Domaine du Colombier Hermitage 2001

Despite turning their family’s simple apricot farm into a fine source of Syrah, Florent and David Viale’s Domaine du Colombier is still one of the most underrated estates in the Northern Rhône.

The brothers used to sell their entire production to Guigal and Ogier, but since the 1990s have made their own wines from 17ha of assiduously farmed vineyards in Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage. Preferring to use old oak and larger vessels, the emphasis in the cellar is on purity and restraint – case in point, the 2001 Hermitage, which marries meat and black olive notes with a whisper of dark, dusty fruit.