Jeremy Seysses, winemaker and co-owner at Domaine Dujac, has stepped beyond Pinot Noir to help create a new expression of single-vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Trailside Vineyard in Rutherford represents a partnership project that begun in 2020, including Seysses and Carlton McCoy Jr MS, CEO of Lawrence Wine Estates which is the owner of Heitz Cellar among other wineries will take place on 26 February and wines will be allocated to Trailside Vineyard members They described the wine as a ‘terroir-driven age-worthy style that is an homage to Napa Valley’s glory days of the 1960s and 1970s’ Jeremy Seysses (left) and Carlton McCoy Jr Photo credit: Courtesy of Trailside Vineyard McCoy Jr said, ‘In the 1970s and into the 1980s, our vineyard was the core source for Spring Mountain Vineyard’s legendary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ‘One of those 40-year-old bottles was an epiphany for me McCoy Jr said he had been friends with Seysses since early in his wine career ‘When I first saw Rutherford’s Trailside Vineyard in 2019 and saw the map of its seven different soil types I knew I had to work with a winemaker who had the patience and perfectionism to do justice to each of these individual blocks.’ which involved fermenting each climat of the vineyard separately highlighting the incorporation of whole clusters and a submerged cap in the fermentation ‘We’re willing to explore techniques that are rooted in tradition but uncommonly seen in Napa Valley,’ said Seysses Trailside Vineyard will join the Lawrence Wine Estates portfolio, which also includes historic Napa winery Heitz Cellar and Bordeaux second growth Château Lascombes.⁠ Seysses oversees operations with his brother who is both oenologist at the Burgundy domaine and winemaker at her family’s Snowden Vineyards in California one of Burgundy’s most celebrated and influential domaines has partnered with Master Sommelier and CEO of Lawrence Wine Estates to deliver a fresh new expression of Cabernet Sauvignon — evoking a bygone time in Rutherford 2025) – Today marks the announcement of Trailside Vineyard forthright new perspective in Cabernet Sauvignon from Rutherford: one that honors the great classical wines of Napa Valley’s halcyon days of the 1960s and 1970s “Domaine Dujac is one of Burgundy’s greatest estates,” wrote McCoy has been a dear friend of mine since very early in my wine career.” “When I first saw Rutherford’s Trailside Vineyard in 2019 I knew I had to work with a winemaker who had the patience and perfectionism to do justice to each of these individual blocks A winemaker that understood how to work with each climat to express its true nature but quietly revolutionary: “Let’s make the single-vineyard Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon that WE want to drink.” our vineyard was the core source for Spring Mountain Vineyard’s legendary Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon,” McCoy said “One of those 40-year-old bottles was an epiphany for me delivered on elegant and plush tannins.⁠ I realized we could bring back something incredibly special by breaking a few rules,” he said The inaugural release is from the 2022 vintage crafted to produce the most complex and complete expression of this site and fermented according to each climat’s individual soil type Fermentations began with a traditional pied de cuve starter and the wine was aged in a vast array of vessels Seysses had the idea to incorporate whole clusters and a submerged cap in the fermentation — a calculated risk that defies convention in the Napa Valley “We’re willing to explore techniques that are rooted in tradition but uncommonly seen in Napa Valley,” wrote Seysses “We seek to give the most compelling rendition of the vineyard which must always remain central to the project Trailside Vineyard is a single-vineyard Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon conceived by two of the industry’s most experienced and well-known professionals with the first release of the 2022 vintage the duo crafted a profound single-vineyard wine made in a terroir-driven age worthy style that is an homage to Napa Valley’s glory days of the 1960s and 1970s which they both adore Their hope is to restore a great vineyard’s rightful reputation simply by making a wine that they would love to drink Their source is a historical vineyard in Rutherford that was once a source for Spring Mountain Vineyard’s and Heitz Cellar’s Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1970s and 1980s A pedigreed site hiding in plain sight for decades the vineyard is notable for its diversity of gravel Trailside Vineyard joins Lawrence Wine Estates’ coveted portfolio of historical wineries and is represented with targeted distribution by its sales and marketing partner Carlton McCoy’s upbringing was an unlikely springboard for his meteoric rise in the wine industry Named a Master Sommelier in 2013 at just 28 years old Carlton was one of the youngest people and the second African American to earn this prestigious title An alum of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park with stints at revered institutions including Per Se Carlton joined the team at The Little Nell in Aspen inspired by the hotel’s award-winning wine program Here Carlton met and befriended billionaire investor Gaylon Lawrence advised him on the 2018 purchase of Heitz