Cornas La Louvée

Jean-Luc Colombo has been a renowned enologist in the Rhône Valley since the early 1980s. His consultations at prestigious estates across the Rhône quickly earned him a reputation for helping produce incredible expressions of this rugged terroir. But his greatest contribution to the wine world is the exceptional wines he crafts alongside his wife, Anne, and daughter, Laure. The Cornas-based Colombo winery has earned impressive international recognition bringing modern viticultural practices to the region — and for creating beautifully concentrated, balanced, and fresh styles of syrah. Living among their vineyards and wetlands, the family have been committed to sustainable farming, achieving organic certification for their estate vineyards from Ecocert in 2016.

The heart of the Colombo winery is based in Cornas, one of the smallest appellations in the Rhône Valley with 375 acres. Cornas, the birthplace of Syrah, has 300 million year old decomposed granite subsoils and dry-farmed vineyards, as irrigation is not permitted. Maximum yields are 34 hl/ha. La Louvée (The She-Wolf) is a single vineyard 2 acre parcel within La Cote with 80-year-old+ vines with 30° slope and a yield 22 hl/ha.

Grapes are hand-harvested and de-stemmed. Fermentation takes places in stainless steel tanks. The wine is aged for 22 months in French oak barrels (15% in new oak, 85% in one- to three-year old barrels). The wine is bottled unfiltered and is vegan.

A concentrated notes showing notes of incense, black pepper with a slight meaty touch. On the palate, the tannins are supple and well-integrated layered with ripe black fruit.