, are devoted to maintaining. Incidentally, Colette’s family has also been in the valley since the 1870’s.
 
Tome with his dog Koa
During our visit and conversation, we got a sense of his sincere respect for the land and desire to care for it to the best of his abilities. He farms sustainably and conscientiously, and his winery and vineyards are certified Napa Green and certified by Fish Friendly Farming. I got the sense that he’s always looking for ways to improve his practices at all levels from methods of farming, to ways of reusing and prolonging the life of barrels, and ways of reducing energy usage across all aspects of the operation.


An activist spirit runs through the family. Tom’s mom, Mary Ann McGuire, had a big role to play in the way the valley developed. Mary Anne was a key participant in establishing the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve, an ordinance that protects vineyards from commercial development and ensures that the land is used strictly for agricultural purposes. We’ll dive further into this in my next post, but Laura and I had the chance to speak with her at length and were really inspired by her story. 


After our visit, Tom sent us home with a few bottles of his wine.  Later in the fall, I hosted a Friendsgiving dinner for a few friends during which we opened the wines and enjoyed them with a potluck dinner. I made a Lamb Roast with Roasted Sweet Peppers and my friends all brought various sides.

 
  
On the menu:
Crostini with kale and goat cheese as an app.
Caprese Salad
Squash with cheese, hazelnuts, and pomegranate syrup
Turnips braised in apple cider vinegar.
Mushrooms suatéed with onions and sesame.
Roasted potatoes
Lemon tart for dessert
The lamb dish was inspired by a recipe in Perfect Pairings by another son-mother duo, Evan Goldstein and Joyce Goldstein. Evan Goldstein is a Master Sommelier and his mother, Joyce, is a noted chef and cookbook author. Perfect Pairings is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to better understand food and wine pairings. The book walks you through different grape varieties, their different expressions, and recommendations for how to pair them along with suggested pairings. This book focuses on relatively familiar grape varieties, while the follow-up, Daring Pairings, moves beyond these to explore lesser-known grape varieties. I highly recommend both books. 

Perfect Pairings recommends a recipe for Spanish Lamb Ragout with Roasted Sweet Peppers as a match for rich, fruit-forward, New World-style Cabernet Sauvignons. I decided to give it a try alongside several of Gamble’s wines. Rather than cutting up the meat in advance and cooking it in batches, as is called for in the recipe, I decided to adapt the recipe for a roast preparation. I thought this worked out really well and the dish did pair well with all of the Cabernets.
Good times with friends.
My friend, Laura, and partner in crimefor these tastings.

 Some time has passed since this dinner. Things got busy, as they tend to do, and then 2019 in general just flew by and got away from me. I’m now writing this as the COVID-19 is sweeping through our country, and I’m thankful for memories like this of times spent with friends. At present we’re in the midst of social distancing and under a shelter in place order in the Bay Area, but I will look forward to hosting gatherings like these once again on the other side of this pandemic. In the meantime, let’s be grateful for the wonderful people in our lives and find new ways to connect as we wait out this difficult period. For example, friends and I have been having online happy hours. We can still enjoy a glass of wine together, even while apart. For those at home with loved ones, let’s make the most of this time by coming together at the table with those that are near us. Some of these wines are also on the pricier side, but I say now is the time to open those baller bottles. If not now, when?!

Stay well friends!


THE WINES

Winemaking details are taken from the tech sheets. 

Sauvignon Blanc Gamble Vineyard Yountville 2017


 

There were notes of fresh lime, kiwi, green apple and green melon, along with a light grassy, herbal note. A nice streak of minerality ran throughout, with a touch of cream on the mid-palate. Overall, it was an elegant Sauv Blanc with an attractive, aromatic nose and a crisp finish.

Winemaking: 13% new French and Hungarian oak. The wine was cellared 76% in barrel on the lees for six months, with the remaining 24% in stainless steel on the lees for six months.
Alcohol: 13.1%
Avg Price: $25

Pairings: Not surprisingly, this wine went very well with our Caprese salad. It also paired with our squash dish topped with hazelnuts and pomegranate seeds, which was not expected. It was excellent with turnips that had been braised in apple cider vinegar. The winery also recommends this “with crispy fish tacos or a fresh, green summer salad.”