Cellar and by 2019 Carlton was appointed CEO of Lawrence Wine Estates overseeing the acquisition or launch of six additional wineries Lawrence Wine Estates is the global leading portfolio of historical and multi-generational fine wine estates their iconic producers include Heitz Cellar The treasured history of each estate prioritizes heritage low intervention winemaking philosophies and biodynamic farming techniques to create pure and balanced wines of the highest quality With six estates in the Napa Valley and Château Lascombes in Bordeaux they offer a suite of meaningful luxury experiences amid grand terroirs © 2007 - 2025 | Wine Industry Network LLC. All Rights Reserved. Lawrence Wine Estates’ CEO Carlton McCoy wanted a different approach to a new Trailside Vineyard Cabernet so he teamed up with Domaine Dujac’s Jeremy Seysses and Kosta Browne veteran Nico Cueva Back in 2019, when Heitz Cellar owner Gaylon Lawrence purchased the Wildwood vineyard in Rutherford from Treasury Wine Estates, it appeared to be just another piece of the large pie that the Nashville native farmer and financier was assembling But it seems there was a plan for the historic patch of dirt all along Wine Spectator has learned that Lawrence Wine Estates (LWE) has launched a joint venture with vintner Jeremy Seysses of Burgundy’s Domaine Dujac to use a small portion of the property for a new wine. Seysses will team up with Nico Cueva, winemaker for the Lawrence-owned Haynes Vineyard to tackle a new approach for Napa Cabernet Not that Seysses is unfamiliar with Cabernet. And he doesn't need to go far for advice. His wife Diana Snowden Seysses is both winemaker at Dujac and at her family's Napa estate Snowden Vineyards The 51-acre Wildwood Vineyard is planted on a gently sloping three-mile swath of alluvial fan on the western side of the valley in the Rutherford AVA Initially planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc the vineyard had been used by Treasury as a grape source for wineries such as Sterling and Provenance McCoy has combined the two pieces to bring the total acreage for Trailside to 137 acres The Sauvignon Blanc was recently ripped out The new wine, labeled under the Trailside Vineyard name, will debut with a ’22 vintage bottling in spring of 2025. The wine is sourced from a choice selection of the vineyard, which is farmed following biodynamic principles (though not certified) Production is a modest 500 cases; a price has not yet been confirmed “The vineyard definitely has history,” notes McCoy. “It was partly owned by Spring Mountain Vineyard before Treasury, and was their primary fruit source before the 1980s. Since then, major replantings were done in a few waves starting in the early 2000s and so now the oldest vines are nearing 15 to 20 years old. The clonal selection is a wide mix What makes it interesting is that while it’s Rutherford Bench That soil mix is the first part of the ‘new’ approach the winemaking team is taking here While the vineyard blocks are aligned for farming logistics they tend to have varying soil types intersecting throughout the site from deeper clay over sand along the western edge to volcanic Cortina and Boomer soils that have eroded down off the Vaca range on its eastern side Geologist Brenna Quigley was brought in and around 200 pits were dug to identify the varying soils “It’s a winemaker’s dream to just kick the rocks and pick the best aspects of the site to play with “The goal was to isolate the different soil profiles and then treat it a bit like Burgundy but both admit it’s all a bit new for them That wide-eyed approach has perhaps led them to choose an atypical vinification for the wine one that employs fermenting some whole clusters with the cap submerged—something more typical for Pinot Noir “The criticism about Cabernet regions in general is that their winemaking is [based on a consensus] which results in a lot of the wines tasting the same,” says Seysses I discussed the idea of using it on Cabernet with some producers and they said ‘Sure it will work’ which is not something I think a lot of Cabernet producers would agree with But I do think a little bit of whole cluster in Cabernet works." Whole cluster refers to bunches that aren’t destemmed. Stems in a vinification can add additional aromatic complexity and freshness to a wine, though if underripe or overly used, can result in bitter, astringent notes. A submerged cap keeps grapes and stems from coming into contact with air, which could risk the formation of acetic acid, a flaw in wine, while allowing for a longer and gentler extraction “The submerged cap brings texture via a different tannin profile,” Seysses continues “It’s not always easy in an area like Napa to achieve richness without higher alcohol or even a touch of residual sweetness Plus there’s an additional aromatic complexity [whole cluster] brings when the fruit isn’t just being picked on the early side In the case of the Trailside Vineyard bottling the lots fermented as whole clusters represent just a small portion of the overall blend The whole cluster lots also spend 60 to 80 days on their skins in closed tanks to keep the cap submerged Rutherford terroir typically delivers minerality in the form of a bolt of iron A sample of the 2022 Trailside Vineyard shows that bolt through the wine along with that vintage’s precocious fruit The growing season was