"Eric Texier is a winemaker on the almost unknown appellation of Brézème in the northern Rhône, after having lived a completely different professional life. He had no family history in the world of vineyards or wine. His approach and his philosophy are born of his personal journey, through his readings, meetings with emblematic winemakers and unconventional farmers around the world and of course many tastings.
The terroir of Brézème was presented to him by Raymond Trollat, historical winemaker of Saint-Joseph. His old friend, Monsieur Pouchoulin, was then one of the last winemakers in Brézème and helped him to settle in.
He currently works 12 ha of vines in all, located on two very distinct “terroirs”, Brézème in the Drôme and the Ouvèze Valley in Ardèche, sectors well identified on the winegrowing charts of the Rhône, but almost forgotten because of their small surface area and their geographical isolation.
The discovery of the Ouvèze Valley vineyard is also the result of a special encounter with a family of winemakers who, by personal conviction, established their vineyards in the aftermath of the war and have always maintained it without the use of modern agriculture. The quality of their work and the geological originality of the area seduced Eric Texier.
The winemaking style is ancestral and very minimalist: indigenous yeasts, vatting whole clusters, no SO2 on harvested grapes or on musts, aging in concrete vats or casks for 10 to 48 months depending on the cuvées, and no filtration or fining. The addition of SO2 is possible, up to 30ppm for the reds and 40ppm for the whites, depending on the vintage, and the terroir. About 20% of wines can be bottled without the addition of SO2, not based on principle alone but rather to allow the wine to freely and sincerely express all the nuances of the terroir.