Paramount Napa Valley 2014


A Bordeaux blend with notes of smoke and chocolate-dipped cherries on the nose, along with plum and raspberries, and hints of herbs and violets. Notes of black pepper, green peppercorn, cedar, cigar, and vanilla joining the mix. It was elegant on the palate, but still rich and velvety, with dusty tannins on the finish.

Winemaking: 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Cabernet Franc, 28% Merlot, and 8% Petit Verdot. After gently destemming and cold soaking, each variety is fermented, pressed and transferred to French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. A 20-month aging process follows, and ultimately, the separate lots become one, as Paramount is blended and bottled. 46% new French oak.
Alcohol: 14.2%
Avg price: $87



Family Home Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 2014  



Velvety, red fruits showed on the nose, along with notes of cedar, tobacco, dried herbs, lavender, and a light hit on menthol. A mix of fruits notes joined on the palate, including notes of currants, red berries, cherries, and plums, along with savory notes of cigar box, olives, and a hint of iron.  It was well-structured with dusty tannins and a full body.

Winemaking:  As the name suggests, Family Home rests on the land where Tom Gamble spent his childhood.  It’s a rocky volcanic plot perched on a knoll top in Oakville, with free-draining soils. The vineyard is divided between north-west and south-east facing slopes. This wine spends 20 months in barrel, but I could not find the additional oak percentage details.  
Avg price: $119
 

Both the Paramount and the Family Home paired well with the lamb, but Paramount was more ready to drink now, while Family Home could use more time in the cellar.

In my last post, I shared an interview with Cristiana Tiberio, the badass winemaker of Azienda Agricola Tiberio. Today we’re going to take a closer look at one of her wines –the Tiberio Pecorino Colline Pescaresi 2016 – and we’re bringing it home to the table.

Pecorino is one of those white wine grapes that I realize most people don’t know, but it’s very much in line with what many people are looking for in a bottle of white wine. It’s crisp, it’s minerally, it’s refreshing. It also has the ability to be really interesting. . . and it has a great comeback story.

It’s not surprising that it’s not that well known. Let’s be honest, I know a lot of you are thinking ‘Pecorino? I thought that was a cheese.’ I’m pretty sure I had that same thought the first time I heard of it. You’d also be right, there is a cheese called Pecorino – and I couldn’t resist including it in today’s recipe. However, it is also a wine grape that is grown predominantly in Italy’s Marche and Abruzzo regions. According to Ian D’Agata in Native Wine Grapes of Italy, the grape got its name from sheepherders who ate them off the vines as snacks while accompanying their flocks around the countryside. Other sources suggest that the sheep themselves ate the grapes. Either way, it seems there is at least a thin thread linking the wine with the cheese. (Sorry guys, it’s hard for me to resist a cheesy tangent.)

The grape’s obscurity has largely to do with the fact that it nearly went extinct. It’s an ancient grape that had been grown for hundreds of years. However, it’s not a very productive grape and many growers replaced it with far crappier varieties that gave higher yields. However, Pecorino’s weakness is also its strength. The fact that its vines don’t produce that many grapes also means that the grapes that are produced tend to have higher flavor concentration.

All the same, growers ripped up most of these vines and Pecorino was commonly thought to be completely gone by the middle of the 20th century. Then a few remaining vines were discovered in the 1980s and the grape made a pretty remarkable comeback. The grape can largely thank two producers as its heroes for bringing it back from the brink of death – Guido Cocci Grifoni of Cocci Griffoni in the Marche and Luigi Cataldi Madonna of Cataldi Madonna in Abruzzo.

The Tiberio family happened to be good friends with Cataldi Madonna. In 1999, Cristiana and Antonio Tiberio discovered a few rogue vines mixed in with others on their property. Once they figured out what they actually had on their hands, Cristiana went to Cataldi Madonna and learned everything she could from him about the grape. The Tiberios began cultivating the grape and Cristiana eventually developed her own style with the wine.
Cristiana with her Abruzzese Shepherds Quarmari and Frida in the vineyards. Photo courtesy of Cristiana.


