Colombard
An offspring of Gouais Blanc and Chenin Blanc, Colombard is a tart, aromatic grape prized for Cognac base wine and crisp Gascon whites.
About Colombard
Colombard is a natural cross of Gouais Blanc and Chenin Blanc, born in southwest France and long valued for exactly the traits that make ordinary grapes unfashionable: high yields, low sugar and blistering acidity. Those qualities make it an ideal base wine for the distillation of Cognac and Armagnac, where neutral, high-acid, low-alcohol wine is the raw material for great brandy. The same acidity, harnessed by modern cool fermentation, has given the Cotes de Gascogne a run of light, aromatic dry whites full of lemon, green apple and grapefruit that drink well young and cheap. In California it was once a bulk-wine mainstay under the name French Colombard. Humble in reputation yet quietly indispensable, Colombard is the workhorse behind both fine brandy and everyday refreshment.
Variety profile
Editorial notes
Serve well chilled and drink young; its low alcohol and high acid suit aperitifs and shellfish. Much of the crop goes to Cognac/Armagnac distillation rather than table wine.