February 14, 2007
Eric Texier 2004 Côtes du Rhône, about $12
It's not easy to become a winemaker in France when you've never had any connection to the wine business and don't own a single vine.
That didn't stop Eric Texier, who decided to forgo a career in nuclear science to devote himself to wine. In the early '90s, He hooked up with Jean-Marie Guffens, a prominent Burgundian vintner who schooled him in the art of manipulation-free winemaking — organic farming, hand-picking, natural yeasts and so on.
Today, he makes a wide variety of wines, from crisp burgundies to a tannic, brooding Côte Rôtie. His 2004 Côtes du Rhône tastes like a mouthful of black cherries and goes down like silk.
Imported by Louis/Dressner, New York
This review first appeared in the Denver Post.