NV Xavier Vignon SM Cotes du Rhone Rhone Valley 750 ml

We read the trades as diligently as ever. 

From the big ones—Advocate, Spectator, Vinous, Dunnuck, et al.—down to insider rags read by about 11 winemakers and viticulturists, we’re always scanning the publications, looking for a new name to jump off the page. 

But we still haven’t hit the jackpot like we did with Xavier Vignon.

It was over a decade ago when we read Robert Parker’s first words about the rising-star Rhône enologist. The great critic couldn’t contain himself about Vignon’s wines, and when we finally took a sip, we thought that Parker, uncharacteristically, might have actually UNDERSOLD Vignon’s immense talent!

Here’s why: Vignon boasted the chops to make Châteauneuf with Philippe Cambie and the rest of the Rhône’s best, but he was unbound and unafraid to break convention. Non-vintage bottlings, wines aged in barrels submerged in more wine—he experimented in things that most winemakers would be too timid to try. He dared, he dreamed big, and damned if he didn’t hit the bullseye just about every time. 

Which is exactly what he’s done with his NV Xavier Vignon SM Côtes-du-Rhône. 

This is a wine that he’s made only one other time in his career. “SM” stands for “Septentrional” and “Méridional,” referring to the Northern and Southern Rhône, the source of the 50% Syrah (from 60-year-old vines) and 50% Grenache (from 80-year-old vines) that compose this blockbuster. The wine is not vintage-labeled because it hails from two spectacular years: 2015 and 2016, which earned Wine Advocate marks of 97 and 98 for the Northern and Southern Rhône, respectively.

The result is a stellar bottle by a winemaker who blends fearlessness with flawless instincts.