The controversial oenologist, Jean-Luc Colombo, in addition to doing consulting work for a number of Rhone Valley producers, is also a vineyard owner in Cornas. He is a believer in both the use of new oak casks and filtering. His Cornas is atypical for the appellation. For starters, the wine sports a Bordeaux-shaped bottle with a colorful, modern label. But the major difference is that Colombo ages his wines in small oak casks. His wines are more refined, but less powerful, rustic, and concentrated than wines from Verset and Clape. In the past, I have found Colombo's wines to be excessively woody, a criticism not applicable to these two offerings. While his streamlined, compact 1990 Cornas-Les Ruchets is good, it lacks generosity, and its international style has a degree of vagueness. Certainly the new oak has given it a distinctive style, but I do not detect the underlying richness that is evident in the 1991. The 1990 should be drunk over the next 7-8 years. Importer: Langdon-Shiverick, Chagrin Falls, OH.