Synopsis
On a midsummer’s night in 1808 the life of an ambitious young vintner changes forever when he encounters an angel, Xas, a compelling creature who appears to be more human than divine. Sobran confides to Xas his love for the beautiful Celeste, whom he has been forbidden to marry because there is madness in her family. The angel counsels him in life and love, promising to return a year later to celebrate a marriage.
Believing the angel to be his mentor and protector Sobran marries Celeste and makes her pregnant. He keeps his appointment with Xas, who begins to educate his new friend in the matter of winemaking and gives him some vines from his own garden, in return for a pledge to meet every year on the same night.
Desperate to finance his own vineyard Sobran breaks the agreement by joining the army and marching with Napoleon to Moscow where he almost loses his life. Returning to his father’s death, his wife’s despair and a vineyard in disrepair he confronts the angel. Why didn’t Xas protect him? Why did he allow Celeste to suffer?
Xas reveals he is powerless to prevent suffering and reiterates their pact. Both pleasure and pain are required to make a great wine. It may take a lifetime but he promises to stand by him. Sobran agrees not to miss another meeting.
He prospers under the Angel’s guidance, makes his first vintage, fathers more children, and earns the respect of his employer, the Comte de Vully.
The tragic death of their second child causes Celeste to lose her grasp on reality and once again Sobran’s faith in his angel is tested. He demands Xas bring evidence of his daughter in Heaven. A year later Sobran is overjoyed by Xas’s implication that he has seen Nicolette in Heaven.
His desire to become the chateau’s chief winemaker is realised on the death of the Comte. Sobran feels invincible. And all his luck is reflected in the wines man and angel make together. But his friendship with the Comte’s niece and heir, Baroness Aurora de Valday turns Celeste’s grief to an obsessive jealousy.
When Xas is forced to reveal that he did not see Nicolette in Heaven and confesses to Sobran that he is, in fact, a fallen angel, the vinter is driven to the edge of sanity. Believing he is betrayed, Sobran’s enthusiasm is gone and his wines become bitter. He hides from Xas on the eve of their next annual meeting amongst the vines. Convinced her husband has been bewitched by Aurora, Celeste vows to avenge his hurt.
Aurora becomes ill; she has cancer and undergoes a brutal operation. As she recovers, Sobran shares the secret of the angel with her.
When Sobran next meets Xas the encounter is explosive; an exquisite struggle expressing mutual interdependence and desire is interrupted by Celeste who finds her husband in the arms of a creature she believes to be an incarnation of Aurora. An act of passionate violence by Celeste forces Sobran to react in an instant and he brutally rejects Xas.
Celeste’s madness deepens and she retires from daily life. Bereft of spirit Sobran loses his taste, the vines become disease-ridden and must be destroyed. But at the point where he has lost everything a miracle occurs. One of Xas’s vines has survived. Together Aurora and Sobran replant the land. Their long suppressed feelings for each other are finally acknowledged and they become lovers. Aurora understands Sobran is incomplete without Xas and encourages him to call the angel back into his life.
But there is price to pay. As Xas becomes human, Sobran prepares to die. Together they make the final wine of Sobran Jodeau’s life. A wine that is a culmination of all of life’s experiences – joy, loss, sorrow, ambition, success, fear and humility – a wine that reflects the character of the vintner. A wine that has never before been tasted.
