No. He does not shuffle around his vineyards in a scruffy mac, smoking a cigar, or drive a battered '69 Chevy. Unfortunately, every time we think of the talented oenologue Jean-Luc Colombo a picture of the tatty detective comes to mind.

From his base in Cornas, Jean-Luc Colombo advises over 100 vignerons in the Rhone Valley, as well as finding time to produce the most mind-blowing Cornas. Sometimes 'pooh-poohed' as gimmicky by certain journalists because he controversially presents his wine in Bordeaux shaped bottles and charges top prices, his Cornas wines are nevertheless exquisite and worth every centime.

On our first visit to him he literally spent hours with us in the vineyards showing us the soils, the aspect, the wild flowers growing in profusion and bringing home to us just how difficult these steeply sloping vineyards are to work. It was all we could do to keep our balance going down through the vines and it took all the energy we could muster to stagger back up those steep tracks.

Jean-Luc works in harmony with nature. Organic methods in vineyards such as these, where it is impossible to take a tractor, is even harder work than, say, somewhere like the Maconnais where the terrain makes it possible to clean between the vines mechanically rather than chemically. Jean-Luc even goes so far as to plant small parcels of rye grass next to the vineyards, which he uses for tying the vines. He is another example of a vigneron who respects traditional ideas but enhances them with modern techniques.

His Syrah vines are on average 50 years old and are on some of the best Coteaux in Cornas. They produce beautifully concentrated, rich fruit, which gives his top cuvee, Les Ruchets, when young, intense aromas of ripe, black fruit; cassis, myrtles and blackberries with hints of violets and vanilla. With age a spiciness develops, encompassing pepper, cinnamon and liquorice, always with beautifully soft, rounded tannins.