Wines made from Colombard grapes of Guyenne
Discover the best wines made with Colombard as a single variety or as a blend of Guyenne.
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.
45 kilometres east of Bordeaux, Blasimon is perched on a hillside overlooking the Gamage, a tributary of the Dordogne. Its hilly sites and its calm make it an ideal place to relax. A Village of medieval origin, its origin reflects the traditional organization of the bastides. The city conceals one of the Romanesque jewels of the Gironde, the Benedictine abbey of the X-XIII th centuries.
I’d like to say we took advantage of the lockdown and its related commotion to do a stock-take, explore new avenues, turn over intriguing stones, widen and deepen our drinking, taking careful notes as we went. Sadly, no. I won’t say we got stuck in a rut, but we did tend to stick with comfort wines – and “comfort”, in our case, means familiar. Regular readers of this quarterly column can probably guess the labels on the resulting empties. We have a wider range of comfort foods, I’m afraid, than ...
Duckhorn Portfolio said it has acquired around 20 hectares (50 acres) of Napa Valley vineyards via separate deals. This includes 16 hectares (40 acres) of the Stanly Ranch vineyard in Los Carneros and the four-hectare (10 acre) Red Wing vineyard in St. Helena, said the group, which is listed under the ‘Napa’ ticker on the New York Stock Exchange. ‘As our portfolio has evolved to include 10 renowned luxury wineries, our commitment to having a robust estate vineyard programme continues to be centr ...
The project began life in 2019 as a Facebook group, created by Graves-based winemaker Jean-Baptiste Duquesne of Château Cazebonne. The positive reactions from both the public and fellow winemakers that followed prompted the group to pursue official recognition. ‘The idea started with me and with my friend Laurent David of Château Edmus in St-Emilion. He gave me the idea of the name “pirate”,’ Duquesne told Decanter. ‘So in December 2019, I created a Facebook group called Bordeaux Pirate to show ...