Description
Domaine de Ramatuelle, Tibouren Rosé
When Ramatuelle’s fascinatingly distinct Tibouren rosé was imported to America for the first time ever last year, we were awed by your response: Our stock flew out of the warehouse and within a few weeks’ time, emails and phone calls began flowing in, asking for more. Although it’s been a long wait, their 2020 release has just landed and it’s just as fresh, mineral, and finely textured as we remember. There is a pronounced energy and clear sense of identity to Provence’s top rosés, but some just go the extra mile.
Take Domaine de Ramatuelle’s special bottling: It hails from old vines (averaging 50 years with the oldest over 110!) and is largely constructed from Tibouren, a rarely encountered grape thought to have originated in the cradle of wine some 2,500+ years ago. Aside from Ramatuelle and Clos Cibonne, I cannot think of another Tibouren rosé on the US market, so instead of searching wine lists and retail shelves in perpetuity, I urge you to make a move on today’s fresh 2020 bottling. Its singular mineral imprint and sun-kissed fruit equate to pure, irrepressible deliciousness in the glass. In fact, when summer comes to an end, we urge you to line up all the rosés you’ve devoured, and I bet Ramatuelle’s unique gem will be jockeying for the top spot!
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In concert with an impressive list of sustainable growers, Domaine de Ramatuelle is not actually located in the town of Ramatuelle, but further inland in Brignoles, one of the many historic and charming villages that pepper the sprawling hillsides of Côtes de Provence. Aside from crafting pure, clean wines with a marked sense of terroir, Ramatuelle has also found immense passion in reviving the ancient, time-honored Tibouren grape, which can trace its roots well beyond the Roman Empire.
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Today’s Tibouren-dominated cuvée is rounded out with 15% Grenache, both of which come from two, Mediterranean Sea-hugging communes: Ramatuelle and Gassin, just below the world-favorite destination of Saint-Tropez. Within these two communes, Ramatuelle’s team of growers sustainably farms 35 small, unique, sandy-schist parcels that are predominantly old vines planted in the 1950s—with some planted in the early 1900s! After harvesting in September, the grapes are briefly macerated before the delicate juice undergoes a temperature-controlled fermentation with indigenous yeasts. It aged on its fine lees in concrete and stainless steel tanks for a few months before bottling with a very low dose of sulfur.
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In the glass, Ramatuelle’s Tibouren pours a highly reflective salmon pink with silver hues. As long as you have a cold bottle (45 degrees) and an all-purpose stem, there’s no need for anything else. That’s the beauty of Provençal rosé: It’s not finicky or demanding—just pop and pour and enjoy one of the greatest refreshments known to mankind. This 2020 release blasts out ultra-pure and mouth-watering notes that are a bit more generous than last year’s release, making it even more enticing. You’ll uncover fleshy notes of white peach, crushed raspberry, grapefruit zest, Rainier cherry, citrus blossoms, tangerine peel, crushed stones, garrigue, and hints of white pepper. The palate is supercharged with piquant, zesty layers of pulverized minerals and further carried by wonderfully lush textures of white and red fruits. Drink up now and throughout the next year. Cheers!