In my conversation with Cristiana for my last post, I asked her what customers could expect from a bottle of  Pecorino.  She noted it’s often likened to a fuller-bodied Sauvignon Blanc, but it’s also very much its own grape and very evocative of the Mediterranean. She shared, “I love its energy, with beautiful depth balanced by the minerality. An authentic Pecorino has herbal flavours of sage, thyme, rosemary, and always a little zest of lemon.” You might also find apple and pear flavor, as well as light floral notes, and lots of minerality. Pecorino will also tend to be high in alcohol, and it is also high in glycerol, both of which add to the body of the wines, but all of this is balanced by high acidity as well.


Tiberio vineyards. Photo courtesy of Cristiana Tiberio.



THE WINE & PAIRING


Cristiana noted the Pecorino is generally a very food-friendly wine, but when I asked for her pairing recommendations to go with the 2016 bottling of her wine, she had a great recommendation: “My favorite food pairing for my Pecorino, especially for an aged vintage is a chickpea soup with saffron. Pecorino has a long creamy texture able to support and to match the flavour of saffron and the legumes expanding the length of these flavours and at the same time to add lift with its minerality.”

On the day we opened the wine, Greg and I picked up notes of pears, apples, and lemon. There were savory herbal notes, as well as tasty hints of cheese rind. The same notes continued on the palate along with some fleshier stone fruit notes, and even some faint tropical fruit notes of pineapple as it warmed in the glass. The wine gave a savory impression overall, with lots of herbs (Greg likened it to sourgrass), that hint of salty cheese, little white flowers that are just starting to dry, and hints of toasted almond skin.

Cristiana had mentioned that Pecorino tends to not be super aromatic, but will be more complex and full-bodied on the palate. Pretty much echoing this sentiment, Greg commented that the “depth of flavor is bigger than you’d expect on the nose.”

I suspect that several of these flavors, like the cheese rind and toasted almond skin, were coming from the fact that this wine was now a few years old, but I found them to be very attractive and added to the complexity. I’d be curious to age a bottle further to see where it goes.

Since Cristiana’s pairing recommendations sounded so delicious, we kept them in mind as we tasted the wine and built our pairing around it. The complexity of flavors and the body and texture of the wine also suggested it could handle quite a mix of flavors. What we ended up with was a kind of deconstructed seafood stew. Rather, it was a stew with seafood served on top. I opted for a simply prepared combo of cod and shrimp.

The breadth of flavors was really concentrated in the stew coming from first from saffron and herbs. I also happened to have some bits of ham and salami hanging around that I thought would work, so I tossed them in. This is totally optional, so to my pescatarian friends, feel free to leave it out. For my vegetarian friends, go ahead leave off the seafood – the stew is plenty flavorful on its own. 


That salty cheese note made it so that I really couldn’t resist the temptation to incorporate some Pecorino cheese into the pairing as well. Moreover, it is a pairing recommendation I saw more than once for Pecorino wines in general. As you might guess, the region does have a tradition of making this class of these cheeses known as Pecorino Abruzzese. Hey, “what grows together, goes together.”

It was a delicious combo, with flavors in the food and wine mirroring and rounding each other out. The wine was a really refreshing counterpoint to the food, while simultaneously matching the richness of the stew. I think this would be a great option for a dinner party because you could easily make the stew in advance (it’d probably taste even better), and just make the seafood right as you’re about to serve. Feel free to swap in other seafood options as well –– pretty sure this wine would easily match whatever you decide to swap in.


OTHER POSSIBILITIES


The importer’s website also recommends pasta, legumes, white meats, cheeses. Other recommendations I found include steamed white fish with ginger and chicken thighs with roasted red pepper and onion. This article I found about Pecorino cheese includes recipes for cacio e pepe and fava con pecorino – I think they’d all work beautifully together.

