Eric Texier Cotes du Rhone Rouge "Chat Fou"

45% Grenache/35% Cinsault/20% white blend (Clairette/Viognier/Chasselas/other). From vines planted on a south-facing slope on granite soils in the warm St-Julien en St-Alban zone (in the Ardèche on the northern bank of the Ouvèze--to the west of the Rhône River, at the southern edge of the northern Rhône Valley). The fruit is organically farmed (certified) and the varieties co-harvested by hand. The bunches are part de-stemmed, part pressed directly, and fermented with native yeasts in concrete tanks with a short 5-day maceration and no sulfur. There are no extraction techniques utitlized. The wine is aged in tank on its fine lees for a year and bottled without fining or filtration.

"Chat Fou" is by design a fresh, light "vin bistro", as Eric T. refers to it. He added Cinsault and reduced the Grenache since the 2019 vintage to move it in the direction of greater charm. Plus, he feels that compared to Grenache, Cinsault is a much more sustainable and potentially successful variety in the face of sky-rocketing temperatures in the Rhône.