Right around the time the poppies started blooming here in Northern California, today’s wine landed in the warehouse of its West Coast importer. Both are annual occurrences that bring a lot of joy to a lot of people, myself included: Poppies are bright and beautiful and, while its color is markedly different, so is this benchmark Crozes-Hermitage from Domaine Combier.
This wine, as longtime subscribers know, is a perennial performer—we never question “if” we’ll offer it, only “when.” And yet, after all these years of delivering at the highest level, Domaine Combier found an extra gear in 2016. After our recent buying trip to France, we knew ’16 was a good vintage, but us the evidence starts arriving here in earnest, our excitement grows—there’s a lot of delicious wine from 2016 to share over the foreseeable future, and I wouldn’t hesitate to call this one the best version of this wine I’ve ever tasted. And believe me, I’ve tasted a few—Combier’s “white label,” to me, epitomizes what’s possible in the supposedly ‘lesser’ terroirs surrounding the Rhône’s famed Hermitage hill. Combier’s organically farmed, perfectly positioned vineyards produce wines that completely transcend their appellation and price point. This is headily aromatic, textural, and flat-out delicious Syrah—an impressive and affordable staple to rely on over the next several years.
The Combier property, based in the village of Pont-de-l’Isère—so named for the Isère River, which meets the Rhône River just south of Tain l’Hermitage—was known for apricots and peaches before grapes and wine. Maurice Combier purchased the property in 1962, and by the early ‘70s he had begun converting his orchards to organic farming—which, in those chemical-happy days, earned him the nickname ‘Maurice le Fou’ (‘Crazy Maurice’). Before long, though, his practices were being widely imitated, and when his son, Laurent, joined him in the late ‘80s, they put the ‘Combier’ name on their produce. They also began expanding their vineyard holdings, with Laurent leading the charge, and today the domaine includes about 20 acres of vines in several villages—all of them in proximity to the Hermitage hill above Tain. One of the Combiers’ immediate neighbors is another Crozes-Hermitage master, Alain Graillot.
Overall, as even a quick look at a Rhône Valley map confirms, Crozes-Hermitage is a large and diverse appellation, making it difficult to simply label it “baby Hermitage,” although there are areas—particularly the section of the appellation that hugs the Rhône north of Tain—with similar soils to those of Hermitage. Much of the basis for today’s wine comes from vineyards in Gervans, a village north of Tain with a granite bedrock much like that of nearby Hermitage. The cuvée also includes fruit from vineyards further south in Pont-de-l’Isère, where soils are a mix of river cobble and silt; the result is a wine of both generosity and backbone, its ample fruit supported by bright acidity and a pronounced mineral edge. This is a family that’s all about pristine, perfectly ripe organic fruit, and it shows in the wine.
Combier’s 2016 “white label” was crafted from completely destemmed fruit, fermented in stainless steel and transferred to used French oak barrels for 12 months of aging before bottling. In the glass, it is a nearly opaque, blackish ruby with purple and magenta highlights at the rim. The aromatics are a crash course in Northern Rhône Syrah seduction, with an emphasis in this vintage on fruit concentration and florals over pepper/meat/earth. But it’s all there: scents of black raspberry, plum, and blueberry rise from the glass, along damp violets, lavender, underbrush, black olive, wild herbs, and licorice. It is medium-plus in body, even leaning towards full in ’16, but with firm underlying tannins and enough freshness to drive an aromatic, fruity finish. It will age gracefully for 5-7 years if kept well, but it’s also velvety and lushly concentrated right now: decant it about 20 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Bordeaux stems. It has a slightly decadent quality to it that makes me want the same in a food pairing—the attached brisket rub has many complementary flavors for this wine, which we can’t get enough of around here. I’m certain you’ll feel the same. Cheers!