If you’re looking for other wines to pair with this dish, look for full-bodied white and rosĂ© wines with savory notes. Options such Soave Classico, Pinot Bianco, or Lugana could work nicely. If you’re making the stew on its own or a less delicate fish like salmon or trout, savory light-bodied reds should work as well.

Maybe grab one from each category from Tiberio’s line-up and report back!


THE GEEKY DETAILS


Tiberio farms sustainably and all of their wines are made with free-run juice and native yeasts.

The Sorting Table’s website (importer) has a very detailed tech sheet for this wine. Here are just a  few of the basics:

Grape Variety:  100% massal selection Pecorino
Total area under vine:  3 hectares
Altitude:  350 meters a.s.l
Soil composition:  Limestone with marly-gravel subsoil
Average vine age: 16
Vinification:  No press, just free run juice
Alcoholic fermentation:  In stainless steel tanks
Malolactic fermentation:  None
Aging:  Six to eight months in tanks and another three to four months in bottle. (Per Vinous.com)
Technical Information
Alcohol:  13.5%

If you really want to geek out and take a closer look at Pecorino, and its progression in Tiberio’s vineyards, I highly recommend checking out this article by Ian D’Agata for Vinous.com. By total coincidence, I happened to attend a seminar he was giving in SF over the weekend (so in between these two posts). It struck me that he mentioned Tiberio’s wines several times throughout the day even though the day’s topic didn’t have anything to do with Abruzzo. More specifically related to this article, in Native Wine Grapes of Italy he notes her as an expert on the Pecorino grape and highlights the Tiberio, Cataldi Madonna, and Cocci Griffoni as the three best examples of the wine in Italy.


MONEY TALK


I believe I got my bottle from Wine.com. They currently have the 2018 available for $24. (The average price across all vintages on WineSearcher.com is $21.) I think that’s a great price for such a thoughtfully made bottle that also happens to be a benchmark for the variety, making this wine an absolutely Solid Value and probably an Overachiever as well. 


 

I can’t recall when I first tried one of Tiberio’s wines, but last year they seemed to keep crossing my path. I then had the chance to meet winemaker Cristiana Tiberio when she came to pour at BĂątonnage Forum last year, and where I took the picture above. It also gave me the chance to taste through the full line up of her wines, which impressed me with their elegance and freshness.

My friend Maura, with whom I collaborate on Della Donna, had the chance to visit and taste with Cristiana at her winery in Abruzzo and spoke glowingly about the experience. All of this inspired me to want to get to know the wines and the woman behind them better.

The Tiberio line-up, photo by Maura Passinisi.
The Tiberio landscape, photo taken by Maura.

 In that spirit, I recently reached out to Cristiana and she kindly answered questions regarding the family estate, her background, winemaking style and more. I’m so excited to share our conversation with you today. I also asked for her recommendations for pairing her delicious Pecorino, which I used in creating a Saffron Chickpea Stew with Cod and Shrimp. I’ll be sharing that recipe in my next post. 

We’ll get to the interview in just one moment, but here’s just a little bit of background first. Azienda Agricola Tiberio is located in Abruzzo in central Italy, a mountainous region along the Adriatic Sea. If you drive east from Rome, you hit Abruzzo.
Map courtesy of WineFolly.com

Tiberio is located near the medieval town of Cugnoli, not far as the crow flies from the seaside city Pescara.  (I invite you to check out this post for more background on Abruzzo.)

Riccardo Tiberio, Cristiana’s father, had been an export manager for a cantina in the region. He eventually found a plot of 60-year old Trebbiano Abruzzese vines and purchased it in 2000. He released his first wine in 2004, then turned over the reins to his kids in 2008 with Cristiana as the winemaker. 

Cristiana trained all over the world with a seriously impressive list of winemakers including Jacques Selosse in Champagne, Nicolas Joly at Coulee de Serrant, Egon Muller in the Mosel, with various producers in Chablis, and in Australia’s Clare Valley. 

Without further ado let’s get into our conversation. I can’t think of a better way of kicking off Women’s History Month! 

