Eric Texier
2022 Eric Texier VDF Rouge Chat Fou 750mL
Concrete from start to finish and a short, four-day maceration set the tone here. Eric Texier keeps Chat Fou all about freshness, letting granite-grown fruit from Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban show its lift and snap while skipping heavy extraction.
It lands cool and perky, then opens over 20 minutes into bold red fruit with lightly spiced tannin.
In the glass you get big flavors with bold red fruits, a palate that is fresh and lithe, and lightly spiced tannin. Expect strawberry, cherry, tart red berry, a touch of citrus and a little floral lift, all finishing clean. At 12.5 percent alcohol and made without fining or filtration, it stays vivid and easy to drink. Serve at 58F.
- Producer
- Eric Texier
- Style
- Red
- Grape
- Grenache, Cinsault, Clairette +
- Origin
- Vin de France
- Farming
- Organic, Native Yeast
- Winemaking
- Fermented in concrete with native yeasts, macerated about four days, up to 40 percent destemmed, then aged in concrete, unfined and unfiltered, sulfur added only at bottling
Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban, Ardèche, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
More details
| Nose | Red currant, strawberry, cherry, floral notes, citrus |
|---|---|
| Palate | Bold red fruits, fresh and lithe, lightly spiced tannin |
| Finish | Good, fresh finish |
| Texture | Fresh and lithe, lightly spiced tannin |
| Body | Light |
| Serving | Serve at 58F. No decant needed. |
- ABV
- 12.5%
- Pairs with
- Herb roasted chicken with lemon and pan juices; sausage and mushroom pizza; grilled salmon with tomato and olive; pork tenderloin with fennel and orange; tomato-braised white beans with rosemary and parmesan.
- Cellaring
- Drink now or over 2 to 3 years
- Vineyard
- Granite soils, south exposure, vines about 30 years old, sourced from the granite terroirs of Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban
Eric Texier
Certified organic in Brézème and Saint-Julien, Texier favors minimal intervention in the cellar and careful farming in the vines. He works with native yeasts, little to no new oak, cement and older wood, and adds only small amounts of sulfur at bottling when needed. In the vineyards he promotes permanent cover crops and avoids heavy tillage, copper, and sulfur where possible.
The estate today spans modest holdings with vinification in Brézème and aging in a historic underground cellar in Charnay, with a new cellar built by his son Martin in 2020. The aim is clear wines that speak of site and vintage, reviving historic places through patient, detail-driven work.
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