Eric Texier, Chat Fou VDF 2024

Get to know: Eric Texier, Chat Fou VDF 2024

A vivid, food-loving red wine from the Northern Rhône, made by cult producer Eric Texier.

Tasting Note

Crunchy red fruit leads the nose with ripe cherries and redcurrants, sharpened by a splash of white grapes co-fermented right into the blend. Concrete fermentation gives it a rounded, textured feel and there's real purity to it. Fresh and bright, with a playful edge that's earned this wine a genuine cult following. Pour it slightly chilled and it practically begs for good company and something delicious on the table.

Top food pairings:

• Grilled lamb chops
• Mediterranean mezze spread
• Roast aubergines with tahini and pomegranate

Kate Says

"This one gets people talking. Eric's farmed organically since day one, never made a fuss about it, just always done it that way. It's a proper wildcard: Cinsault and Grenache co-fermented with a splash of white grapes, aged in concrete, barely any sulphur added. Chuck it in the fridge for twenty minutes and open it with mates. That's honestly the best way to drink it."

Producer Info

Eric Texier gave up a career as a nuclear engineer in 1992 to study winemaking, interning with Jean-Marie Guffens at Verget in Mâcon before working his way into the Northern Rhône. He's best known for reviving the tiny Brézème appellation, once compared to Hermitage before it nearly disappeared, and today he and his wife Laurence farm 12 hectares of vines aged 30 to 90 years old on both banks of the Rhône, all worked organically since the start. This Ardèche plot, on the right bank, sits on granite and gneiss soils at higher altitude and in warmer conditions than their Brézème vineyard.

How it's made:

• Varieties: Cinsault 45%, Grenache 40%, Clairette 15%
• Hand-harvested and partly de-stemmed
• Co-fermented together with native yeasts in open-top concrete tanks
• No extraction techniques used, keeping the wine gentle and pure
• Matured in concrete for 12–18 months, then bottled unfined and unfiltered with only the smallest amount of sulphur

Good to know:

• Region: Ardèche, Northern Rhône, France (Vin de France)
• Style: Red, still wine - a co-fermented blend of red and white grapes
• Closure: Natural cork
• Vegan: Yes
• ABV: 12.5%
• Vintage: 2024

Why we love it:

This Northern Rhône red wine has earned its cult status the honest way - hand-farmed old vines, no shortcuts, and a genuinely distinctive co-fermented blend of red and white grapes. It's a wine for good company and delicious food, one of the most playful, drinkable bottles in the range.