Cristiana with her Abruzzese Shepherds Quarmari. Photo courtesy of Cristiana.Photo courtesy of Crisitiana Tiberio.

There’s a lot of love in the air around here right now.

As you know, Valentine’s just passed, then a couple of days later Greg and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary!

We’ve always kept Valentine’s pretty chill. Even before our wedding anniversary landed right after it, we usually opted to celebrate it a day or two before or after to avoid crowded restaurants, or we’d order in on the actual day. We’re even more low key about it now.

Nonetheless, I still like to mark the day with something a little special. A cheese and charcuterie spread is one of my favorite ways to spend a Date Night In, and that’s exactly what we did. (Let’s be honest, I’ve shared more than one of these on this blog. Check out a few others at the end.) While Valentine’s Day has now passed, hopefully, this will serve as inspiration for some tasty Date Nights In of your own. Of course, that date doesn’t have to be with a partner. Make a date to hang out with buds or fam and spread the good vibes around!

Our cheese and charcuterie spread, clockwise from left: R & G Cheese Makers Eclipse ash-ripened goat cheese, a basic Manchego, Brooklyn Cured Uncured Sweet Soppressata, R & G Cheese Makers Goat's Milk Camembert, Journeyman Meat Co. Romano - Palmer Finnochiona Italian Salame with Fennel and Fennel Pollen.

Food is definitely my love language, and on this particular evening, I decided to express it by baking the bread. I’m a big fan of the No-Knead Bread recipe developed by Jim Lahey, of Sullivan Street Bakery. You do need to start things a few days in advance, but it is so soooo easy and the results are really fantastic. A while back a friend gave me a sourdough starter, so now I make this sourdough version from the NYT Cooking. (That’s behind a paywall, so here is another version that isn’t, although I haven’t tried this recipe yet.) Of course, you can keep things easy and buy a loaf – treat yourself to a good one.

Bread ✔
Cheese ✔
Charcuterie ✔

Now for the wine. I’d recently been sent a media sample bottle of Paula Kornell Blanc de Noirs Napa Valley 2017 (SRP $50, 12.5% abv) and what better day to pop it open than on Valentine’s Day?! Paula Kornell launched her namesake brand in 2019, and the 2017 wines were the inaugural vintage!

This is a new label, but one with a lot of history behind it. Paula grew up with sparkling wine as the family business. Her father Hanns, was the third generation of a winemaking family in his native Germany. He was forced to leave his home after being released from a concentration camp during WWII, and eventually made his way to California. He and his wife, Marilouise, were eventually able to buy the historic Larkmead Estate and established Hanns Kornell Champagne Cellars in Napa Valley in 1958.

Paula worked in father’s winery, and once the winery closed in 1992, she went onto work in varied and prestigious roles in the California wine world including as general manager of several wineries, as well as serving as chair of Napa Valley Wine Auction (now Auction Napa Valley), and president of the board of directors for Napa Valley Vintners. She started a wine consulting company in 2014 and her own ultimately the Paula Kornell wine label. I’d say all of this make this wine a good lead into Women’s History Month next month as well!




On the nose, I picked up notes of ripe lemons and gold apples. On the palate, the apples were a mix of gold and green, which were joined by baked pears, strawberries, and stone fruits accented by sweet spice notes. There were also light floral notes of honeysuckle and chamomile, and tiny savory hints of thyme and salted almonds.

This is a traditional method sparkling wine and is made up of 98% Pinot Noir, and 2% Chardonnay and aged for 20 months on the lees. The winery also recommends it paired with prosciutto, Époisses, figs, chicken liver pĂątĂ©, anchovy pizza, or a goat cheese omelette.
 
By coincidence, shortly after Valentine's I had the chance to attend a reception for Paul Kornell, during which I also got to try their California Brut, as well as a special bottling. All were delicious. The California Brut is great value buy with an SRP of $22. I have sample bottle waiting for me, so we may be revisiting it soon.

* * * * *

I think it might be a requirement that one has chocolate on Valentine’s Day, and I was more than happy to comply. I baked up these Fudgy Nutella Brownies. They were off the hook!

