Xavier Vignon (Consultant Winemaker, Rhône Valley)

Xavier Vignon is one of the top consultant winemakers in the south of France. He used to be a master Champagne blender (so he knows a thing or two about constructing wines) but now lives in Les Barroux in the Rhône Valley from where he visits around 300 estates to advise them on viticulture and vinification. At the end of each year, as he hands over his bill, he offers some of his employers to exchange it for barrels to make his own blends. His preferred style is for intense flavours and big structures so, inevitably, he keeps the best wines for bottling under his own stylish label. They are superb wines which are earning him the recognition they well deserve in France - and they are beginning to become well-known in the UK.

Xavier producers a wide range of wines from the south of France. From the Languedoc he sources some decent varietals and from the Rhône he offers a full range from a full and gutsy Côtes du Rhône to his top wine, a Châteauneuf called "Anonyme" from a number of his top clients. We also list Xavier's Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, one of the richer examples of this unctuous, sweet fortified wine, a speciality of the region.

Possibly the best wines are the non-vintage blends sourced from both the Rhône and the Languedoc. Not only do they come from two distinct regions (and many more sub-regions) but they comprise wines from more than one vintage - as already mentioned, Xavier is a master blender! As such "Xavier Rouge" and "Xavier Blanc" can only be classed as non-vintage wines. Oak-aged and very powerful, they are astonishingly good value for money.

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