Eric Texier 2010s - St-Julien en St-Alban Vieille Serine, Cote Rotie, Saint-Joseph, and More!
7/24/12 -
The brilliant, highly-opinionated and sometimes hilarious Eric Texier is making some of the finest wines in the Rhône Valley. Carefully sourcing grapes from old vines in great sites, his non-interventionist winemaking is producing elegant, balanced, never over-extracted wines that are a joy to drink. His highly anticipated 2010 Domaine de Pergault St-Julien en St-Alban Vieille Serine has just arrived at Chambers Street! Tasted in Eric's home last winter, the wine showed beautifully with complex citrusy red fruit and floral aromas, fabulous cool black fruits on the palate with great acidity and length. Our allocation is distressingly small and we urge Texier fans to pick-up some both for early drinking and cellaring. (Made with zero SO2) We draw your attenton also to the last few bottles of Eric's superb 2010 Côte-Rôtie and Saint-Joseph, surely among the finest from these appellations in this superb vintage. Also from 2010, we love the crystalline Brézème Vieille Roussette - Roussanne, that is - although it can mean Altesse in Bugey and Marsanne in St. Peray. And for something completely different, we offer the soon-to-arrive 2011 Anecdot'hic Rosé! This field-blend from a vineyard in Charnay tended without plowing or chemicals was a sensation last year and happily we have a few more cases to offer in this vintage, arriving approximately August 7th. And please consider grabbing some of the last bottles of Eric's great 2009s - Brézème Pergault Vieille Serine, Séguret Vieilles Vignes and Mâcon-Bussières Très Vieilles Vignes.
Eric's vineyard work is exemplary: "Certified organic "Ecocert" in Brézème and Vaison. We began converting Saint Julien in 2011. We use the 500 and 501 everywhere (biodynamic preparations) and follow the lunar calendar but I am highly opposed to the necessity of animal compost imposed by biodynamic agriculture; I guess it's my own interpretation of it. We do a lot of experiments involving other types of plants in between rows and vines, as well as "natural" viticulture with zero intervention to the soil or the vines (by applying the principles of Fukuoka, Mollison or Altieri). I do my best to never have to use the three things that I find the most intrusive in organic and biodynamic agriculture:
-Plowing (in between rows or at the root)
-Copper (Mildew, Black Rot)
-Sulfur (oidium)
To avoid these three pitfalls, I work on cultures that complement each other, selecting plants that provide permanent vegetal cover of the soil that can "shut down" when resources become scarce, (and) by using microbiological elements to fight illness (Ampelomyces Quiscalis against odium...)."