You might notice that this is in a pie shape rather than in typical brownie bars. A couple of pans have gone missing around here, but I wasn’t about to let that keep us from good brownies, so into the pie dish the batter went. This picture also doesn't do justice to how good they were. They look dry in this pic, but they weren't in the least. These were also ribbons of chocolate hazelnut deliciousness running throughout.

Ruby port is an ideal pairing for dark chocolate desserts. The rule of thumb with dessert pairings is that you want the wine to be sweeter than the dessert, if not the wine will taste kind of sour. Keeping with this point, I personally find that they tend to work better with darker and denser chocolate desserts, rather than milk chocolate and/or less dense chocolate desserts. While these brownies were still pretty sweet, the bitter edge of the dark chocolate helped offset the sweetness and they worked solidly with the wine.

By comparison, we also tried this wine with chocolate pots de crĂšme on another evening. While I tried to limit the sweetness in the custards and also used bittersweet chocolate, the cream lightened up chocolate, and they didn’t pair quite as well together with the Ruby Port as the brownies. Going in a completely different direction, this is also a great pairing with strong cheeses.

We enjoyed the Warre’s Warrior Finest Reserve Port NV (sample bottle, average price $18, 20% abv) with our brownies. The company that would eventually become Warre’s was founded in 1670. The Warrior label first shipped in the 1750’s and has been made ever since, making it the oldest continuously produced brand of Port.

On the nose, this wine shows notes of chocolate-dipped black cherries, dark plums, black licorice,  and a hint of smoke. The same notes continued on the palate, along with raspberry and blackberry candy and tiny a hint of pepper. 

We’re not going to get into all the different types of Port today, as there are quite a few, but very basically Ruby Ports are usually the entry-level Ports. Gateway Ports, if you will. They’re usually bottled with less than three years of age, but are ready to drink as soon as you open them. No need to age these guys further. They’re full of sweet, ripe berry flavors.

This is a Reserve Ruby Port, which means it was aged in cask for longer than the average Ruby – up to 5 years for bottling. (The tech sheet for this one did not specify how long this one was aged.) It’s also usually a blend of higher quality wines than a basic Ruby. There’s also no need age these guys any further either – they’re ready to drink!

No need to worry about finishing these in one sitting either. Ruby Ports (basic or reserve) will keep for 4 to 6 weeks after being opened.

If you want to take a deeper dive into the world of Port, here are a couple of good primer articles for further reading:
  • A Beginner's Guide to Port Wine: The World's Most Famous Fortified Wine on the Spruce Eats
  • and Wine Wednesday: Ruby Port vs Tawny Port on Wine Folly, which includes a video. 

If you're interested in trying variations on the No-Knead Bread recipe, I recommend Jim Lahey's  book My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method.  

As a little bonus, take inspo from the signature cocktail from the the Paula Kornell Reception.


As for our anniversary, we celebrated with a beautiful dinner at Iyasare in Berkely.

View this post on Instagram

#FBF to our beautiful Anniversary Dinner at @iyasareberkeley. 1. Ika Poppo - marinated & grilled whole squid / tempura tentacles / mentaiko aioli 🩑 2. Iyasare Kakiyage - burdock root / yellow onion / sweet potato / shiitake / shungiku / bonito soy broth / black tiger shrimp 🍠 3. Ocean Umami - Hokkaido scallop / ikura / sea urchin / nori gel / ume / chive oil 🐚 4. Okonomiyaki - shrimp / scallop / squid / cabbage / pork belly / ginger / japanese bbq sauce / mayo đŸ€ 5. Yasai Yaki - sauteed cauliflower / hachimitsu miso. đŸ„Š 6. Mekabetsu — fried brussels sprouts / black garlic oil / katsuobushi / lemon / shichimi 🍋 7. Nanbu Bijin Tokubetsu Junmai Southern Beauty. @nanbu_bijin
A post shared by Nicole Ruiz Hudson, DipWSET (@nibblinggypsy) on Feb 28, 2020 at 1:30pm PST



