Colombard

Colombard is a French grape from the Charentes with a career built almost entirely on distillation. It is a natural crossing of gouais blanc and chenin blanc, and its value to a distiller is exactly what makes it awkward as a table wine: it keeps very high acidity, gives a thin low-alcohol base, and crops heavily. Those are the ideal inputs for brandy.

It went into Cognac and Armagnac for centuries, second to ugni blanc in volume. As Cognac demand fell, growers in Gascony had a surplus and began bottling it as a dry white instead, which is how Côtes de Gascogne became one of the reliable cheap white wines of France. Cold fermentation brings out a sharp grapefruit and passionfruit aroma the grape does not show otherwise.

South Africa grows a great deal, where it is one of the most planted white varieties and much of it still goes to brandy. California uses it in bulk white blends under the name French Colombard, and it was for a period the most planted white grape in the state. Australia grows a little, chiefly for blending.