From France to Sonoma, Winemaking is a SEILLAN FAMILY AFFAIR
It can easily be claimed that wine runs through the veins of the Seillan family. As co-proprietors with Jackson Family Wines of Château Lassègue in France’s Saint-Émilion region, and as vignerons of Sonoma County’s Vérité, patriarch Pierre Seillan and his children Hélène and Nicolas steward their vineyards on two continents utilizing Old World expertise and flawless, modern winemaking technique.
A sixth generation vigneron, Pierre’s career in the wine industry began at his family’s French estate, Bellevue. Located in Gascony, France, this idyllic spot is where he learned to farm the vineyards. Later, he focused his efforts at Château de Targé in the Loire Valley before spending two decades in Bordeaux managing several châteaux across eight different appellations, an experience that allowed him to explore the nuances between various vineyard sites, creating the basis for his micro-cru (vineyards-within-vineyards) philosophy that allows him to build the elegant and complex architecture of his current wines.
“I am a vigneron, not a winemaker, which means that whichever country in which I am making wine, I am a servant of that soil, working with hundreds of different micro-crus in each location,” says Pierre, who pivoted in the mid 1990’s upon meeting American winemakers Jess Jackson and his wife Barbara Banke who convinced him to join Sonoma-based Jackson Family Wines as vigneron. Recognizing the potential of the Sonoma County terroir, located in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountain Range, and excited about the possibility of crafting his own wines in California, he accepted. Together, they created Vérité (French for ‘truth’), a label that, since its first 1998 vintage, has consistently achieved great acclaim, including fifteen perfect 100-point scores from Robert Parker Wine Advocate.
“Wherever I am, the soil make-up is my inspiration. I analyze the topography, elevation, vegetation, and climate in terms of wind and rainfall each year, levels of heat during the growing season, and position to the sun. My understanding and sensitivity to these elements is what makes the difference in my work. But never forget - as soon as you think you have the knowledge, you have more to learn. It is the diversity of micro-crus that allows me to create the quality and complexity of the wines but also the essential style at Vérité and Château Lassègue.”
Pierre’s Jackson Family Wines partnership continued to flourish and in 2001, he crafted the inaugural vintage of Anakota, a single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, inspired by the unique terroir of Knights Valley in Sonoma County. In 2002, he began crafting Arcanum at the Tenuta di Arceno estate in Tuscany, and he returned to France in 2003 when he and the Jackson/Banke family purchased the 17th century Saint-Émilion estate Château Lassègue in Bordeaux.
Today, Pierre splits his time between Tuscany and Bordeaux, where son Nicolas serves as vice president of both Tenuta di Arceno and Château Lassègue, and Sonoma, where daughter Hélène serves as Vérité’s assistant winemaker. Having learned at the heels of their dad, the siblings share his passion for respecting the soil and allowing the terroir to speak through their wines.
At Château Lassègue, built in 1738, Nicolas is responsible for production (vineyards, winemaking and bottling), accounting, and finance. He tends old-growth vines that create a rich, aromatic Cabernet Franc/Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon blend that is powerful and elegant. The ornate sundials that adorn the stunning façade of Château Lassègue are a nod to the vineyards’ perfect dawn-to-dusk sun exposure; the vines grow on south by southwest facing hills amidst rich soils of clay and limestone that add exquisite minerality to their fruit. At Tenuta di Arceno, he focuses on administration and with Pierre oversees operations.
“Watching my father managing several estates and crafting wines as I was growing up, I learned to observe and respect nature, and also to work with integrity and perseverance,” says Nicolas with overt respect for his father. “From a very early age, he trained me to produce wines that reflect their origins by listening to instinct and staying close to your roots. We both pay quite a lot of attention to the details, we are both stubborn, and we both have a very strong work ethic. I admire his intuition, loyalty, leadership and the inspiration he gives others.”
Replies Pierre, “In my opinion, Nicolas is one of the most ‘complete’ vignerons on the planet. Today, along with his wife Christina, he manages Château Lassègue with incredibly high precision on both the business and production side. Under Nicolas, the quality of the wines of Château Lassègue continues to improve, yet
he maintains the style while respecting the terroir of Saint-Émilion.”
At Vérité, Hélène works alongside her father on vineyard operations, harvest dates, winemaking protocols, and blending her family’s Old World expertise with New World fruit to produce three of the most critically acclaimed Bordeaux blends ever produced: the Merlot-based La Muse, the Cabernet Sauvignon-based La Joie, and the Cabernet Francbased Le Désir.
Hélène started her wine career at Château Lassègue in 2003, an environment that provided unparalleled experience and a comprehensive overview of every step in the farming and winemaking process. By 2006, she held the role of the estate’s assistant vigneron. She returned to California and Vérité in 2008, bringing with her everything she learned from her time in Saint-Émilion.
She is dedicated to continuing what her father started and takes utmost care in every step of the viticultural and winemaking process; every vineyard is an intricate patchwork of soils, microclimates, exposures, and elevations. Rather than treat each site as a single entity, Hélène and her father have chosen the absolute best quality micro-parcels from existing vineyards. After twenty years of careful study of the Sonoma terroir, they have identified more than 100 of these tiny micro-crus, representing a palette of more than 40 different soil types spanning 2400 ft. in elevation.
“My daughter has exceptional talent and totally understands the style of Vérité,” says Pierre. “She is the perfect person to continue Vérité. She understands the complexity of the blends and we have been repairing vineyards for new stock to ensure not just the protection of the quality but also the style of the wines.”
“I believe it is my duty and responsibility to keep the signature that my father created 20 years ago,” adds Hélène, who remains extremely close with her brother. The two are in constant communication about Vérité and Chateau Lassègue. “At any moment Nicolas and I could switch places and you wouldn’t know a difference in the resulting wine.”
“We all work toward the same goal with the same voice,” says Pierre. “Quality without style doesn’t mean anything. It is the style that is the reference of the quality.”