2016 Arcane IX l'Hermite

The man behind Xavier Vins, Xavier Vignon, has been described by Jeb Dunnuck as "easily one of the best winemakers in the Southern Rhone". He has earned this reputation both as an expert consultant to over 250 wine producers and a talented oenologist in his own right, with a gift for finding and vinifying parcels of land that result in simply superb wines. Xavier's biggest project to date, the Arcane series will be released over the next decade, with two new additions to enjoy every year. Each of the wines will take their name from the mystical 20-card tarot deck, the Major Arcana. Released only once, as the sole expression of a vintage, they will then disappear to be replaced by new Arcanes originating from different blends and terroirs. Each Arcane release is a seriously limited edition with only a few thousand bottles produced. Avid followers will remember the 2010 Arcane V Le Pape – a ground-breaking cuvee where the wine in barrel was submerged in a concrete tank of Chateauneuf-du-Pape to eliminate any oxygen contact in the barrel. In the 2016 vintage, L’Hermite follows this same avant-garde approach. 2016 was a wonderful vintage in Gigondas, especially in the high elevation sites where sunshine levels were ideal for producing small yields of perfectly concentrated juice. Small barrels of the blend (80% Grenache; 7% Mourvèdre; 5% Syrah; 4% Muscardin; 4% Picpoul Noir) from these specially selected parcels were then placed in large concrete tanks of Gigondas, ensuring the Grenache in particular maintains absolute purity of fruit. Unconventional, perhaps; exciting and with magnificent results, definitely.