Cooking to the Wine: Clos Cibonne Tibouren Cuvée Tradition Rosé & Savory Citrus Chicken with Couscous (#Winophiles)



There are rosés, and then there are rosés.
 

I’m generally easy to please when it comes to rosé. 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 rosé capital, and their style is crisp, mineral driven, often with hints of herbs. They have an institute for the study of rosé. 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 rosés that are a cut above; that challenge your ideas of what rosé can be; that are distinctive. Clos Cibonne’s rosés 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 rosés.

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 André Roux, whose family owned Clos Cibonne. (The family had purchased the estate from a sea captain named Jean Baptiste de Cibon generations before.) When André 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. André ultimately dedicated his life to improving the vineyards and working with Tibouren.

His work earned Clos Cibonne’s vineyards one of 18 'Cru Classé' designations in the region at the time. The château 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 André 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 Côtes de Provence Tibouren Cuvée Tradition Rosé 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.



*****



For additional posts and pairings related to rosé, see these posts and recipes as well:


2 oz Pours: Looking at the World Through Rosé Colored Glasses 
2 oz Pours: 16 French Wine Values
Cooking to the Wine: Casa Rossa Rosé with Sardine & Roasted Zucchini Penne
8 & $20: Salmon and Goat Cheese Puffs
8 & $20: Turkey and Strawberry Salad with Baked Goat Cheese

8 & $20: Seared Scallops With Creamy Cheddar-Jalapeño Corn
8 & $20: Beet Risotto with Herbed Chicken Tenders
8 & $20 Pork Flautas with Guacamole and Rosé




*****



Sous Vide Savory Citrus Chicken

Sous Vide Savory Citrus Chicken

Yield: 4 to 6
Author:
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 70 Mtotal time: 80 M

ingredients:

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • Juice of ½ an orange
  • ¼ of a preserved lemon, minced
  • Sprig of sage leaves
  • 2 to 3 sprigs of thyme
  • ¼ tsp marjoram
  • 4 garlic cloves sliced
  • Scant pinch of clove
  • Pinch of turmeric
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Cooking oil such as olive oil
  • Dukkah, for garnish (optional)

instructions:

How to cook Sous Vide Savory Citrus Chicken

  1. Preheat sous vide circulator to desired temperature. Circulator set to 147°F for this preparation.  (Note: I recommend looking at these time/temperature guidelines from Anovaculinary.com to determine your ideal chicken texture and correlating temperature.)
  2. Fold over the edge of a sealable, food grade plastic bag, so as to avoid contaminating the outer edges. Place all ingredients except for the cooking oil in a bag, then carefully unfold the edges back up. Vacuum seal the bag, or use the water displacement technique by slowly submerging the bag into the water, letting the pressure of the water press air out through the top of the bag. Once most of the air is out of the bag, carefully seal the bag just above the waterline. Allow the chicken to cook for at least one hour (or timing indicated for your desired texture.)
  3. Once the chicken has cooked, remove from the plastic bag and pat dry. Strain and reserve the liquid and set aside.
  4. Heat a small amount of cooking oil in a pan until shimmering. Add the chicken to the pan, then allow it to sear until a light char has formed. Flip and sear on the second side.
  5. Remove from pan and slice. Serve with the couscous and roasted carrots and top with the reserved jus, gently reheating if needed. Top with dukkah if using.

NOTES:

If you don’t have a circulator for cooking sous vide, you can certainly make a version of these chicken breasts the old fashioned way. Combine all ingredients except for the butter in a bowl, and allow the chicken to marinate for about 30 minutes. You’ll need more liquid if preparing this way, add more orange juice and add olive oil as well using enough so the chicken can soak in it. After about 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the marinade, pat it dry, then sear in a pan or on the grill until cooked through. To use the marinade as a sauce, bring it to a boil in a small pot, the reduce temperature to a simmer and allow it to reduce to your desired consistency. If you’d like, swirl in the butter once you remove the pot from the heat for added richness.

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Preserved Lemon Couscous

Yield: 4 to 6
Author:
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 15 Mtotal time: 25 M

ingredients:

  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¼ of a preserved lemon, minced
  • ¼ to ½ tsp orange zest
  • pinch of clove
  • 1 cup couscous
  • Sprig of thyme
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Olive oil

instructions:

How to cook Preserved Lemon Couscous

  1. Bring a cup of water to boil in a pot, kettle, or microwave.
  2. Simultaneously, sweat the shallot in olive oil with a little salt and pepper over medium heat until starting to turn tender and translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Toss in the garlic and continue to cook for another 30 seconds to a minute. Add in the preserved lemons, orange zest, and clove and stir to combine. Add in the couscous and toss with the shallot mixture. Pour a cup of the hot water on top, and bring to a boil.
  3. Cover and let it sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, taste, adjust seasoning, and serve.

