Martin Texier's path to winemaking was anything but direct. After studying economics and spending time as a DJ, he landed internships at Uva Wines in Brooklyn and Flatiron Wines in Manhattan and a formative stretch at A1 Records on 18th Street. At some point the pull of the vine became undeniable, and in 2014 he returned to the northern Rhône to farm his own land. His father is Eric Texier, one of the region's most respected natural producers. Martin has built something that carries a family resemblance but has its own clear identity.
Backstory
Martin established his domaine in 2014 in Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban, a village in the Ardèche just south of the classic northern Rhône appellations. He works 5 hectares in and around the commune, farming organically with an approach he describes as somewhere between biodynamic and regenerative agriculture. The La Boutanche collaboration with Selection Massale came early in his career and helped introduce his wines to a wider American audience through the accessible 1-litre format.
The Region
Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban lies in the Ardèche, a dramatic landscape of gorges and schist ridges on the right bank of the Rhône. The vineyards sit on a complex mosaic of soils: clay, limestone, gneiss, marl, schist, and granite, sometimes varying within a single parcel. This diversity gives Martin the raw material for a wide range of wine styles from a small base of land. The area sits at the southern edge of northern Rhône influence, where Syrah and Roussanne find their last comfortable latitude before the Mediterranean heat takes over.
Vineyards and Farming
The 5 hectares are planted with Syrah, Cinsault, and Grenache among the reds, and Roussanne, Clairette, Muscat, and Chasselas Rosé among the whites. All viticulture is organic. Farming combines hand work in the vineyard with careful attention to soil biology, drawing on both biodynamic practices and the newer vocabulary of regenerative agriculture. Every harvest is done by hand.
Winemaking
All fermentations use indigenous yeasts only. Wines are aged in neutral vessels, including old barriques and demi-muids, and bottled unfined and unfiltered with little or no sulfur added. Techniques vary by wine: whites may be direct-pressed and fermented in stainless steel; reds may include whole-cluster foot pressing with extended élevage in old wood. The La Boutanche bottling is a Cinsault-dominant blend fermented in concrete and aged six months before bottling with zero added sulfur.
The Wines
Martin's estate range includes Roussanne, the white La Rouvière, the pétillant naturel Petite Nature, Brézème Blanc, Grenache, Le Preyna, Brézème rouge, and the single-vineyard Cérouan Syrah. For La Boutanche he produces a 1-litre Cinsault blend that has become one of the project's most sought-after expressions: light, juicy, and unmistakably of the Ardèche.