marked by extended and extreme heat over the Labor Day weekend though Cueva notes picking was done before the more deleterious heat arrived The wine shows dark mulberry and blackberry flavors married to noticeable lift and freshness in the form of iris and violet notes It finishes with more lipsmacking acidity than a typically broad-shouldered and tannic-driven Rutherford Cabernet It checks in at a modest 13.1 percent alcohol (An official review based on a formal blind tasting will appear in the future.) “We’re certainly not looking to sacrifice the aspect of being Rutherford What we’re looking for is something that has its own style and terroir Read more of James Molesworth's Winery Intels, hear his interviews with leading winemakers on Wine Spectator's Straight Talk podcast, and follow him on Instagram at @jmolesworth1. The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings conclude with Bordeaux whites and sweet dessert wines fro… The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue with Merlot-based red wines from elite Right … The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue with Merlot-based red wines from Pomerol and … The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue in Pessac-Léognan at Château Malartic-Lagravière … The 2024 Bordeaux barrel tastings continue with Cabernet- and Merlot-based Margaux reds at … Two mini-verticals from Bordeaux's Fonbadet and Château Pauillac suggest a bright future … dance lessons and yoga classes have been offered to inmates at a provincial French jail as treats prompting embarrassment among government ministers to order an end to all recreational activities for prisoners except those involving sport and education Darmanin spoke out after prison union representatives at Seysses jail near Toulouse compared it with Club Med — the luxury French all-inclusive holiday operator • Who is Mohamed ‘the Fly’ Amra? France’s most wanted criminal They said that 20 inmates had been given a free facial massage for Valentine’s Day while others had taken part in a country dancing lesson A yoga workshop had also been planned at the prison Registered in England No. 894646. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. Don’t miss the latest drinks industry news and insights. Sign up for our award-winning newsletters and get insider intel, resources, and trends delivered to your inbox every week. Domaine Dujac’s Diana Seysses explains how producers can become key players in the future of green fuel by working together to trap CO2 during vinification SevenFifty Daily is a Provi publication. Learn more about how Provi simplifies the complex process of ordering, selling, and promoting wholesale alcohol between buyers, distributors, and suppliers. SevenFifty Daily is an award-winning online magazine about the business and culture of the beverage alcohol industry covering all three tiers of the alcohol industry. Diana Snowden Seysses fully converted her family vineyards to organics in 2012 and practises biodynamics allowing the terroir to fully enter the wine.Café Comptoir and Wine in Mayfair Café Comptoir and Wine in Mayfair Xavier Rousset MS’ second Comptoir that opened this April that is reminiscent of a bistro you’d be more likely to find on Rue des Francs Bourgeois in Le Marais than in London It is wonderfully French with a relaxed atmosphere that has been authentically created in the way that only the French can providing the ideal pause from the busy Londoner’s day-to-day life in an area that previously has lacked a good wine bar Downstairs you will find a truly phenomenal bottle shop with shelves upon shelves of wines any wine lover would dream of cellaring including a rare bottles room featuring hard-to-find producers and old vintages In addition to stocking a library of fine wine, it also doubles up as a private room or events space. I headed along to one of their winemaker dinners to meet Diana Snowden Seysses who is the winemaker at Snowden Vineyards situated on the eastern slopes of Napa Valley She entered the world of wine when she did her first harvest as a sugar sampler at Mondavi loving being outdoors and immersed in the realm of farming She enrolled in California’s UC Davis and graduated with a B.S She gained experience with multiple wineries Until 2005, Snowden Vineyards sold their fruit. Seysses took the helm as winemaker in the 2005 vintage together with consultant David Ramey, of Ramey Wine, whose phenomenal Chardonnay I wrote about here Diana became captivated by organic and biodynamic viticulture “This is where I became obsessed with terroir this means practising organics and biodynamics The root system has a symbiotic relationship with the soil it kills off part of the vehicle for the terroir to enter the vine.” matter-of-fact passion instilled in Seysses made me dwell on viticulture This ardour for biodynamics is universal amongst winemakers who work in this manner and stems from the rewards they see not only in their wine but also in the happiness and healthiness of their vines Of course there are difficulties; speaking with Fabien Duperray of Jules Desjourneys this week I discovered his yields in 2015 were a mere 9hl/ha that this is a necessary hurdle to overcome Thinking back to Seysses’ thoughts on biodynamics which means ‘living together.’ In a vineyard one must respect the life amongst the vines work to improve the natural immune system of the vines It took Seysses until 2012 to persuade her family to practise organics The main difficulty with this is the cost – to manage a vineyard organically is significantly more expensive Seysses estimates working with roundup to cost approximately $800 per annum whereas working organically would cost circa $32,000 The Snowdens’ vineyards are ere the wines situated on volcanic ash soils rich in phosphorus as a result of Mount Helena’s eruptians One can still find glass created by the volcano in the earth as well as Obsidian hunting arrowheads from the Native American Indians The domaine lies touching both the Rutherford and St and the Howell Mountain appellation is a few hundred yards away The vineyards are planted well above the valley floor We tasted three wines from Snowden Vineyards, as well as the Viognier and rosé from Domaine de Triennes the Provence winery founded by Diana’s father-in-law Jacques Seysses and Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti This 40-hectare domaine has cool nights and a slow ripening period producing elegant fruit in order to produce more terroir-expressive results using indigenous yeasts Fleur Viognier has been certified Biodynamic since 2011 Bright citrus and fresh peach nose with a lifted white flower edge a lovely mineral-coating palate and a fresh vibrant finish of green apple and fresh apricot with an impressive length and some subtle spice notes crisp rosé that when drunk with eyes closed is entirely evocative of summer nights with light raspberry and cranberry notes with lots of zing and a crunchy finish “this wine should be crisp and fun.” And it is Seysses has honed her skills as a single varietal winemaker and thus puts a lot of energy into this wine Seysses explains “there is an aesthetic war in Napa – food wines versus fruit bombs.” Her wines most definitely fall into the primary category but this is nearly unnoticeable and masterfully integrated The wine has a lovely graphite quality on the nose which I find less commonly in Merlot (more often with Cabernet Franc) but perhaps this is due to other winemakers ‘pushing’ Merlot too far liquorice and a perfumed almost menthol finish with a lovely chalky mineral texture to it with the fruit notes being joined by some subtle herbal characters of fresh thyme The wine has a phenomenal length and real finesse with silky tannic structure but here it is more leady and darker; more broody in a sense The texture is smooth but with broad shoulders; a wine of youthful exuberance but beginning to open up with some forest and mulch notes on the finish It has a fine texture and such freshness on the finish which most definitely do not fall into the big OTT Cabernet category that Napa has become famous for like making Cabernet for people who don’t like Cabernet.” By this she means they aren’t over-blown fruit bombs They are terroir-mirroring wines; wines that are built to age and to develop I would love to come back to these wines in ten years’ time she has already achieved extraordinary results I am very much looking forward to seeing what the future holds for her The Buyer TVClick below to watch The Buyer's library of online debates, videos and webinars. What do you see when you look in the mirror In Morey-Saint-Denis from the age of 17 I began boarding school in England then university and also worked there a little I spent a total of seven years in England before returning to work in Morey full time but it was very much a choice rather than something that was forced on me My passion really grew while I was at Oxford University where I ran the wine tasting club and competed against Cambridge in the Pol Roger-sponsored blind-tasting competition How do these broad experiences impact your view of winemaking Every place teaches you something about the others You can look at terroir definitions from several angles: it’s a very broad concept you could say that a great terroir is a place that makes great wine spontaneously or almost: making great wine from grand cru is easy – you do less.  When you’re dealing with less hallowed vineyards you have to accept there’s a hierarchy – some places are more special than others Garden tomatoes are better than greenhouse And garden tomatoes from the Mediterranean are probably better than Holland (no disrespect to the gardening ability of the Dutch) But you go to these other places and you learn something Provence taught us a lot – about growing grapes about making wine from varieties other than pinot noir we’re very privileged since people just come and knock on your door you actually have to convince people that they should try a cabernet syrah blend from the south of France © Wikimedia/Domaine Dujac | L-R: The village of Morey-Saint-Denis; the harvest at Domaine Dujac You’ve been organic for about a decade We started dabbling with organics in 2001; about a third of our vineyards were farmed organically It grew over the years and we applied for certification in 2008 We were already fully organic at that time We’re fortunate: winegrowers have a public voice that potato farmers and meat farmers don’t So we can spread what we think is the good word I don’t think organic is a perfect system but I do think it is a good system and better than many of the alternatives I’ve got issues with some people who just talk the organic talk and have no certification they’ve got