It’s always a thrill when mother nature takes a wine you already love and kicks it up a few notches with an exceptional vintage. Such is the case with Eric Texier’s 2014 Rhône reds. I’m always struck by the Burgundy-esque purity and finesse of these wines, but in 2014 their vivid fruit and added depth is impossible to resist. Today’s Grenache-based red, from the ancient and picturesque village of Vaison-La-Romaine, is absolutely on fire.
One of the most influential and respected producers in the Rhône Valley, Texier is a master of organic and herbicide-free farming, a respected mentor in the global wine community, and a judicious talent in the cellar. For the last decade, his wines have enjoyed a fanatical following in America’s best restaurants, and in our own cellars. They drink beautifully upon release; are reliably improved by cellar aging; and are some of the most healthful and environmentally friendly wines on earth. I’ve said before that Texier’s reds are the perfect philosophical and stylistic midpoint between Burgundy and the Rhône (perhaps unsurprising given that Eric lives Southern Burgundian hamlet of Charnay) and this wine displays this perfectly. The only challenging aspect of Texier’s best wines is availability, but fortunately, we found just enough to offer today. Whether you pull the cork tonight or summon the patience to stash it in your cellar for the next 4-6 years, rest assured that this wine (over) delivers the goods!
Vaison-la-Romaine is the “village” in this Côtes-du-Rhône Villages, a little town just north of Gigondas in the Vaucluse. One of Texier’s calling cards has been his embrace of lesser-known villages like this; he’s perhaps best known for showcasing two almost-forgotten terroirs in the Ardèche—Brézème and Saint Julien-et-Saint Alban—which sit at a near-midpoint in the Rhône Valley. On the whole, Texier’s lineup includes many outliers, both geographically and stylistically: Rarely (if ever) do his wines fit neatly into traditional ‘northern’ and ‘southern’ Rhône stereotypes.
Texier is one of the most fascinating minds in wine. In the 1990s, following a love affair with ancient Côte-Rôtie and general disillusionment with his work as a nuclear engineer, Eric dove headfirst into wine—first as a gifted graduate student at the University of Bordeaux, then at Verget in southern Burgundy. He has since become something of a legend, for three reasons: First, as noted above, he has shined a light on vineyard areas that were once prominent but had fallen into disrepair and neglect. Today, these villages produce Eric’s finest wines—always my preference to his Côte-Rôtie and Châteauneuf bottlings. Second, Eric is a brilliant and outspoken skeptic. His ability to process and share his uniquely scientific approach to organic farming and additive-free winemaking is highly valued among his peers. Finally, Eric has mastered a minimalist, “old school” Burgundian approach while working Rhône terroirs. The result is a strikingly diverse range of perfumed, balanced, refined wines that perfectly express their variety and village of origin.
Eric’s 2014 Vaison-la-Romaine is predominantly Grenache, with small amounts of Carignane and Cinsault, from 40+-year-old vines. Texier farms organically, with some biodynamic treatments (none of which is mentioned on the label), and employs whole-cluster fermentation in cement vats. Whole cluster fermentation is the likely culprit behind the freshness and bounce that distinguish Eric’s southern Rhône reds from the region’s stylistic norm. Instead of a rich, warm, viscous version of southern Rhône Grenache (not necessarily a bad thing, mind you) you get a floral, crisp, buoyant red that has more in common with Burgundian Pinot Noir than a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. So, while it’s necessary to mention that this village, Vaison-la-Romaine, is squarely in ‘baby Châteauneuf’ territory, with key appellations such as Gigondas and Vacqueyras close by, there’s little chance you’d place this wine in that company if tasting it blind.
Above all else, today’s wine is an effortless pleasure to drink. Before your mind has a chance to analyze and dissect it, you will be swept away by it’s purity, red berry fruit and savory rusticity. In the glass it’s a medium garnet red with pink and orange reflections at the rim, with aromas of raspberry, alpine strawberry, and cherry supplemented by cured pork, dried thyme, and a mineral and white stone core that holds everything in balance. Texier’s red wines have earned a reputation for developing quite nicely with age, and this wine will not be an exception. Much of the top-tier Rhône valley Grenache that enters the US market each year is quite ripe and not exactly shy in alcohol. On the other hand, today’s wine, with its youthful minerality and Burgundian soul, presents an ideal opportunity to experiment with cellar-aged Grenache from a time-tested producer. In 4-6 years, you can expect more exotic aromatics, with this bottle’s savory, meatier aromas beginning to take center stage. So, while you shouldn’t hold back on emptying a bottle this coming weekend, please keep in mind that the character, quality, and price of this bottle make it a no-brainer for the cellar. I recommend decanting for 45 minutes before serving at 55-60 degrees in Burgundy stems. If you’ve never explored the wonders of a slow-cooked lamb neck, this wine is the ideal companion. This particular cut is not for the impatient or squeamish, but trust me that there are few lamb preparations with comparable depth of flavor and succulence. I often feel like selecting an ideal wine for a dish is as much about finding appropriate counterpoints as it is about similarities and “pairing.” Pouring an invigorating, direct young red like today’s Vaison-La-Romaine alongside a complex, brooding dish is a surefire victory at the dinner table. Cheers!
