Jean Luc Colombo winery
Properties: 10 choice hectares around Cornas and St. Peray. They also purchase grapes from other districts in the Rh ne where he works as consultant-winemaker. The controversial, dynamic and revolutionary winemaker Jean-Luc Colombo has sparked off many changes in the Rh ne Valley. Aside from owning vineyards on steep and granitic terraces in Cornas and St. Perey, Jean-Luc Colombo and his wife Anne, both winemakers of prestige, manage the most important winemaking consultancy in the region. Destemming and long maceration periods are among his preferences to obtain smoother tannins, as is the use of new oak for secondary fermentation and bottling with little if any filtration. Colombo is renowned for his rich and powerful wines made with the Syrah grape grown on the steep vineyards of Cornas. But at the same time, Colombo is growing an increasing number of other varieties in the Rh ne, such as the white grape Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne. More recently, Jean-Luc has been exploring the winegrowing potential of the C te Bleue, a small peninsula on the Proven al coast near his birthplace of Marseille. This narrow strip, almost entirely surrounded by water, enjoys a cool climate and the intense Mediterranean sunshine, a combination which Jean-Luc believes shall soon produce some of the best wines in the region. His delicious and thirst-quenching ros 'Les Pins Couch s' is grown here. Production: 600,000 bottles of which 60% is exported.