Wines made from Colombard grapes of Banyuls
Discover the best wines made with Colombard as a single variety or as a blend of Banyuls.
Colombard is one of the oldest grape varieties in the Charentes. This golden white grape variety is a cross between Chenin and Gouais. The young leaves of colombard are yellow with bronze patches. The adult leaves may be three-lobed or whole, depending on the variety. Its branches are cottony. The bunches of this variety are thick and cylindrical. Its elliptical berries are medium-sized. They change color until they ripen, ranging from greenish white to golden yellow. Colombard is associated with an average budding. It is particularly susceptible to leafhoppers, grape worms, mites, mildew, powdery mildew and gray mold. It is also sensitive to water stress, but is not very sensitive to wind. It ripens late in the second half of the year. There are a dozen approved clones of Colombard, the best known of which are 608, 607 and 606. This variety produces a full-bodied, fine white wine. Aromas of lime, nectarine, boxwood, citrus and exotic fruits are released.
Banyuls wines come from the South-eastern Part of Roussillon, in the south of France, in the lower Pyrenees, a few kilometres from the Spanish border. These naturally Sweet wines are consumed both as an aperitif and as a dessert. They come in a wide range of hues, from GoldenGreen (Banyuls Blanc) to Amber (Banyuls Ambré) to the intense garnet of the standard Banyuls Rouge. Unusually among the natural sweet wines of France, all Banyuls wines are made primarily from Grenache grapes of various colors.
An electronic dart was tossed at us recently by Decanter reader Tim Frances from Kent. It landed on the screen of our magazine editor Amy Wislocki; Amy lobbed it across the virtual room to me, suggesting a column-length reply. ‘Here’s a poser,’ Tim began. ‘How do your experts grade a wine that they find intellectually well made, but that they truly madly deeply dislike? I’ve tasted wines I can admire dispassionately, but would stab my feet with forks rather than drink them. Must be a conundrum f ...
Total sales at the Hospices de Nuits-St-Georges 2022 auction reached €2.49m ($2.74m) from 109 ‘pièces‘ of wines from the Burgundy 2021 vintage, said organisers. Held on Sunday 20 March, sales rose by nearly 30% on last year’s auction, which hit €1.9m from 114 pièces of 2020-vintage wines. One pièce is equivalent to 288 bottles. Sales were €1.6m back in 2020, and this year’s record total is more evidence of Burgundy’s strong momentum on the fine wine market. It also suggests the annua ...
The 0.27% of entries awarded Best in Show at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards reflect the inspiring world of wine and quest for quality among winemakers globally, with 50 wines expressing the best of their categories. An all-time record for wines tasted at the world’s largest wine competition, it’s quite possible that Decanter World Wine Awards 2022 marks the largest-ever wine competition to be held in history. And of the record-breaking 18,244 wines tasted, just 50 were ...