Colombo hails St-Péray as ‘white Cornas’

Her parents were among the early pioneers of Cornas, putting the northern Rhône AOC on the map and helping it to gain prominence against its more famous Côte Rôtie and Hermitage neighbours. Now, Laure Colombo is hoping to do same for the tiny white AOC appellation of St-Péray.

Laure Colombo, winemaker of Colombo & Filles, part of the Jean-Luc Colombo stable of wines

Jean-Luc and Anne Colombo bought their first vineyard in Cornas, in the southern Rhône, in 1986, when the appellation was almost completely unknown. Over the past three decades, the Colombo family has become one of the most well-known producers in the region, helping to raise its profile with international market. With vineyards predominantly in the 100% Syrah Cornas AOC and Provence further south, the family also sources grapes from vineyards in the Languedoc-Roussillon.

Laure Colombo joined the family business in 2012, having gained a viticulture degree from Bordeaux University and a winemaking degree from Montpellier. She’s also worked vintages at Grover Vineyard in India, Esk Valley in New Zealand and Château Haut-Brion.

“Since my parents started to make wines in Cornas, the style and taste of its wines has really changed,” said Colombo, speaking to the drinks business. “30 years ago it was really rustic where you would need to wait 30 years to drink it. Today, most of the wines are more refined, more balanced and fruit orientated.”

“Sometimes people are a bit nostalgic about the wines that went before, but I think it was not necessarily quality orientated. It was big yields, not very ripe with sugar added and fermented up to 11 degrees. It was aged in sometimes plastic tanks, so I think today in the vineyards and cellars we have made a lot of improvements.”

Three years ago Colombo launched her own label within the family’s portfolio, Colombo & Filles, with the intention of producing approachable wines for a younger market.

“When I joined five years ago of course I worked with my parents but I wanted to do something for myself,” she explains. “Today, not many of my friends drink old wines. When I’m really excited to show and old vintage of Ruchet they don’t understand. They like wines that are a bit more easy and straight to the point, fruit forward, but not necessarily a strawberry wine or super jammy.

“My idea was to take a good appellation and to make more easy-going wines. Not New World, but more approachable. So I did one St Joseph, Cornas and St-Péray. It remains small and it’s boutique stuff, but I have tried to do something that’s maybe less refined with wines that are more easy going than my parents.”

Launching with the 2014 vintage, the Colombo & Fille range includes wines from across the northern Rhône, from appellations including Condrieu, Saint Joseph and Cornas, but it is the tiny appellation of St-Péray, where Colombo lives on an 18-hectare farm surrounded by vines, that is closest to her heart.

Recognising the more famous nearby appellations of Côte Rôtie and Hermitage, Colombo believes Cornas and St-Péray, are both growing in prominence, with St-Péray in particular developing at a rapid pace.

“Cornas has been changing for maybe the last 30 years,” she explains. “Back then it was unknown, but has really changed in the last 15 years. I think my parents have played a big part in that, and proving that we can make wines as good as those from Côte Rôtie and Hermitage. St-Péray is more new, with things changing for maybe the last five to 10 years, but things are moving much faster than it did for Cornas, because I think everything goes faster today, and it has also benefited from the evolution of Cornas. Wines from St-Péray can be just as good as those from Côte Rôtie and Hermitage.”

Continental in climate, but with a Mediterranean influences, Rousanne and Marsanne are the only varieties permitted in the St-Péray AOC, with Colombo describing it as the “white” counterpart to the 100% Syrah Cornas AOC, with it also being one of the very few white AOC’s in the Rhône. Colombo’s 2014 Colombo & Fille’s St-Péray is made from 70% Rousanne and 30% Marsanne  fermented in oak barrels and left for one year on its lees.

“The terroir is amazing with this mix of Mediterranean and continental influences,” explains Colombo. “It’s still got a lot of potential in terms of development”, adding: “I want to put St-Péray on the wine map, that’s my objective in my life. To make St-Péray a bit more famous.”