the right talk: you just assume organic if organic uses Roundup…' Certification brings some clarity to the matter which emphasizes winemaking more than viticulture per se Do you have a T-shirt that reads 'I heart SO2' – as [NYC sommelier] Robert Bohr does I was given one – I wear it with pride and this is where the conversation is really difficult; all these things are arbitrary There’s no question: too much chaptalization too much of anything is disastrous for the wine [But] to just cut yourself off from these tools feels so dogmatic I think it’s fine to do a no-SO2 wine if your wine is consumed within a 100-mile radius of where it’s made They can get shipped three times or more before they’re consumed I’ve bought bottles that have re-fermented – you’ve had those – or oxidized I feel people are a little casual about that.  Your 2010 Clos de la Roche was amazing: my wine of the day in a room crowded with great wines How do the 2010 and 2012 vintages look for you 2010 had a small crop and a lot of shot berries 2012 had an even smaller crop and even more shot berries It’s the kind of vintage that when you like Burgundy There’s a grain of tannin in 2012 which I’m really excited about I don’t like calling vintages too early But the quantity is also special in the wrong kind of way There were bad flowering conditions so anything that is old vine and tends to shatter anyway – there was coulure out the wazoo. The yields dropped massively, then there was a bit of sunburn in June and that impacted yield – maybe 20 percent down from that. And in Côte de Beaune they got hail and in Marsannay they got hail, but in most of the Côte de Nuits we ultimately did quite well © Sotheby's/Acker Merrall/Domaine Dujac | L-R: Rare wines from Domaine Dujac; pinot noir grapes on the vine I don’t bullshit on this sort of thing: it’s a notch down I’d say our wines are perhaps not fully representative of the vintage; they’re a little more structured than many So when you’re coming from that level of intensity If we stopped by on your table on a random weeknight no – it’s never those wines We drink enough of those wines professionally It’s not that I don’t enjoy it I’ll order a colleague’s wines I love the wines of everyone out there, but in the local restaurants Chevillon is one of my go-tos because [otherwise] I never see Christophe Roumier’s wines. I live in Nuits-St-Georges so the restaurant has a lot of Nuits on the list and then always have a bottle of sherry open in the fridge What do you think of the crazy prices some Burgundy wines are selling for today yes; crazy – I sometimes wonder The wines of Burgundy are rare and can be extraordinarily fine I think many do have that emotional dimension and do make some people's hearts beat a little faster Some of those people are willing to put some real means into chasing such moments I understand the passion and money paid for Burgundy considerably better than many other expensive pursuits I feel they have more of an educational role than the buying guide role When I’m reading a critical publication – and currently I’m trying to find out more things about Tuscan wines and Brunello in particular – what I want to know is what the producers are like I would like critics to help me get a clearer picture of areas I feel like – unfortunately – many are just there to tell you it tastes of cassis [If] this extraordinary wine is 15 percent alcohol then I know I’m unlikely to like it Ashes to be dispersed (if France allowed such practices, which they don't) over Clos Saint Denis and Clos de la Roche Is this going to put off people who drink those crus What would you want the last wine you taste to be I think I'd like it to be a young wine I made and I'd like to find myself thinking as I taste it 'This will be special.' Do you have any regrets meaning I live in a state of near-constant dissatisfaction thinking about what I could have done better – and there is always something that could have been done better with the advantage of hindsight What do you think would make the world a better place People being more aware of the consequence of their actions and taking responsibility Rare Wines Create Bidding "Frenzy" at Hong Kong Auction Our latest update from the Bordeaux En Primeur front line features dry and sweet whites and a curious red Graves vintage The latest sales figures are bad news for producers hoping high-end wines will get them through these tough economic times It's all about music as much as wine as we round up this week's news from the wine world We conclude our search for the world's most sought-after wines with our overall top 10 Joe Biden might not be in the White House any more but his influence is still being felt at one crucial committee The science keep piling up: wine is good for your health Bordeaux En Primeur's Uncertain Start The En Primeur campaign for the 2024 Bordeaux wines has taken its first Ever wished you could hypnotize your friends into drinking better wine As traditional wine markets tighten and contract perhaps it's time to look at a previously overlooked wine market the death of Pope Francis was more than just another world leader's passing ShareSaveLifestyleLuxurySmash The Box...With Jeremy Seysses Of Domaine DujacByRichard Betts Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I say wine is a grocery, not a luxury.Follow AuthorNov 21, 2012, 09:39am ESTShareSaveThis