 Check out other wine and cheese date nights and posts here: 
  • A Wine & Cheese Night #MadeinFrance 
  • Valentine's Date Night with Broc Cellars Love Red & a Cheese Plate 
  • Champagne Dames, Lamiable Extra Brut, and a Hot Cheesy Mess  
  • Wine, Cheese, and Wine & Cheese Ice Cream from Humphry Slocombe, Domaine Carneros, and Laura Chenel 
  • Bringing Home Cahors with Clos d'Audhuy  
  • Champalou Vouvray Brut and a Very Lazy Cheese Night  
  • Bubbles, Books, & a Bloomy Rind: MoĂ«t & Chandon ImpĂ©rial Brut with a Good Read and a Cheese Board  

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links, from which I might earn a commission at no cost to you.


There are rosés, and then there are rosés.
 
I’m generally easy to please when it comes to rosĂ©. It’s easy, it’s refreshing, it pairs with a lot of different food, and it’s just as lovely on its own on a sunny afternoon. The color can’t help but hint at romance, or at very least whimsy. (And a happy Valentine’s weekend to you!)

In France, Provence is the rosĂ© capital, and their style is crisp, mineral driven, often with hints of herbs. They have an institute for the study of rosĂ©. They’ve got it dialed in. Even those that aren’t particularly interesting are usually quaffable. (Check out previous post on Provence here and here.)

Then there are a few rosĂ©s that are a cut above; that challenge your ideas of what rosĂ© can be; that are distinctive. Clos Cibonne’s rosĂ©s are in this camp for me, as they are quite unique. This is largely due to their obscure star grape: Tibouren. The grape is usually blended with better known Provençal grapes like Cinsault and Grenache, but Clos Cibonne became famous for putting it front and center in their reds and rosĂ©s.

Tibouren is an ancient variety and there are many competing theories on its history. Wine Grapes notes that it is said to have been introduced to the region by a sea captain named Antiboulen in the late 18th century. Over time, the word morphed into Tibouren. Jaime Goode says that it originated in Mesopotamia and it’s named for the Tiber River. He says it was imported to Italy by the Greeks, and Caesar brought it with him to France, where it became established in Provence. Others say it came from Antibes in southeastern France, but there isn’t much proof other than the resemblance of the name.



Map borrowed from WineFolly.com.

The debate goes on, but however it got to France, it nearly met its end when phylloxera hit. Like so many other grapes, it was nearly wiped out by the vicious louse, and a lot of grapes were not replanted afterwards. Tibouren was nearly one of those varieties because it’s a finicky little sucker – it ripens unevenly, given uneven yields, is susceptible to a lot disease, and takes a lot of work to grow.

Lucky for Tibouren, however, it found a champion in AndrĂ© Roux, whose family owned Clos Cibonne. (The family had purchased the estate from a sea captain named Jean Baptiste de Cibon generations before.) When AndrĂ© took over the management of the property in the 1930’s, he began converting areas of the estate that had been growing fruit and flowers, to vineyards. In the process he rediscovers Tibouren and begins to replant it on their 15 hectares of vineyards. The estate is near Toulon, very close to the ocean, and the breezes help to keep the disease pressures at bay. It’s also able to reach full maturity in the sunny mediterreanen climate. AndrĂ© ultimately dedicated his life to improving the vineyards and working with Tibouren.

His work earned Clos Cibonne’s vineyards one of 18 'Cru ClassĂ©' designations in the region at the time. The chĂąteau also received special permission to list the grape on the label, which isn’t typical for Provence.

Tibouren tends to have very distinctive aromas with floral and berry notes, as well as earthiness and scents of garrigue. The flavors become even more distinctive in some of their rosés thanks to the process they use to make it. The wines are fermented in stainless steel and then aged in then aged in 100-year-old, 1500L foudres. They allow a layer of fleurette (aka flor, a thin veil of yeast) to form much like in fino sherry. The flor adds more layers of complexity to the flavors and textures of the wine.

As for the winery’s modern history, it passed from AndrĂ© Roux to his daughter Jacqueline and her husband Emile Mourchou, then onto their daughter Bridget and her husband Claude Deforge. They’ve worked hard to update the winery and renovate the cellars, while preserving their traditions.


