Laurent Combier’s grandparents were fruit farmers in the Ardeche, the rugged department to the west of the northern Rhône. In the 1930′s, they moved to La Roche du Glun, a hamlet that sits on an island between the left and right banks of the Rhône near Tain L’Hermitage. The family took over 15 acres, 10 of which were planted to vines in the walled-in plot called Clos des Grives.
For over thirty-five years, the vineyards of the Domaine Combier have been farmed organically. When Laurent Combier took over from his father, the Crozes-Hermitage appellation was relatively unknown with a mixed reputation. Learning how to maximize ripeness in the impeccably farmed vineyards and modernizing the winery were Laurent’s first concerns.
The sandy, gravelly soil provides a perfect home for the old Syrah vines (some of which are over a century-old), and Laurent has been proving the worth of the appellation by producing subtle, polished wines unusual for a region dominated by co-operatives and négociants trading on the “Hermitage” name.