article is more than 10 years old.Smash The Box... With Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac After a brief hiatus - and many thousands of miles in planes and cars - I’m back Back on a plane that is - on the way home from Mexican mezcal adventures and here with a spiffed up this post on one of my favorite things - a chat with a friend It is no secret that I love Domaine Dujac based in Morey St Burgundy - I think it is one of the great winemaking addresses on planet Earth It’s also no mystery that Jeremy and I have been friends for a long time we’re working on a few projects together and we’ve been know to flop on each others’ couches with regularity (That should serve as both disclaimer and fair warning of the impending candor.) When Jeremy was recently in the U.S. I thought it a fine time to ask him to don his King-of-Disco costume and to talk about anything at all I left it up to him to pick a couple things he truly wants you to know and none of the stuff writers often think you want to know (which Jeremy started right in by saying he’s hopeful we can do away with BOXES such as those which people stick other people into there have been some well-documented discussions in recent times regarding a certain box and we’ve elected to let this box lie so as to avoid beating a dead-horse.) Today he’s talking about his unease at seeing himself and others being labeled and He allowed that boxes do serve a role as we humans have a strong urge to simplify organize and synthesize to facilitate comprehension while it is tempting to draw lines between industrial vs Jeremy pointed out that when he first went to the cellars of Dom Perignon in Champagne he did so specifically to validate his prejudice that it couldn’t be big and be good he said he was all to pleased to be proven wrong - yes That the wine be good/drinkable and that while ideology is fine he’s of the mind that appearance should not excuse substance There’s a lot to chew on in this observation.. who identifies himself as the complaining type decided it was also an opportune moment to gripe about another issue - that being the misconception of Domaine vs Negociant wines as well as the perception of his Negociant Wines vs One of the big myths he’d like to debunk is the immediate assumption that somehow their negociant offerings are less special particularly with respect to other negociants ranging from people who purchase fruit on the vine to people who buy wine already bottled and everything in between perhaps they’re not quite as special as their domaine wines but Jeremy is rightfully proud of his wines because they actually do control so much of the vineyard work This is indeed a rare thing in the world of negoce where often times negociants just taste and purchase finished wines without a thought of how they were made There’s a big detachment there and ultimately a big difference in the result he believes if you care about what you’re drinking it is worth understanding how the grapes were grown as well as how the wines were made - particularly when it comes to those upon which so much praise is bestowed and for which you are paying so dearly Jeremy’s got all of this pining for the days of old directly in his sights as a guy that is now the second generation running a famous domaine I imagine that this is indeed a keen topic for Jeremy He starts in by asking me how often do I hear something along the lines of: “it’s not like it used to be or they don’t make them like that anymore” accompanied by a big nostalgic sigh Rene Balthazars and Gentaz (me too!) and for sure these type of guys exist for every region there were a multitude of very ordinary producers so the hang-up seems misplaced He believes this is especially so as as there are so many exciting wines coming from so many different regions of the world The cornucopia has never been more full while also expanding at a tremendous rate so the emphasis ought to be on the awesome present as opposed to an embellished memory of the past “In France they send you to sommelier school when regular school is going less well you have professionals getting into wine for the love of it and we’re talking about very worldly This makes a difference.”  (And this from a French guy Jeremy wanted to be sure he mentioned how excited he is about wines people actually drink and not just collect It’s not about trophies which often disappoint on the big night it is instead about the everyday stuff - the regional country wines and the energy that is put into these is awesome While acknowledging that Dujac is considered “costly” to some Jeremy does insist that the more casually his wines are enjoyed go out and pound some Dujac Fils et Père Morey St Denis Village and say we told you to do so ps - here are some other good things I’ve enjoyed on my travels and you should too: Read: Philip Pullman “The Good Man Jesus And The Scoundrel Christ” Watch: James Murphy “Shut Up and Play The Hits” The Industry's Leading Publication for Wineries and Growers 2021) -The Roots Fund Incorporated was created to empower communities of color by providing financial support through educational scholarships The board of directors is proud to announce Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac One of Jeremy’s biggest joys in the wine profession is the power of wine to bring people together and foster connection Everyone should feel welcomed into the big family that we find in wine When asked why the work of The Roots Fund is important “The Roots Fund has set out ambitious goals to bring more diversity to the wine business in all of its breadth from logistics to accounting department and beyond This is how you go about changing the industry and having a meaningful impact I look forward to working with the Roots Fund and doing my part in helping build a more diverse and equitable wine industry I think this will make the business I love infinitely richer and better.” Jeremy became involved with the Roots Fund in June of 2020 as he became increasingly aware of the many barriers that people of color especially Black people are faced with throughout their lives and in the wine industry.  