Domaine Lorient, St Peray, 2024

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