I’ll start with this: Combier is perhaps my top value producer in the Northern Rhône. Their organically farmed Syrah is always one of the most soulful, robustly perfumed, ready-to-drink stunners of the region. I mean it. Whether right this second or ten years from now, Combier’s Crozes-Hermitage is what you’ll savor while your next-door Hermitage bottlings from Chave, Guigal, and Chapoutier soak up years of aging in your cellar.
Since Crozes-Hermitage is much larger and more geologically diverse than the grand hill of Hermitage, we tend to paint the appellation with a wide brush, but those broad strokes become more precise and intricate when placed in the hands of an organic pioneer farming a few pockets of prime real estate. As such, Domaine Combier’s Crozes-Hermitage transcends its price range and reveals shockingly similar traits to its formidable big brother, except for one key difference: You can enjoy everything this ‘17 has to offer right now—no need to wait if you don’t have the time! That’s the singular magic of value “outlier” regions like Crozes. They can offer brilliant snapshots of historic blockbuster appellations, and Combier is in the tiny cadre of producers that does it better than everyone else. This newest ‘17 is one sensational bottling, and it comes to you at such a generous price. If you’re deeply involved in Syrah or are simply looking for profound, savory French reds that will deliver the goods whenever you want, look no further.
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. After a manual harvest, the fruit was completely de-stemmed. It then fermented in stainless steel and was transferred to used French oak barrels for 12 months of aging before bottling with a very light filter.
In the glass, Combier’s Crozes-Hermitage flashes with a brooding purple-black core with ruby reflections. As always, the high-octane aromatics are a crash course in elite Northern Rhône Syrah, emphasizing dark, brambly fruit concentration and crushed violets over cracked pepper, smoked meat, and herbal earth. Baskets of ripe black raspberry, lush Damson plum, huckleberry, and black cherry liqueur ooze from the glass hand in hand with just-picked purple flowers, olive tapenade, wild herbs, licorice, and smoke. On the palate, the wine is medium-plus in body with firm tannins and brilliant freshness that drives a savory and dark-fruited finish. It will age gracefully over the next decade if kept well but we recommend enjoying now—it’s lushness and mouthwatering vibrancy is too good to neglect. Briefly decant for 30 minutes before serving in Bordeaux stems around 65 degrees. Its opulence, smoky leather, and fruity savor is screaming for baby back ribs, and if you have a smoker, lucky you. Follow the attached recipe for a remarkable pairing. Cheers.
