Colombelle Original Blanc
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2024
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fresh goat cheese, grilled seafood, light poultry dishes
✨ Technical Specifications
Born in the rolling hills of Gascony, Colombelle Original Blanc is a legendary white wine that spearheaded the aromatic revolution of South-West France in the 1980s. Under the leadership of Plaimont's visionary winemakers, the historically overlooked Colombard grape was transformed from a brandy-distillation base into a star of fresh, expressive table wines. The name 'Colombelle' pays tribute to the dove ('colombe' in French), a symbol of peace and freedom that graces the Gascon skies. Grown on clay-limestone and sandy soils ('sables fauves'), the grapes are harvested during the cool night hours to preserve their intense, volatile thiols. This results in an incredibly vibrant, aromatic profile bursting with citrus, passionfruit, and fresh-cut grass, capturing the joyful, epicurean spirit of the French South-West.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1979 through the union of wine cooperatives in Plaisance, Aignan, and Saint-Mont spearheaded by André Dubosc, Plaimont is an undisputed viticultural vanguard in Gascony and the Pyrenean foothills. Spanning diverse terroirs across AOC Saint-Mont, Madiran, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh, and Côtes de Gascogne, its vineyards are defined by variegated soils of tawny sands (sables fauves), limestone, and clay-rich molasse tempered by Atlantic and mountain currents. Renowned worldwide for its preservation of ampelographic heritage—exemplified by its private conservatory and historic ungrafted pre-phylloxera plots in Sarragachies—Plaimont has revived forgotten indigenous varieties such as Tardif, Arrufiac, and Manseng Noir. In white vinification, Plaimont champions crystalline freshness, precise reductive aromatic protection, and thoughtful lees contact, highlighting local Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng, and Colombard. Landmark cuvées include Cirque Nord, Les Cépages Préservés, and Les Vignes Retrouvées, presenting tensile minerality, bright citrus, exotic orchard fruit, and textural salinity emblematic of southwest France.
🍇 Grapes
Colombard, Ugni Blanc
🍷 ABV
11.5%