The Roots Fund has 81 scholars to date covering every aspect of wine from certifications to winemakers “It’s not that people of color aren’t capable they just needed access and support in the industry The Roots Fund didn’t reinvent the wheel we just created a community network to allow our people to prosper The non-profit operates with a measure of accountability not only for our scholars but for the people we do business with.” says The Roots Fund Executive Director and Co-Founder The Roots Fund provided scholarships this year through Napa Valley Wine Academy and The Elliot Wine School for WSET certifications to name a few They also funded educational opportunities for top enology college programs such as UC Davis and Walla Walla Community College which range from undergrad to Master’s degree students Each scholar is mandated to have a mentor in The Roots Fund program The Roots Fund has over 100 hundred mentors committed to their vision Mentors are from major wine groups such as Constellation The program focuses on organic relationships Mentors provide guidance for advancement in wine and their gaining knowledge from the mentees sharing their personal experiences in the industry the organization will focus on new vetting techniques to match the best scholars with the best jobs “We set out to create actionable change throughout the industry The Roots Fund has created a level of support that has brought growth amongst communities of color in wine,” says Co-Founder The Roots Fund will officially launch the Rooted In France scholarship in partnership with Domaine Dujac & Burgundy School of Business Creating these opportunities not only assists with wine education but will create a cultural immersion experience “Jeremy has been a facilitator in creating change across the pond he understands the assignment,” says Dubose TRF deeply appreciates this opportunity with the Burgundy School of Business who has committed to creating more inclusive spaces I also see this as an opportunity to reinforce the connection between those two countries with transatlantic friendships and cultural exchanges,” Jeremy Seysses champions the charge The Roots Fund recaps the year in work with Co-founder and CEO of Hue Society “I’m proud that we created a new standard of equity on our terms.”  The Roots Fund is a non-profit organization focused on securing the pathway for communities of color in wine Built to create financial support for education The Roots Fund is out “doing the work,” to create inclusivity for communities of color in the wine industry We’re always looking to build relationships for new opportunities to educate our scholars.  Visit www.therootsfund.org to get to know more Celebrated international winemaker Diana Snowden Seysses will debut Snowden Cousins merlot this fall If you buy something from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy As a flying winemaker at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy, France, along with Snowden Vineyards and Ashes + Diamonds in Napa Valley star international winemaker Diana Snowden Seysses is acutely aware of her carbon footprint Each year she travels on five trans-Atlantic flights between the vineyards where she makes wine She got a climate change wake-up call in 2017 when St Helena vineyard temperatures reached 120 degrees on Labor Day and the Napa Valley erupted in flames weeks later The extreme heat changed the vines so the fruit stopped developing sugars “I felt like fine wine’s days are numbered.” which she calls “one of many doors to transcendence,” inspired her to figure out what she could do to decrease the greenhouse gases created by the wine industry Snowden Seysses is launching a new wine brand to test whether refilling wine bottles on a large scale is a viable way to slow the effects of climate change The Snowden Cousins brand debuts this fall with a merlot that’s dry-farmed in the Santa Cruz Mountains Snowden Seysses is making the wine at the Snowden winery founded by her grandparents in St She hopes people who buy a $40 bottle of Snowden Cousins will enjoy the biodynamic merlot inside then send the bottle back for washing and refilling “It’s an active experiment,” says Snowden Seysses who knows she and business partner Melissa Monti Saunders will lose money at first in the endeavor “It is a lifestyle choice and it’s hugely inconvenient It’s the only approach I can live with.” She and husband Jeremy Seysses are one of the most high-profile couples in the wine business and she hopes that influence will inspire other wineries to figure out how to reuse their bottles That means the