Jean-Luc Colombo Cotes du Rhone Les Abeilles Rouge 2018

Cellar for up to 6 years. No need to decant before serving.

Seductive raspberry and red cherry aromas along with hints of coriander and bay leaf delight the nose, while the palate offers a well-rounded, smooth entry full of sweet spices, ripe wild berries and licorice which linger long on the tongue. The fresh acidity helps to balance the deep, concentrated flavours and aromas, making this Cotes du Rhone red an ideal match for charcuterie, hard cheeses or tomato-based pasta dishes.

Crafted by renowned Rhone Valley producer Jean-Luc Colombo, the Les Abeilles Rouge is a careful composition of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre grapes harvested from old vines with a minimum age of 25 years. Following vinification the wine spends 9 months maturing in oak barrels to add spicy notes and to soften the firm tannins so typical of Rhone Valley reds.

Les Abeilles is named after the honey bees who are commonly seen buzzing around the terraced vineyards where this wine begins its life. Sustainable agriculture and passionate winemaking are the guiding forces behind the Colombo family’s operation, and so the estate has decided to donate a proportion of the income from each bottle sale to the UC Davis Department of Entomology for Honey Bee Research.