Vinous

• By Josh Raynolds
  '16 vs. '15 Northern Rhône: Heads You Win, Tails You Win (Apr 2018), 4/18/2018 (link)

  (Domaine Du Colombier Crozes-hermitage Red) Subscribe to see review text.

JebDunnuck.com

• By Jeb Dunnuck
  France, Northern Rhône: The Blockbuster 2015s and Elegant 2016s, 1/24/2018 (link)

  (Domaine Du Colombier Crozes-Hermitage Domaine) Subscribe to see review text.

JancisRobinson.com

• By Jancis Robinson, MW
  11/21/2016 (link)

  (Dom du Colombier Crozes-Hermitage Red) Subscribe to see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Friday Reoffers: France Edition, 1/25/2019

  (Domaine du Colombier Crozes-Hermitage) Hello friends. Each Friday in January, we’re reoffering popular wines from the past year or two where we still have limited stock remaining in the warehouse. These are all immediate gratification plays, with no long waits for the wines’ arrival. We’ve been to Italy. We’ve done Spain. Now: France.This wine was released at $30. I honestly don’t know why we were even offered an aggressive discount on a northern Rhone Syrah from a ridiculously good vintage, but we were, and we went long to ensure reorder potential. As you can see on the map, Crozes-Hermitage is an area in the crook of the neck made by the confluence of the Rhone and Isere rivers. While up to 15% Marsanne and Roussanne are allowed in red Crozes, this is 100% Syrah, done whole-cluster and foot-stomped, This Crozes always has wonderful woodsmoke and peat moss elements on the nose and palate. There’s very little new oak used here – it’s mostly concrete and big old demi-muids – so I suspect it’s just varietal character expressed through this terroir. The fruit tends towards huckleberries, with savory elements (olive, ferrous minerality) galore. The terrific 2015 vintage really shines through in color (inky purple-black) and especially in texture, offering head-turning intensity and a fine sense of weight, all on a moderate-alc (12.5%) frame. This is delicious, palate-staining Syrah.

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Hermitage Two Ways, 5/23/2018

  (Domaine du Colombier Crozes-Hermitage) Hello friends. These past few years, we have come close to cornering the Seattle market for the lovely Northern Rhone wines of Domaine du Colombier, and this year, we have access to the memorable 2015 vintage. Colombier was founded in 1929, and for most of their existence sold their fruit to negociants. Their biggest customer was none other than Guigal. Then in 1992, the family decided to begin estate-bottling their own wines, and since then, they’ve risen to become one of the great under-the-radar estates of the region. Well, mostly under the radar. Here’s Robert Parker himself introducing the estate in late 2012: Wine Advocate (Robert Parker): Domaine du Colombier is one of the most underrated estates in the Northern Rhone. Proprietor Viale merits more attention from wine writers, critics, bloggers, etc. given the quality of wines he is producing. Moreover, this is one of the few family-owned domaines producing Hermitage, not to mention their splendid Crozes-Hermitage. And then here’s Jeb Dunnuck writing in Advocate more recently: Covering roughly 13 hectares in Crozes Hermitage (mostly around the villages of Mercurol and Tain) and just under two hectares in Hermitage, the wines from this domaine see a traditional vinification followed by aging mostly in older demi-muids, with new oak kept to around 20% for most of the cuvees. The wines are classic, textbook examples of their appellations and should not be missed. The fact that they can represent good value is just icing on the cake. Because our import partner is direct-importing these into Seattle, we’re also able to offer outstanding pricing on both the entry level Crozes and the crown jewel Hermitage:This wine was released at $30. I honestly don’t know why we were even offered an aggressive discount on a northern Rhone Syrah from a ridiculously good vintage, but we were, and we went long to ensure reorder potential. As you can see on the map, Crozes-Hermitage is an area in the crook of the neck made by the confluence of the Rhone and Isere rivers. While up to 15% Marsanne and Roussanne are allowed in red Crozes, this is 100% Syrah, done whole-cluster and foot-stomped, This Crozes always has wonderful woodsmoke and peat moss elements on the nose and palate. There’s very little new oak used here – it’s mostly concrete and big old demi-muids – so I suspect it’s just varietal character expressed through this terroir. The fruit tends towards huckleberries, with savory elements (olive, ferrous minerality) galore. The terrific 2015 vintage really shines through in color (inky purple-black) and especially in texture, offering head-turning intensity and a fine sense of weight, all on a moderate-alc (12.5%) frame. This is delicious, palate-staining Syrah.