2016 Domaine Barge "Le Combard" Côte-Rôtie (Library Release)

94-96RP

$74.99

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94-

Wine Advocate

Reviewed October 2018

Barge's 2016 Cote Rotie le Combard is one of the stars of the vintage, delivering violets and herbal tea on the nose, black cherry fruit on the palate and a kaleidoscopic blend of them all on the finish. It's medium to full-bodied, supple and creamy in texture and, simply put, a must-purchase for lovers of Côte Rôtie. (JC)

Staff Reviews

Keith Mabry

K&L Buyer

Domaine Barge is an historic estate and our newest Direct Import from the Rhone Valley. Famous for their traditional and long lived bottlings, the winery, under Julien Barge's watchful eye, is taking some strides forward in their approach. They are still hand-harvesting their nearly inaccessible slopes. They're still doing whole-cluster co-fermentation with Syrah and a little Viognier. They still use native yeasts and minimal intervention and sulfites in their winemaking. So what's different? They're going through Organic conversion! Which isn't that new... But, in Cote-Rotie, it's a huge deal. One of the hardest places to farm in the whole northern Rhone, every part of the soil must be worked by hand (maybe a little machine) with no chemical intervention. Kind of like what Julien's great-grandfather did back-in-the-day. So what is old is new again. All that said, the Combard is a small parcel that produces a beautifully elegant Cote-Rotie with nuances of lavendar, blackberries and incense. Whispers of smoky game meats lingers in the long savory finish. This gorgeous wine and this exciting producer are testaments to our DI program, finding great family projects that deliver the true terroir of the properties they represent. Welcome Domaine Barge!

Aaron Hughes

Review Date: 10/2025

The nose here is less rich and ripe than some of the others, almost verging on a touch crunchy still after a few hours open. I get a cranberry skin and tomato leaf kind of thing at first whiff, and then underneath that is a slightly underripe cherry and some mixed bramble-fruit. The palate, however, definitely is rich and silky with a moderate and integrated tannin structure, there's black and blue fruits and there's this kind of dusty barrel spice on the finish that really pulls me back for another sip each time, it's a little addictive and I find myself thankful I'm spitting or I would probably drink this whole sample. There's this kind of pleasant surprise going from nose to palate, and it's the kind of surprise you should experience, it's not always a wine can surprise me this much.

John Majeski

As you slowly stagger up the impossibly steep schist-laden slope clustered with tenacious, thirsty grapevines, you sense the mid-morning sun warming your back and feel the muscles in your calves tighten and your breath gathering in short bursts as you wipe your brow and dig the water flask out of your pocket when… suddenly, the landscape dissolves and you’re no longer in the Northern Rhône but at home in your flat in San Francisco with this reflective jewel of a wine in your glass, a classic evocation of Côte-Rôtie terroir with supple aromas of stewed meats, dark plums and tar, accompanied by a revelatory palate of rich black fruits, violets, wild herbs, and ferrous earth. This immaculately pure Côte-Rôtie is crafted for the long haul and promises a great future, so don’t neglect to lay down a few bottles. It will transport you.

Notes

Julien Barge, having recently taken the reins from his father Gilles, is evolving what has been famously known as a source of some of the most traditional and ageworthy wines in Côte-Rôtie. The family's history in the region dates back to 1860 and Julien's great grandfather, Jules Barge, was the first to bottle a domaine Côte-Rôtie back in 1929. This long familial connection also means that the Barge family has some of the finest, yet most difficult terroirs to work. Le Combard is named for their single parcel lieu-dit within the Côte Blonde side of the appellation and is a nearly inaccessible slope with gravelly soil over gneiss and mica-schist. About 6-8% Viognier is co-fermented with whole-cluster Syrah with minimal intervention. The wine spends 24 months in large oak casks before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Le Combard is always the most perfumed and elegant of Julien's cuvées. Beautiful potential for cellaring as well.

Details

Origin	Cote Rotie, Rhone, France
Type/Varietal	Shiraz/Syrah
SKU	1512619