Jean Luc Colombo Cotes du Rhone Blanc Les Abeilles, 2020

I don't usually buy white wines from the Southern Rhone. But this CDR blanc certainly has the qualities I look for in an every day white. At $14 a bottle, it is an excellent value.

Medium light straw color, clear and bright. Deep and enticing scents of white peaches, pears, minerals and maybe a bit of honey. (The wine is named Les Abeilles because of the bees who inhabit the vineyard with the good graces of the environmentally conscious Colombo family.) Rich and full on the palate similar to white Chateauneufs I have tasted but also fresh and lively with good acidity. The wine is produced from 80% Clairette aged in tank for freshnesss and 20% Rousanne matured in two- to five-year-old barrels for richness and body. I gave this wine a score of 17.5 out of 20.