Jean-Luc Colombo Picpoul de Pinet Les Girelles 2017

Usually a fresh, dry, lemony white; this Picpoul de Pinet ticks all of those boxes and then some. Add to that a hint of white flowers on the nose, a truck load of minerality and a zip of gooseberry juiciness and then you have Colombo's Les Girelles.

This wine's namesake is the rainbow fish pictured on the bottle and like those colourful little sea creatures, it is vibrant and certainly stands out from the Picpoul de Pinet crowd. If we found this at the bottom of a rainbow, we'd be definitely happy.

This wine from Jean-Luc Colombo is made from grapes grown in Picpoul de Pinet, in a vineyard just north of Marseilles. This region has a mediterranean climate with maritime influences, perfect for harvesting grapes with ripe, tart-fruit flavoured grapes bursting with flavour.

Jean-Luc Colombo has a wealth of experience in winemaking; he moved to Cornas, in the Rhône Valley, in 1982 in order to start work in eonology. In 1986 Jean-Luc bought a vineyard which had its first vintage in 1987. Today, the company is a pioneering producer with an interest in creating wines that exude elegance, minerality and balance.

Named after the Rainbow fish that are depicted on the front of the bottle, this Picpoul de Pinet reflects a style of wine that Jean-Luc wants to produce in this area. The grapes are harvested with care and then fermented in the traditional way, for a long time at a low temperature; this method of fermentation preserves freshness of fruit.

This Picpoul de Pinet has all the qualities that you would expect from the Picpoul grape; crisp and dry, with fresh citrus fruit aromas. Les Girelles also has complex with lots of minerality and white flower aromas. This wine is the perfect aperatif and would pair well with grilled white fish.