Eric Texier 'Le Clau' Vieille Serine 2020

Press 2 • May 2024 Direct Press Selection

When you taste with Eric Texier, you’re guaranteed two things: incredible wine, and zero bull$#*%. He doesn’t want to be a part of a “scene,” and he’s been known to take shots at other winemakers when he feels like they are lying about or otherwise disrespecting the craft. He’s a winemaker’s winemaker—endlessly reinventing, experimenting and recording the results. He wants more than great wines; he wants to push conversations forward and nudge people to become better stewards of the land and better winemakers. He was a PhD nuclear engineer before switching to winemaking, which he did without any family land or real experience. He uses his science background in order to know how not to add things to his wine, however.

'Le Clau' is a wine that is just as contrarian as Eric himself—and just as invigorating to be around. It's made from a selection of very old vines planted in the 1930s. Texier works with an old clone of Syrah called Serine, but this plot of vines differs from his other Serine so much that ampelographers are not even sure it's Syrah. It could be an extremely rare varietie such as Bravade or Exbrayat, no one is sure. It does differ from Syrah in that it has far less black olive notes and is fully ripe at lower potential alcohol levels. As such there is a through-line of electricity and freshness. However it does have some darker tinges of black tea mixed with minerals and chewy tannins, making for one of the more distinct Northern Rhone wines I've come across but also one of the most elegant, gracious, zero sulfur wines I've encountered. Grapes are fermented whole cluster with no punchdowns or extraction and aged in demi-muid for 11 months. Jonathan Kemp