Cahier Vinexpo à la page Le fortin du XIX siècle flanqué de sa véranda. Intérieur du cuvier circulaire, en Inox miroir.e The 19th-century Fortin and the veranda. The circular vat room, all mirror-finish stainless steel. A new perspective At Château La Grâce Dieu des Prieurs, While sipping a glass of Saint-Emilion Grand Cru, we spoke with Russian art now overlaps with great French winemakingthe estate’s owner, Andrei Filatov, about his collection of Russian traditions, in a setting designed by architect Jean Nouvel. art and about French tradition, and about the dream of bringing the two together here, through the French architect’s vision. From the terrace of the circular Cuvier (vat room), scan the hori- It took nearly three years, between 2014 and 2017, to bring zon and fix a point, looking out over the great green sea of vines. the project to fruition: to restore the Fortin and the typically In the distance on the left, you can see the Fortin, a small, tall Girondin-style house; to build the Belvédère, the Cuvier 19th-century manor house flanked by a veranda as delicate as a and the Ombrelle around the latter; then dig the cellars. glass chapel. It’s rather a surprising sight, but then so is everything Underground, the effervescence up above is stilled. Silence at Château La Grâce Dieu des Prieurs. If you shift your angle of reigns inside the thick walls of the circular gallery, housing view by standing in the courtyard facing the Cuvier, between the the château’s precious vintages, which are stored for months imposing Belvédère to the east and the lacy Ombrelle to the west, on end. “Wherever you are, you always need surprises. What’s you will get a totally new perspective. This curved structure is an most interesting about architecture is the juxtaposition artistic creation as well as being a functional winemaking build- of sequences, like in the movies,” says Nouvel. “This vineyard ing. On the outside, the cylinder is a huge cyclorama with an has existed for centuries and like all agricultural ventures allegorical fresco depicting vineyard work. Inside, the gleaming that have developed over time, the various buildings all have stainless-steel vats mirror one another. It’s almost like being inside their own history and proportions. Preserving these elements a rocket engine—Russian, of course. was key while following an essential basic line, respecting Stand on the mezzanine and you’re in for another surprise: on the various winemaking functions and satisfying the owner, the floor, the portrait of a grinning Yuri Gagarin surrounded who has his own cultural approach.” by grape clusters is projected onto the vats. “It’s all totally surreal! The work is completely idiosyncratic, taking you from one eye- I wanted to express the optimism, the joie de vivre of people and opening feature to the next, as if passing from one world to objects linked to the same vocation—creating wine—and to a another. This is the third wine-related project overseen by Nouvel, man’s great passion for Russian culture,” explains Jean Nouvel following Château La Coste and Château La Dominique. (photo, previous page).“People often ask me howEach one has its own specific technical and aesthetic requirements. I came to design this or that project. Each time I say the same At La Grâce Dieu, Laurent Prosperi and his wife, Rod Vangheli, thing: every creation springs from a dialogue. It takes form oversee daily operations. And if everything here is steeped in Rus- during this exchange and in the pleasure of giving something sian culture, from the vat to the vintage bottles, the estate remains to someone else. You always have to see architecture as a gift.” true to its primary vocation: producing a Grand Cru wine. L’ABUS D’ALCOOL EST DANGEREUX POUR LA SANTÉ. À CONSOMMER AVEC MODÉRATION. DRINK IN MODERATION. ALCOHOL ABUSE IS HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH. 240 levuoN naeJ ©