This is a predominantly Round & Fleshy wine, but it shares structural nuances of Tone & Backbone as described in the tasting note below.
Tasting Notes
Straddling Round and Fleshy, Tone and Backbone, Eric Texier's Brézème shows upfront lush blackberry and red berry fruit, and apparent tannins that follow. The wine continues to unfold with tobacco, grilled meat, and a smokey minerality, along with a bevy of black pepper and licorice spice.
Body is the impression of a wines weight, density, or its ‘mouth-feel’. Some wines feel weighty, or full bodied, while others feel light bodied. Wine runs the gamut from light to full, with most falling somewhere in between.
TANNIN
Low
Subtle
Balanced
Pronounced
High
Tannin can range greatly in wine, but it is necessary to some degree, and a necessary constituent for red wines to age well. In high amounts, it can cause a drying affect, which is sensed mostly on the gums and tongue. Tannin is a natural preservative extracted from grape skins, otherwise known as polyphenols that are micronutrients and antioxidants with potential health benefits.
ACIDITY
Soft
Subtle
Balanced
Pronounced
High
Acidity is a foundational component in wine. In fact, low acidity, or ‘flabby’ wine (as the term suggests) is a negative. You can sense acidity mainly on the sides of your tongue. Acidity generally ranges from balanced to high. Crisp acidity adds freshness, making your mouth water. Acidity is a necessary element and helps to balance other components.
SWEETNESS
Dry
Off Dry
Medium Dry
Medium Sweet
Very Sweet
Most wines are characterized as dry to off-dry, but there are some grape varietals, like Riesling, that run the gamut from dry to sweet. The tip of the tongue mainly detects sweetness, which is why it is often the primary characteristic detected. Sweetness is derived from residual sugar that did not ferment into alcohol.
ALCOHOL
13%
Alcohol is the by-product of fermentation. Differing grape varieties have differing potential alcohol levels, but regardless warmer areas result in riper grapes resulting in higher alcohol. Alcohol level is an objective number, but its affect on its palate impression is largely determined with how well integrated and balanced it is with other components.
Punches above your run of the mill Côtes du Rhône, seriously complex.
GRAPE VARIETAL(S)
Syrah
100%See-RA
Syrah is widely planted throughout the world, but that was not so until the late twentieth century when Syrah was principally grown in the Rhone Valley and, as Shiraz, in Australia. Stylistically, the Palate Character of Syrah can vary depending on ripeness from a rich Round & Fleshy, Tone & Backbone, to a Powerful & Extracted. The flavors and aromas can also vary with a dark, sometimes sweet, fruit character, varying amount of spice, floral, and earth, and smoke, and meaty aromas and flavors.
20 years ago, nuclear engineer Eric Texier and his wife followed their dream of owning a vineyard and created a 12 hectare estate in Brézème, in the northern Rhône, and in the Ardèche, just next door in the Ouvèze valley.
The estate consists of two very distinct yet under-the-radar terroirs in the northern Rhône valley: Brézème on the left bank of the Rhône and the Ouvèze valley on the right bank. Because they are small in size and somewhat isolated they are overshadowed by the more well-known AOC brethren.
Brézème is a limestone hillside facing south, while the Ouvèze valley is made up of a mix of granite and limestone on the Ardèche side, where they farm 30-90 year old vineyards. The winery has been making wines organically from the outset, with minimal intervention in the vineyard, as well as using indigenous yeasts and whole bunch maceration, always seeking the best representation of the terroir.
Blackberry
Black Pepper
Grilled Meat
Organic
