Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge Brézème

2020
Texier, Éric
France
Rhône

100% Syrah. From Texier's younger (20-40-year-old) vines, planted on a south-facing, limestone marl slope of the Brézème zone (on eastern side of the Rhône River at the southern edge of the northern Rhône Valley). They are organically farmed and harvested by hand. The vinification and aging are identical to Texier's St Julien bottling and thus purely expressive of the cooler, less solar, more limestone-rich Brézème terroir: whole-cluster fermentation with native yeasts in open concrete tanks with no sulfur and a 6-8-day maceration; no extraction techniques (only a submerged cap for gentle infusion of color and flavor); aging in concrete tanks on the fine lees for 18-24 months with no racking; bottling is without fining or filtration and with a minute dose of sulfur. 

91+ points
"The 2019 regular bottling of Brézème from Éric Texier is made from his younger vines in this fine limestone terroir, with the vines ranging from twenty to forty years of age. The wine is fermented whole cluster, with indigenous yeasts and raised in cement vats for at least a year and a half prior to bottling. The wine delivers superb aromatics in its constellation of black raspberry, grilled venison, , pepper, woodsmoke, black tea, a hint of spice and a beautiful base of limestone minerality. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nicely meaty in personality, with a good core, excellent mineral undertow and grip, ripe, buried tannins and a long, complex and seamlessly balanced finish. This is excellent juice. 2025-2045."
John Gilman,
View from the Cellar

SKU/Code: 
DB8941-20
Product Line: 
Wine
Red
Varietal: 
Syrah
Farming Type: 
Organic