We return to the concept of natural, 'do-nothing' farming proposed by Masanobu Fukuoka and chat with Éric Texier, a wine-maker in Brézème, France, who has applied the concepts of natural farming to his vineyards over the past three decades.  We chat about what has worked, what hasn't worked, the role climate change plays in the future of viticulture, and if the wine industry is prepared for the changes necessary, given climate change.
It is no exaggeration that Éric Texier is one of the most important people in modern viticulture. A Bordeaux native who has lived in or around Lyon since 1979, Eric is a jovial, energetic and fun-loving person who wants his wines to make their drinkers happy. But he is also a boundary pusher, endlessly questioning his own work for the sake of moving viticulture and winemaking forward.
Éric is a trailblazer, having put the all but extinct regions of Brézème and Saint Julien en Sain Alban on the map. He experiments with concepts you rarely if ever hear about elsewhere: finding acidity in Marsanne through anforas, not working the soil in favor of cover crops, "infusion" style macerations, working on his own grafts, rediscovering forgotten grapes adaptable to the very real threat of climate change.
 
Brézème is available for purchase across the globe, and you can learn more about their wine process at: https://www.eric-texier.com/
Eric can be found occasionally posting about the vineyards on Instagram @Brezame
 
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