NOTES:

You can also do this with leftover couscous to give it new life. Sweat all the ingredients as described, toss in your leftover couscous, add a little hot liquid to soften it all up, then just leave on the stove just long enough to reheat it.

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Roasted Spiced Orange Carrots

Yield: 4 to 6
Author:
prep time: 5 Mcook time: 40 Mtotal time: 45 M
This is really a non-recipe since you don’t have to be exact on the quantities. Fill your pan with a single layer of carrots, toss with enough juice and seasoning to lightly coat, and roast away. I like to roast them till they start to shrivel a bit and taste candied.

ingredients:

  • Juice of ½ an orange (or as needed)
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • 2 to 3 bunches of carrots, trimmed of greens (The ones used here were pretty thin. Thicker carrots will just take longer to cook.)
  • 4 to 6 sage leaves, thinly sliced into strips
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Olive oil
  • Dukkah (optional, for garnish)

instructions:

How to cook Roasted Spiced Orange Carrots

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
  2. Combine the orange juice and mustard. Spread the carrots in a single layer in a roasting pan and drizzle with a generous pour of olive oil, followed by the juice mixture, and salt and pepper. Toss to coat well. Put the pan in the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
  3. Toss the carrots after 20 minutes and add more liquid to the pan if needed/desired, then return to the oven. Timing on the carrots will vary depending on their thickness and your desired consistency – you want them to be at least lightly browned and tender to slice, but leave them in longer if you want them to be more candied like the ones here. When the carrots are nearly at the point where you like them, sprinkle on the sage and cook for another 7 to 10 minutes so that the sage begins to turn slightly crispy. Total timing on these carrots was approximately 40 minutes.
  4. Remove the carrots from the oven. Serve sprinkled with dukkah if desired.

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*****
The rest of the French Winophiles (#Winophiles) blogging group is also exploring obscure grapes (aka Godforsaken Grapes) from France this month. Check them out here:



Additional sources used for this post and extra reading:
Wine Searcher 
The Buyer: The neglected Tibouren grape is re-discovered at Clos Cibonne 

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


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13 comments

  1. I think the dish sounds so good. We sous vide many things but not chicken. Got to give that a try.

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    Replies
    1. Definitely! It's one of my favorite things to cook in this way. Thanks Terri!

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  2. Wow, I really love your tasting note of this Tibouren...chamomile, tangerine skin peach blossoms, preserved lemons, savory herbs, cloves, and hints of earthy, exotic spices. Such a complex and elegant rose!

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  3. Oh my goodness, you make me want to get a bottle of this wine for sure....and the recipes...holy cow, they sound amazing.

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  4. You had me at Tibouren. I was onboard to learn more about a more obscure grape of Provençe. Then, their process with the fleurette. Is this process used very often in this region? I'm fascinated. Also, big thank you for the recipe. We have a sous vide machine, and find ourselves barely using it. I too am a dark meat girl when it comes to chicken, but now I am inspired break out the sous vide machine and try this recipe!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Robin. I think the technique of letting the fluerette develop is pretty unique. The flavors of the wine are definitely really different than most others from the area I've tried. Put that sous vide machine to work! Like I said, I find it most useful for items that are easy to overcook bc it allows to nails them exactly. The other thing I find it best for is for prepping ahead when guests are coming. I've also been having good results with making custards in it.

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  5. What an interesting wine! I like the idea of trying to come up with a dish that would draw out the exotic aspects of it.

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  6. Enjoyed learning about Tibouren and reading the history of this exotic grape. Kudos to André Roux for giving this grape some TLC and sharing it with the world.

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  7. So many roses are flooding the market now. It seems like if it it's pink, it sells and some wineries just make it because of that. So I totally agree with you that there are roses and there are roses, but I find those roses increasingly hard to discern because there are so many. Hopefully, I can find the Clos Cibonne! What a really nice sous vide chicken dish too with lemon couscous. It looks so juicy and healthy!

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Thanks so much for leaving your comments and questions. I always love to hear from you!