Xavier Vignon's Unique Vision for the Rhône Valley
Xavier Vignon is one of our favorite winemakers in the Rhône. He’s a well-known winemaking consultant who works with other producers around France; but when he sets his skills on his own wine projects, the results are dazzling. He often eschews the norms of the Rhône—for example, he often draws on his experience working in Champagne to employ similar blending techniques to Rhône blends. His are some of the best most intriguing wines on our shelves. Of course, his typical appellation wines are fantastic as well. His Côtes du Rhône, Beaumes-des-Venise, and Lirac wines are always best sellers and offer incredible QPR when they are in-stock.
We just received a few of his signature wines, including the Xavier Vignon "Arcane Le Fou" Vin de France $24.99 96JD, which employs the ideas and techniques of fractional blending. With the “Fou,” he is blending Grenache from multiple sites (there is a little Mourvèdre, Syrah, and Caladoc in there as well) across multiple vintages. Up to five vintages are blended to create the final wine, as well as grapes from top Grenache sites including Rasteau, Ventoux, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The end result is what Xavier likes to refer to as a “sum better than its parts” cuvée. This wine has a joyous hedonistic streak with its brambly berry fruit and Chambord-like texture. The flavors of blueberry, licorice, and fig jam saturate the palate. The first time we brought this in was a couple of years ago, but I found more at the winery and I begged them for a last pass at this wine.
During my buying trip to the Rhône this past spring, I visited Xavier at this winery on the outskirts of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. As I entered his tasting room, I was thrilled to see the 1999, 1998, and 1991 bottlings of his Châteauneuf Reserve series queued up for me to taste. We have brought his 1972 and 2000 vintages to our shelves over the past few years, and they’ve been incredible hits with our customers. For those not familiar, this is the second part of Xavier’s Champagne technique—reserve wines. Since Xavier is a consulting winemaker he has connected with many clients over the years. He was visiting one of these clients and discovered a barrel at the winery that had been aging for nearly 50 years. The family patriarch had made the wine in 1972 and passed away shortly after. The family kept it around for posterity, while caring for it but not drinking it. It is hard to say exactly why it came to Xavier’s attention (he’s always a little coy about this part—not wanting to reveal too much) but when he tasted it he wanted to bottle this wine. These types of wines are not unheard of, actually —both Lopez de Heredia and Castillo Ygay in Spain have aged wines for many extra years and sometimes a decade or more in cask before bottling—often to great results.
The success of the 1972 brought forward a few other producers who were also sitting on reserve wines. The 2000 was the next in line. Coming from a couple of sources, Xavier created a blend that showed off the harmonious, lustrous fruit that was still residing in this wine. Fortunately, he had a little more 2000 Xavier Vignon "2000" Châteauneuf-du-Pape $89.99. This still pops with fresh but delineated red fruit and has only gotten better since he first released it a couple of years ago. Beautiful balance here showing more of the fruit character you associate with the 2000 vintage.
The newer bottlings come from a series of really interesting vintages. The 1999 Xavier Vignon "1999" Châteauneuf-du-Pape $89.99 is from a lighter vintage. This shows the quality and flavor of a more elegant and perfumed style of Châteauneuf. It has subtle red fruit tones surrounded by aromas of potpourri and spice. It is fine and precise and a pleasure to drink.
The 1998 Xavier Vignon "1998" Châteauneuf-du-Pape $109.99 is from one of the most powerful and noteworthy vintages in the last three decades. It is deep, rich, and shows a depth of flavor that includes currants, figs, leather, and spice. The finish is really long on this one and it should go for another decade or more in its current condition.
Finally, the 1991 Xavier Vignon "1991" Châteauneuf-du-Pape $119.99 is for fans of minerality and spice. This is still a little tighter than the others since it was the most recently bottled of the group. Give this a decant for an hour or more and it really begins to open with its graphite, alder smoke, and blackcurrant aromas. This is an often overlooked vintage, and this reminds us just how many surprises there still are in the world of wine.