Meet Martin Texier
Great stories often start with unforeseen encounters. It's Spring of 2023 and we are heading to the Loire for La Dive Bouteille. As with all the years before we meet and catch up with friends from all around the globe — winemakers, fellow colleagues and importers. Our great friend Theo Zierock joins us for a walk around of the fair and tells us 'come let's go and say hi to my friend Eric, Eric Texier.'
Some of you will have been lucky enough to encounter the wit and kind spirit this man is. His wines have been nothing short of region defining over the past two decades. Not least thanks to his tireless work on bringing back one of the Rhône's most precious and historic appellations — Brézème — on the map of world-class terroir.
Eric invites us to come to the Rhône any time so almost a year later we finally make our way to Saint-Julien-en-Alban where we meet not Eric but his son Martin Texier.Before committing to winemaking in the Rhône, Martin pursued a diverse path, studying economics, DJing and working for the legendary Louis Dressner in New York.
As we arrive Martin shares, 'for quite some years now my father and I did their own things. He was still vinifying the majority of our Brézème vineyards as well as keeping the negòce projects going while I was starting to discover vineyards around here in Saint-Julien. A few moments later Martin is giving us a tour of the vines surrounding the winery as well as a higher parcel up the road where they planted the ancient variety — Serine — an old cousin to Syrah that perhaps could be one answer to the drastic climate change in the region.
Next to Syrah, Serine and Roussanne and a bit of Clairette Martin also grows Cinsault and Grenache that he blends for his 'Le Preyna' cuvée — a juicy yet serious example of the region. Nonetheless, a big core of his work remains with the famed Brézème appellation (in both red and white) that now with Eric's retirement plans will be passed on entirely to Martin.
