Eric Texier - Chat Fou 2019
Eric Texier became a winemaker after a first career and without any family background in vines or wines. After giving up the idea of buying vineyards, which was too costly a proposition for a beginner with his ambitions, he started a small négoce where he selected particularly interesting vineyard plots and the sincere, hard-working farmers who grew the healthy grapes he wanted to buy and vinify. He rediscovered nearly forgotten areas of ancient fame, like Brézème in the northern Côtes-du-Rhône, and has since acquired plots in Côte Rôtie and Condrieu in the northern Rhône, and replanted several hectares in Brézème, with Syrah and Roussanne.
That is how he came to produce about 30 different wines, from 10 different origins, from Bussières in the Mâconnais to the northern Rhône and the southern Côtes-du-Rhône. The wines are vinified in their areas of production.
Chat Fou is a PDO Côtes-du-Rhône made from Grenache and 10% white grapes (Clairette, Roussanne), grown on granitic soil. The grapes are destemmed and undergo a cold maceration for aromatic extraction. The wine is fermented with natural yeasts, with pigeage and remontage twice a day and then aged for 15 months in concrete.
Grape varieties: 90% Grenache and 10% Clairette & Roussanne