Colombard, Côtes de Gascogne, Vignerons de Plaimont 2021

Plaimont is an exemplar of the wine co-operative movement in France. In fact, it is a ‘super-co-op’, an amalgamation of the caves of Plaisance, Aignan and Saint-Mont (spot the letters that make up the name PL-AI-MONT!). At least the later arrival of the Cave de Condom didn’t give them any naming conundrums. Plaimont was the brainchild of Andé Duboscq, a charismatic local wine grower who spotted that Armagnac alone was not going to sustain the fortunes of local viticulture in this part of Gascony. André once proudly showed us his ledgers with the details of the growers being paid according to quality indicators of the grapes as opposed to just weight, which was the norm at the time in France.

The present-day statistics are impressive with about 800 members covering 5,300 ha of vines (only 5 to 8 ha per member) and they control 98% of the Saint-Mont production, and roughly half of Madiran, Pacherenc de Vic Bilh and Côtes de Gascogne. A project over the years has been to catalogue and preserve as many of the old great varieties of the Pyrenean foothills as possible with their nursery being classified as a national monument. Examples are Manseng Noir, Tardif and Arrufiac. Plaimont has been a by-word for quality white wines over many years, but also makes excellent rosés and reds, the latter benefiting from greater know-how in ripening grapes and softening the tannins which, unchecked, can be a strong feature of the local red grapes.