Laurent Combier 2023 Rouge Crozes-Hermitage

750ml bottle

12% abv

100% organic Syrah

"Known among our salespeople as the “Purple Label”, this 100% Syrah is designed to be a food-friendly introduction to the peppery Syrah of Crozes-Hermitage. The destemmed grapes see a 20-day fermentation in concrete vats, undergoing twice-daily punchdowns and pumpovers. The wine then goes into an œuf (egg) where it will spend 8-10 months. Made from cement and holding 6 hl of wine (600 liters or about 2 1/2 barrels), eggs provide the benefits of cement tanks (cooler temperatures without the expenditure of electricity), yet for much smaller lots. Bright red berry/raspberry-scented fruit with plenty of crushed black pepper notes. Medium body with bright acidity. Good versatile, everyday Crozes."

 – importer's notes

Laurent Combier's grandfather created the family estate in Crozes-Hermitage around Clos des Grives. His parents innovated by adopting organic viticulture in the 1970s, a crazy bet for the time. Since 1990, he has succeeded his parents, continued the historic cultivation of apricots, and decided to focus exclusively on the quality of the wines: the delivery of part of the harvest will no longer be reserved for the local cooperative, but everything will be bottled at the estate. Today, the estate has 25 hectares of "linear" vines in the  Crozes-Hermitage and Saint Joseph appellations among the most sought-after. Not to mention the five ha of apricot trees!

Maurice Combier left the Ardèche department in 1962 and bought property in Pont de l'Isère in the Drôme department to the east. At that time, the nearby Valence area was France's top fruit hub, so Maurice continued his father Camille's tradition of growing fruit. The apricots and peaches were sold to a local fruit cooperative and the grapes to the cooperative in Tain l'Hermitage a few kilometers north.

During the 1970's, Maurice began working all of his land organically, rather than spraying his plants with dangerous chemicals and pushing production with synthetic fertilizers. As this was previously unheard of in Crozes-Hermitage (and for that matter, just about all of Europe), he became known locally as Maurice le Fou (Crazy Maurice). But before long, the orchards and vineyards had achieved a balance and were producing even more delicious fruit. Other producers in the area soon followed Maurice's lead. To his delight, in 1989 Maurice's first son Laurent came into the fold and continued selling their fruit. Laurent concurrently studied viticulture and agriculture in Orange and did apprenticeships at various wine domaines further south, including stints in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Domaine d'Ott in Provence. Maurice and Laurent decided to leave the cooperative the next year and set off on their own. They established their own fruit brand called Combier, whose organic peaches and apricots are still available throughout much of France.