Saint-Joseph Rouge Lacombe Saint Pierre
- Red
- Syrah
About Xavier Gerard
The steep, craggy slopes of the vineyards demand that all work be done manually, and Xavier continues the traditional practices in the cellar, with spontaneous fermentation and classic Northern Rhone elevage, mostly in older barrels of demi-muid size.
In 2020, Xavier acquired a 1.8-hectare parcel in Lacombe, a lieu-dit in the commune of Saint-Pierre de Boeuf, in Saint-Joseph’s northern sector just south of Chavanay. He immediately removed the ailing and poorly managed existing vines, planting 1.3 hectares of Syrah and a half-hectare of Marsanne in the site’s sandy granite, and bottling the fruit for the first time with the 2023 vintage. Compared to the silky and pure-fruited “Le Blanchard” above, “Lacombe – St. Pierre” is wilder in personality and more rugged in its tannins, with amaro-like spices accompanying a core of black fruits, but it nonetheless maintains a vein of elegance befitting its sandy soils of origin.