![VIVC12434 TIBOUREN Cluster in the laboratory 4963](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/VIVC12434_TIBOUREN_Cluster_in_the_laboratory_4963.jpg)
Tibouren or Rossese di Dolceacqua is a red
French wine
French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...
grape variety
This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...
that is primarily grown in
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
and
Liguria
it, Ligure
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but originated in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
and possibly even the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
. Intensely
aromatic
In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic ( ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to satur ...
, with an earthy bouquet that wine expert
Jancis Robinson describes as ''
garrigue
Garrigue or garigue ( ), also known as phrygana ( el, φρύγανα , n. pl.), is a type of low scrubland ecoregion and plant community in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.
It is found on limestone soils in southern ...
'', Tibouren is often used in the production of ''
rosés''.
[ J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'' pg 203 Mitchell Beazley 1986 ][Wine Pros ']
Tibouren entry
'' ''The Oxford Companion to Wine
''The Oxford Companion to Wine'' (''OCW'') is a book in the series of Oxford Companions published by Oxford University Press. The book provides an alphabetically arranged reference to wine, compiled and edited by Jancis Robinson, with contribution ...
''. Accessed: February 21, 2011 [J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 22 Oxford University Press 1996 ]
While the unique aroma and character of the wines produced by Tibouren are valued by producers, it is not a widely planted variety. This is due, in part, to the
viticultural
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
issues of the grape's sensitivity to
coulure
Coulure (pronounced coo-LYUR) is a viticultural hazard that is the result of metabolic reactions to weather conditions that causes a failure of grapes to develop after flowering. In English the word ''shatter'' is sometimes used. Coulure is trigge ...
and tendency to produce highly irregular
yields from
vintage
Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
to vintage.
The wines produced from Rossese are a local specialty found around
Dolceacqua.
[ J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition pg 149 Abbeville Press 2003 ]
History
![Marseille and Saint Tropez in Provence highlighted](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Marseille_and_Saint_Tropez_in_Provence_highlighted.jpg)
While Tibouren today is almost exclusively associated with the Provence wine region, French
ampelographer
Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of the ...
Pierre Galet
Pierre Galet (28 January 1921 – 30 December 2019) was a French ampelographer and author who was an influential figure within ampelography in the 20th century and before DNA typing was widely introduced. Beginning in the 1950s, Pierre Galet introd ...
suspects that the grape probably has Greek origins or possibly
Middle Eastern. Galet's theory derives from the uniquely shaped leaves of the Tibouren vine, which include deeply incised
lobes that are usually seen in ''
Vitis
''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, ...
'' families of the Middle East. He speculates that over the evolution of the grape its ancestor vines were brought to Greece and from there it was probably introduced to France by
the Ancient Greeks at their settlement in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
.
One competing theory is that the variety was a relatively recent import to Provence that was introduced to
Saint-Tropez, to the east of Marseille, in the 18th century by a naval sea captain named Antiboul (from which several synonyms of Tibouren are derived).
Wine regions
Tibouren is a permitted grape variety in several ''
Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bou ...
'' (AOC) wine regions of Provence, most notably the large
Côtes de Provence AOC, which accounts for more than 75% of all Provence wine. The AOC runs
non-contiguously from
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...
west to Marseille and is the source of many ''rosé'' wines. Here Tibouren, like all grape varieties in the AOC, is limited to a maximum yield of 55 hectoliters per hectare with the finish wine needing to attain a minimum alcohol level of 11%. While it is primarily used for ''rosés'' it can also be included in red wine blends. Tibouren is often blended with, for both reds and ''rosés'',
Grenache,
Syrah,
Cinsault
Cinsaut or Cinsault ( ) is a red wine grape whose heat tolerance and productivity make it important in Languedoc-Roussillon and the former French colonies of Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco. It is often blended with grapes such as Grenache and C ...
,
Mourvedre,
Carignan
Carignan (also known as Mazuelo, Bovale Grande, Cariñena, Carinyena, Samsó, Carignane, and Carignano) is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterra ...
and
Cabernet Sauvignon.
[ P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 66-67 Firefly Books 2004 ]
Viticulture and winemaking
![Several Rhone and Provence roses](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Several_Rhone_and_Provence_roses.jpg)
Tibouren can be a difficult grape to cultivate due to the irregularly of the
harvest yields it produces, often brought on by its sensitivity to coulure. This is one reason why Tibouren is often used as a blending grape rather than as a
varietal
A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...
wine. In blends, particularly the ''rosés'' of Provence, Tibouren contributes earthy aroma notes that are often described as ''garrigue''.
Synonyms
Over the years, Tibouren and its wines have been known under a variety of
synonyms including Antibois, Antiboulen, Antiboulène, Antibouren, Antibourin, Gaysserin, Geysserin, Gueipperim noir, Guesserin, Rosese, Rosese Nero, Rosseis, Rossese, Rossese di Dolceacqua, Rossese di Ventimiglia, Rossese Nericcio, Rossese Nero, Rossese Rossa, Sarreiron, Tiboulen, Tiboulin, Tibouren noir, Tibourin and Tibourin noir.
Clones and other varieties
According to the
Vitis International Variety Catalogue
The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...
, a few clonal variants of Tibouren exist that are distinct from the main dark-skinned ''noir'' variety. These include a white wine grape variety, Tibouren blanc, and a non-
hermaphroditic
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...
female grape vine known as Tibouren gris.
A separate white French wine grape variety, known as
Bicane (best known for being a parent of
Gutenborner), has ''Tibouren gris'' as a synonym but there is currently no known connection between this grape and Tibouren noir.
Bicane
Vitis International Variety Catalogue
The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...
, Accessed: February 21, 2011
References
{{reflist
Red wine grape varieties