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 domain includes about 20 acres of vines in several villages—all of them in close proximity to the Hermitage hill above Tain where Crozes’ best vineyards are located. One of the Combiers’ immediate neighbors is another Crozes-Hermitage master, Alain Graillot.

In the glass it is a deeply concentrated dark purple with magenta highlights at the rim, with
aromatics that scream ‘textbook’ northern Rhône: scents of black raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry rise from the glass, along with more savory/floral notes of violets, lavender, underbrush, wildflowers, cured meat, black olive, wild herbs, and black pepper. It is medium-plus in body, with sweet black and blue fruit in the mid-palate accented by well-integrated olive and meat notes. It is a beautifully balanced red with a lot of lift—and a delightfully aromatic finish that seems to go on for minutes. Rhone Fans: It’s impossible to stop
drinking this!