Organic Saint-Péray from Laure Colombo and Dimitri Roulleau-Gallais, grown on high‑altitude granitic ‘gore’ around their farm above Saint‑Péray and fermented/aged in 228–400L barrels for purity and tension.
This comes from Lorient’s terroir of 'gore' at 550m altitude. Fermentation and ageing occur in barrels – the oak regime is subtle, with 5% new to 15yo 400ltr and 228ltr fûts. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered. Stunning St Peray that is worth every penny.
Notes on the producer
Domaine de Lorient is an exciting project created in 2014 by Laure Colombo and partner Dimitri Roulleau-Gallais. Laure is the daughter of Jean-Luc and Anne Colombo who figure amongst the Rhône's most influential winemakers – but right from the start, when she rejoined the family domaine in 2011, a fierce independence and ecological mindset guided her path and, encouraged by her family, she and Dimitri soon struck out on their own. They restored a 20ha abandoned farm high above Saint-Péray at 550 metres in a lieu-dit called Lorient – this is the northern and granitic part of the St-Péray appellation (neighbouring Cornas) as opposed to the southern part characterised by its rocky limestone soil and the emblematic Château de Crussol.
The couple firmly believes that flora and fauna are an important element of terroir, so they work from seven micro parcels 'en coteau' scattered around the property and surrounded by forest and prairies. In addition, they planted over 500 trees (local species) – agroforestry has long been a passion of mother Anne Colombo, who as the winemaker at Colombo and President of the Cornas AC has been a major influence on Laure. All the work on the domaine is done by hand, working as closely as possible and in step with nature; the tops of vines are not trimmed, instead they just arrange and weave the shoots during summer; cover crops are planted to create a mulch to protect the soils humus from the warming climate; the ground around the vines is lightly hand-hoed and any fertiliser applied is homemade, emanating from their own cows and horses.
From the get go, no efforts have been spared to make Domaine de Lorient one of the finest domaine in the Rhône: a unique terroir and haven for biodiversity at an altitude that allows to retain freshness and acidity despite global warming. Laure and Dimitri’s passion, attention to detail and love for their land is impressive as well as contagious – there's a special vibration up there at Lorient, and it's beautifully translated into their wines.
