Domaine Combier 2021 Rouge Crozes Hermitage

750ml bottle

13% abv

100% organic Syrah. A deep ruby color with concentrated raspberry, pepper, and violet aromas. Medium-to-full body with a supple texture and good acidic structure. Lovely pure Syrah flavors from the Northern Rhône.

The Syrah fruit for the Domaine Combier cuvée comes from a number of different sites in and around Pont de l'Isère. The soils of these parcels are chalky-clay with pebbles on the southern side of the estate and loessic and granite slopes on the northern side. The grapes are completely destemmed, then spend a 25-day fermentation period in stainless steel vats with twice-daily pump overs. All the wine goes into barrels that have previously seen 2 or 3 wines. Malolactic takes place in oak, and the wine rests in cask for 12 months. It is only then that the wine is blended, and then minimally sulphured and filtered ever so lightly.

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.