Gevrey Chambertin 'Combe Du Bas'

Gevrey Chambertin Combe Du Bas 2003

"Prick virtually any winemaker and you will spill the blood of a Burgundy nut. Talk of wanting to emulate the great wines of the Côte d'Or is as common among winemakers as utes and cattle dogs, but De Bortoli's Steve Webber has gone one step further.

Since 2003, Webber has held the lease on a vineyard in Gevrey-Chambertin, giving him the opportunity to harvest, vinify and export his very own Burgundy to Australia.

De Bortoli's prince of pinot, Bill Downie, is the advance guard, basing himself in the region from early July, then calling Webber when he feels a harvest date drawing near. Webber then packs up the family and heads to Gevrey for four weeks of old-school Burgundian winemaking, miles from his Yarra Valley base in more ways than one.

Production is tiny - twelve barrels in the 2005 vintage - but this is a dream pursued for reasons other than financial gain. The recently arrived 2003 De Bortoli Gevrey-Chambertin Combe du Bas, otherwise known as Geoffrey, is available at De Bortoli's Yarra Valley cellar door door for A$85, and also in selected stores and restaurants."
Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine, January 2006

"Here's a remarkably unadulterated wine. De Bortoli's Yarra winemaker, Steve Webber, has been going to Gevrey since 2003 to hand-pick and ferment this wine. Its now in Australia being sold on a very few wine lists. Unique."
Ben Canaider, Australian Doctor, August 2005.


"Crossing the Viticultural Divide, A Yarra winemaker tells how his latest release was made in Burgundy." (pdf download of article)
Ben Canaider, The Age, July 2005.