In the northern Rhone Valley, the 2014 harvests have come to a close at the Domaine Combier (Crozes Hermitage) where Julien Combier, son of Laurent Combier, has just completed his first vintage as a winemaker alongside his father. They share their impressions of this year and give us their opinion of the 2014 vintage.
The year in review:
Laurent & Julien Combier: “Basically, we had a mild, uneventful winter, a warm, early spring, a wet, unpredictable, stressful summer and then a surprising September leading into a month of October that made for happy cellars. In the spring, the vines got off to a roaring start and the flowering and fruit setting went perfectly. But long weeks of wet weather with some hail even, on 2 August, on part of our vineyard made things more difficult. Although we took the best care of our vines, we started to get a little worried in mid-August and we were expecting the worst. But those summer clouds seemed to have a silver lining, which was the fine weather and sunshine in September and a solid Mistral wind that helped out enormously.”
Did the hail have a big impact on your vines?
L&JC: “In the plots that got the hail, the vines quickly took on a healthy colour again, the grape clusters began to heal where they had been damaged and every day we would taste the grapes to see how they were coming along and, miraculously, they began to taste good. We did carry out a very careful selection to remove all the dry grapes. We had to be very clever to let only the good grapes into the vats. We thought about it for a long time and finally decided to change the grate on the sorting table to allow us to pick out any dried grapes that might have gotten through. So, other than the additional work and the loss of volume, in terms of quality, the hail didn’t make too much of a difference for us.”
Now as the first wines are coming out of the presses, what’s your general feeling?
L&JC: “2014 was a surprising year! On 15 September, the grapes were fully ripe, there was a harvest moon, the sun shone brightly as the first clusters of grapes were picked. The Marsanne and the Roussanne came in, superb fruit with a very good degree. Top marks for the Marsanne and the amazing Roussanne of Clos des Grives which yielded crisp juice with exotic tastes. The first Syrah brought their deep purple colour, aromas of raspberry, mild and already mellow tannins. Le Clos des Grives red was cut on 18 and 19 September under a brilliant sunny sky and is already looking very promising. We finished the harvest with the small clusters from the hillsides of Serves which go into our Cap Nord wine. The juices are very good, spicier than what comes from the south but as fine looking and as colourful. We went from a peaceful stretch where everything was easy, then through a stressful moment when we had to think very carefully about exactly what we were going to do and then ended up with the satisfaction of a job well done. I don’t think we could have planned a better year in terms of a learning experience for Julien. We got through the birth, now we have to raise it, the rest of the winemaking process, but this fine, healthy baby promises great things…”
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