THE WINE AND PAIRING


Today’s wine is the Clos Cibonne CĂŽtes de Provence Tibouren CuvĂ©e Tradition RosĂ© 2017. The wine is 90% Tibouren, and 10% Grenache – that splash is basically to comply with the appellation’s rules.





On the day we opened the wine, we picked up notes of stone fruits, yellow flowers, chamomile, and tangerine skin on the nose. On the palate there were notes of peach, pink grapefruit, crushed strawberries, rainier cherry, and peach blossoms. There were also more complex notes of preserved lemons, savory herbs, cloves, and hints of other earthy, exotic spices. None of these notes were overwhelming. They kind of just danced in the background, so the wine was complex, but retained a delicacy. There was a beeswax roundness to the texture, all held up by fresh acidity.

This is a wine that could work easily with lots of different dishes, but for this pairing I wanted to tease out the more exotic notes in the wine. We considered fleshier fish like trout and salmon, or shellfish like shrimp, but ultimately went with chicken. I wanted to play with big flavors like preserved lemons (which can be made or store-bought), but keep them subtle in the food as they were in the wine, so I layered them lightly through various components and I relied on citrus flavors as a framework to keep things fresh and bright.

I opted for chicken breasts and prepared them sous vide. Among the things this technique is best for, is preparing foods that are easily overcooked such as delicate fish, pork tenderloin, and yes, chicken breasts. Not going to lie to you, we kind of find chicken breasts boring around here. We’re dark meat people. It certainly doesn’t help matters that chicken breasts dry out so easily.

Prepare them sous vide and all those problems go away. You can also play around with texture and temperatures that aren’t possible when you cook them through traditional means, due to health hazards that are no longer a problem when prepared this way. However, even if the thought of eating medium-rare chicken totally grosses you out and you cook them to a more standard level of doneness, the chicken remains very juicy. I opted for a temperature just a few degrees less than what might be considered normal, and then gave the chicken breasts a good sear afterwards to add a little charred smoky flavor.

(All of that said, you can absolutely prepare this dish the old-fashioned way and I give some general instructions for doing so at the end of the recipe.)

While the chicken breasts were cooking, I had my hands completely free and decided to make a couple of sides – couscous and roasted carrots. Both were pretty simple preparations, but gave me the chance to weave in flavors in different ways.

We loved this pairing. The combination pumped up the wine and subtly brought out those exotic notes, just as I’d been hoping. The pairing amplified the stone fruit and tangerine flavors in the wine, and brought out a little hint of curry. Greg noted that it also made the wine feel more robust. My only problem was that I had to keep myself from gulping down the wine, and had to remind myself to slow down and savor it.
Photo credit on all of the food and wine pics to Greg Hudson.


OTHER POSSIBILITIES


I looked at multiple suggestions when considering what to pair with this wine, a lot of which sounded delicious. The importer’s website says  it makes a great pairing with red mullet fillets or tomato bouillabaisse, which I think would be fantastic. The winery’s website adds lamb curry. Elsewhere I saw green tomatoes, saffron, curry, and grilled chicken

As far as other wines to pair with this dish, I think fresher styles of orange wines (aka skin contact white wine) would be excellent here. Robust white wines with complex flavors balanced by good acidity, like white Rioja, South African Chenin, and Ribolla Gialla, could make for intriguing matches.


THE GEEKY DETAILS


Taken from the tech sheet on the importer’s website.

Grapes: 90% Tibouren, 10% Grenache
Vine Age: 30+ years
Site: Le Pradet at 50m
Soil: Schist
Farming: Practicing Organic
Vinification: Native yeast fermentations. After fermentation the wine is aged on the lees under fleurette for 1 year in 100-year-old foudres.


MONEY TALK


The SRP on this wine is $29 (the average on Wine Searcher is $27) and I think I paid just over that. I think that’s a Solid Value for a unique, carefully made wine, with so much history behind it.
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Somm's Table 2017