Cheeseboard Dipping Oil & Tibouren Rosé
aka the easiest most dopamine-inducing snack with one of the BEST rosés in the world!!
Hello helloooo! This one’s coming to you a bit late today due to technical and Achilles-related issues, but WE HERE HI.
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This may not be news to you, but a couple of weeks ago, I ruptured my Achilles. Like, fully torn in half. It’s a crazy injury that takes months to heal, and up to a year to get back to normal. I’ve been in a cast for the last two weeks, and today I finally saw an Orthopedic surgeon to figure out my next steps!! Good news overall: starting to weight bear as of today and NO SURGERY! woooo.
Anyways, as you can probably imagine, it has reeeeally changed things for me. Toddler wrangling went from challenging to HOW THOUGH, and recipe testing + filming (aka 80% of what I do) have become significantly harder.
BUT. I was able to keep creating in my first trimester of pregnancy when my mental health fell off a cliff. And in my third trimester, when I became a walking water balloon. And in the depths of newborn chaos. So, AS IF I’m going to let a little injury stand in my way.
Of course it has changed things a teeeeeny tiny bit. For one, I’m craving all the intensely salty, umami, cheese/charcuterie-filled things (because dopamine). Not much of a change from my norm TBH, but a reality nonetheless. And two, I’m 1000% drawn to easier recipes. Because spending hours cooking is not my jam right now.
Enter: Cheeseboard Dipping Oil. Super easy and customizable (so you can probably create some version of it in less than 10 minutes without leaving the house), and most importantly, she’s absolutely DELISH.
I realize I’m throwing a whole lot of rosé at you these days. Probably because I post what I crave, and your girl is really into rosé right now. And while there are many possible amazing pairings for this recipe (options listed below!!), I just couldn’t help myself with this one!!!
Le Clos Cibonne Tibouren Tradition Rosé
Produced by Le Clos Cibonne (“Cru Classé”, Côtes de Provence); $43 on wine.com.
If you’ve been following along, you probably know I’m in love with a classic Provence rosé. And while this beauty is from Provence, it is nowhere near classic.
It’s been deemed one of THE BEST rosés in the world!! And yes, it’s not $20. But for such an iconic wine, $43 isn’t bad!!! (USD though. So so sorry my fellow Canadians and my Australian friends.)
All about the wine (and why it’s so awesome):
The grape: It’s made from a unique grape variety called Tibouren - a thin-skinned black grape that’s hard to grow, unique to the south of France, and has super cool savoury characteristics.
Fun fact: We almost lost Tibouren to phylloxera (a little destructo-dickhead-of-a-pest that destroyed ancient vines and wreaked havoc on the entire wine industry in the 19th century), BUT it was rescued and prized by Clos Cibonne, the producer of this wine!
The producer: Clos Cibonne has taken Tibouren under its wing, and it has become a key part of its identity. And when a producer is that focused on a single variety, they do it WELL.
How it’s made:
As with most rosé from Provence, it’s first fermented in stainless steel, which doesn’t impart any new flavour onto the wine.
But here’s where it gets cool: After fermentation, it’s aged for over a year in very large, 100+ year-old casks (called “foudres”), under a layer of live yeast called “fleurette” (aka flor).
The size and age of the casks mean they don’t add any of the oaky/buttery flavours to the wine, and the fleurette + the oak work together to create a very controlled oxidative environment. This allows for a slow and steady amount of oxygenation over time, and a yeasty, nutty, savoury, super deliciously unique wine.
Another fun fact: Flor is also common in the production of dry Sherry (i.e., Fino sherry); this process is different from aging wine “on the lees” or “sur lie”, which is much more common and means the wine ages on dead yeast cells (a product of fermentation).
How it looks and tastes: Provence rosé is usually a lovely salmony-pink, but this one is much closer to full-on salmon. It’s also rich and oily (also like salmon lols), and while it has some red fruit and stone fruit flavours, it’s mostly savoury, herbal, nutty, and a bit salty.
Why the pairing works:
Rosé is without question a top 5 cheeseboard wine (in my humble opinion), but there’s a reason I went with this specific one, and that is its rich, oily texture! All the beautiful fruit + savoury herbaceous flavours work wonderfully with the ingredients in this dipping oil, but when you throw in an oily texture that matches the oily dip oooooh boy she good 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Wine pairing alternatives:
Similar wine pairing options: If you can’t find this wine or it’s not in the budget, other rich rosés from the South of France would work as well! Look for a darker colour (anywhere from Coral to Salmon) and these words on a label: Tavel, Bandol, Côtes du Rhône, or Languedoc.
Different wine pairing ideas:
BUBBLES: Champagne or Crémant (rosé or not) or Lambrusco!! looove me a sparkling red with cheese/charcuterie boardz.
Vouvray demi-sec → Chenin Blanc from the Loire valley, and the Demi-sec means off-dry! I swear, a bit of sweetness with the rich gorgonzola and savoury olives is such a nice contrast. You could also go for an off-dry Riesling or a German or Alsatian Gewürztraminer!
Cru Beaujolais: High acidity and light-to-medium bodied, but the “cru” part usually means it has a bit more complexity and richness to stand up to the rich oil/parm/blue cheese. Fleurie is one of my favourites (but also one of the most expensive - sorry I’m becoming bougier as I age 😂), but Brouilly is another Cru that’s often similar but more affordable!
Or check out all my cold dip recipes here!
Keep reading for the full recipe + printable PDF recipe card
