About Éric

Éric Texier
The Team
Recommended Reading
The Web Site

Éric Texier
Éric was born in Bordeaux in 1961 and has lived in or around Lyon since 1979. He was originally trained as a material scientist and spent a year studying at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 1990, after years working in the leisure and nuclear industries, he decided to make a career of his true passion - wine.

In 1992, Éric went back to Bordeaux to formally study viticulture and oenology at Bordeaux University. When he finished he worked with Jean-Marie Guffens at Verget. Guffens, who above all respected the terroir and strived to make wines reflecting the terroir, taught Éric to use the lees to enhance the wine's natural flavors rather than discard them as byproducts of winemaking. He also taught to embrace the botrytis affected grapes to produce superbly concentrated sweet wines. And it was there that Éric developed the abilities to determine the vigneron's viticulture practices and to only buy from growers who had respected the terroir and used minimal intervention into the natural life cycle (generally organic principles of little to no herbicides, no machines, etc.).

Throughout the years, Éric travelled around the world to discover vineyards and meet winemakers in both the old and new worlds. Three regions made a lasting impression that he would later apply to his own philosophies:

• In France, Bourgogne (Burgundy) for the exacting vinification practices that absolutely respect the terroir.
• In Italy, Piedmont for successfully embracing the radical changes in style and fashions that occurred in the 80s.
• In the United States, Oregon for its winemakers' outlook, free and unencumbered by the weight of traditions..

Applying old world traditions and experience with the new world's freedom Éric made his first wine in 1995. He began in the Mâconnais (a department in the Bourgogne region) and soon expanded to the Nôrthern Rhône which lead him still further south to the many Côte du Rhône villages and finally to Châteauneuf du Pape.

Today Éric produces approximately 25 unique wines each year that can be found in more than 10 countries around the world.

The Team
While Éric may be the driving force at Éric Texier wines, he is by no means alone. His wife, Laurence, handles most of the scheduling, the project management and manages all of the accounting for the business. This is in addition to raising three children and running her own business. Pierre Hulin is Éric's "right hand man" and has a long history with Éric as they worked together as Engineers before making the leap into the wine business. Cedirc Guillemimot started his career in the wine business and has worked for Éric Texier Wines since July of 2001.

In addition to the core team there are a number of vignerons who's close partnerships are invaluable. Out of respect for their privacy and business relationships we have not listed them here but it is safe to say that without their dedication and desire to provide the best possible terroir driven fruit we would not be able to make many of the wines we do today.

Recommended Reading
There are limited sources of good information in English about the wines of the Rhône and Mâconnais. Following is a list of wonderful books which were used extensively as reference material for the content on the web site:

• The Wines of the Rhône, John Livingstone-Learmonth, Father and Father Ed
• Le vin en question (Wine in question) Jules Chauvet, Editions JP Rocher
• Touring in Wine Country, The Rhône, Hubrecht Duijker and series editor Hugh Johnson
• The Oxford Companion to Wine, Second Edition, Jancis Robinson Ed

in French:

• Sites & vins des Côtes du Rhône zone septentrionale, Paul Chauvel, Editions Curandera
• Le vin en question, Jules Chauvet, Editions JP Rocher
• Jules Chauvet ou le talent du vin, communications scientifiques, Editions JP Rocher
• Les Grands Vins de France, Paul Ramain, Editions Jeanne Laffitte
• Tout savoir sur nos Vins, Côtes du Rhône, I.V.A.O.C Côtes du Rhône

The Web Site
Éric Texier's web site is meant to provide customers the most accurate information possible. However, the realities of the wine business are that new technologies emerge, practices change, and partnerships come and go. Business, like wine, is not a static matter. This website was developed by and . Colin Frangos directed the graphic design of the site and Robert Erhlich acted as consulting geologist.