At the very core of Xavier Vignon’s expertise lies a well-oiled machine combined with lashings of experience, practice and intuition. The art of blending fascinated him from an early age and, over the years, he has turned it into an art form, daring to try out new associations, transcending codes and offering new, innovative techniques.
Blending is the very cornerstone in the creation of a wine and the stage that determine’s the wine’s structure. Whether blending origins, parcels, soils, varietals and vintages… ‘It is at this point that everything is built and the work of art is shaped, in keeping with all of the factors that we have determined prior to that point’.
‘I have always wanted to create blends and experiment rather than just buying to re-sell’. He has absolute freedom in the selection process which means that he is able to identify and purchase the grapes that he wants, with no obligation to any particular producer. This complete freedom enables him to combine a wide range of terroirs.
Xavier Vignon grants himself the freedom to which he is entitled, the freedom to experiment with vintages, to blend different vintages of the same appellation, the same cuvée. He keeps a stock of several past vintages which he uses in the same way as the ‘reserve wines’ of Champagne. The cuvée Réserve de Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a wine that pays homage to the ‘perpetual reserve’ in which several different vintages are blended together.
He creates with his mind, with the memory of every fragrance and aroma that he has identified in the vats, and it is as such that Xavier Vignon builds the greater picture in which all of the individual elements interact with each other. Blending, which lies at the meeting point between science and art, is carried out step by step. It is a long journey of experimentation, doubt and hesitation which ultimately gives rise to the finished masterpiece!
This exercise is almost sacred in the way that it allows us to freeze a moment in time. ‘It is essentiel that we respect the fruit and this is the first duty of a good winemaker. We are always looking for the best possible compromise so as to grant as much freedom as possible to the expression of the raw material.’
The magic thus begins to unfold and must be left to evolve naturally and unhindered. Xavier recalls a day in 2010, the birth of the very first Arcane: Le Pape, which he describes as ‘the most moving day of my whole life’. ‘This extraordinary grenache completely blew us away and went far beyond our expectations. It was more than anything we could have dreamed of. We may well have the same cards in our hand but the game is never the same…’ The wine seemed to flow into itself, overtaken by its own emotion. This incredible moment has left its mark, embodied each time by a new cuvée to form a range of wines that reflects the most important element in a wine: the dream.
Xavier Vignon is not just a genius in the art of blending but also in the art of unifying, as he does not work alone. His teams, companions and partners are always by his side, supporting him in his vision of a wine and helping him to make this vision a reality.