Rive Haute Colombard Sauvignon
⏳ Drinking Window
2023 - 2024
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fresh seafood, goat cheese salad, grilled white fish
✨ Technical Specifications
Hailing from the sun-drenched hillsides of Gascony in South-West France, the Rive Haute Colombard Sauvignon is a brilliant testament to the region's dramatic viticultural renaissance. Historically famed for producing the fiery spirit Armagnac, Gascony underwent a quiet revolution in the late 20th century, pivoting toward the creation of exceptionally fresh, aromatic still white wines. Plaimont has been at the absolute vanguard of this movement. This cuvée beautifully marries Colombard—a traditional Gascon grape known for its vibrant, mouth-watering acidity and bright citrus profile—with Sauvignon Blanc, which contributes elegant herbaceous notes and exotic tropical fruit aromas. Grown on a mosaic of clay-limestone and sandy soils, the vines benefit from warm days and cool nights influenced by the nearby Pyrenees and the Atlantic Ocean. The result is a wonderfully expressive, crisp white wine that captures 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, Sauvignon Blanc