last bottle of wine you drank probably is still sitting in a landfill somewhere McNamara’s company will wash and ready the Snowden Cousins bottles for their next go-around But she’s also building infrastructure that will enable other wineries and beverage producers to reuse their bottles “These systems exist around the world,” McNamara says Both Anheuser-Busch and Coca-Cola are huge players One challenge has been stick-on labels popular in the U.S. Snowden Seysses points to an old apple juice bottle she uses for water during a July 14 event at Bay Grape Napa McNamara is testing glue-on labels that come off in hot water Snowden Seysses sources labels from France Snowden Seysses doesn’t want to be wine’s climate change Cassandra — a reference to the Greek woman who tried to warn about the Trojan Horse But with wildfires and rising vineyard temperatures around the world we have to make major inconvenient changes It’s scary pushing a male-dominated industry to change but she says Beyoncé’s song “Don’t Hurt Yourself,” inspires her to love harder and do everything she can for the earth “That’s the last thing I want to be is this alarmist but I’m absolutely convinced this is the only sustainable path,” she says The Snowden Vineyards and Domaine Dujac winemaker discusses her Napa roots emmigrating to Burgundy and the challenges that keep her on her toes whose family owns Domaine Dujac in Morey-St.-Denis One of her mentors at school was professor Ann C "How do you define quality?" Snowden says it's still a question she chews on every year Snowden Seysses left Napa to work at her father-in-law's Burgundy domaine, and released her first Pinot Noir vintage in 2003. She had no plans of returning to California wine country until a brettanomyces infection ravaged the Snowden winery during the 2002 Old World mindset to the operation in 2005 "I just like seeing the same vineyard express itself a little differently every year," she said "That is how I've established my quality hierarchy: My single vineyard designates are at the top The next big challenge that Snowden Seysses faced in Napa was during the 2017 wildfires Temperatures reached 110 to 120° F for four days in a row and Seysses recalls consulting fellow winemakers and her notes to save the grapes from heat damage "Picking early is important for me so everything was in by the time the fires came through," Snowden Seysses said "It was certainly that Labor Day weekend heat wave that marked the [2017] vintage." Watch the full episode with Snowden Seysses and learn more about Burgundy and Napa on Wine Spectator's IGTV channel, and tune in to catch Straight Talk with Wine Spectator, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. ET. Consumers got the chance to taste dozens of outstanding wines in Chicago, with upcoming … The owner of Stoller and Chehalem wineries was devoted to the future of Willamette Valley … Inside the first U.S. location of the French luxury retailer, guests can enjoy fine wine at … Phase one of the Viticulture and Winery Technology program’s new home, funded by a $10 … The Tuscan wine company has purchased a minority stake in Tenute delle Terre Nere; De … While the White House has paused tariffs on foreign wines at 10 percent for now, the trade … Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Don’t miss the latest drinks industry news and insights Sign up for our award-winning newsletters and get insider intel and trends delivered to your inbox every week Few industries bear witness to climate change more closely than the wine world where I have spent the last 20 years bringing the philosophy of terroir back to the land purchased by my grandparents in the Vaca Mountains in 1955 Last year the Napa Valley was on fire again. Then in April, Burgundy and all of France endured a catastrophic frost which has been declared a natural agricultural disaster As an enologist and as a land steward in these two beautiful and historic wine regions I have recognized that there is no issue more important to our world and industry than that of climate change The fine wine community has made impressive strides in taking decisive and direct action to adapt—and to reduce our impact In the last four years I have thoroughly studied my industry from the perspective of sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions transparent piece of this puzzle has particularly captured my attention and imagination: the carbon dioxide emitted by yeast during fermentation Though vinification doesn’t produce large volumes of CO2 it’s a point of production with an obvious opportunity for capture—and if the industry worked together carbon sequestration during fermentation could make wine a negative-emission industry Every winemaker is acutely aware of the abundance of this natural gas during fermentation CO2 is the byproduct of yeast metabolizing sugar into alcohol The sugar in the grapes that has accumulated over a growing season in our vineyards is digested in a matter of days in our tanks The concentration of carbon dioxide released during fermentation is so high that the gas stings your eyes and burns your throat and winery teams must be careful to evacuate it people die in wine production facilities during fermentation due to asphyxiation to mop up 200 years of combusted fossilized carbon DAC will be key to stabilizing the planet’s CO2 concentration so that Earth remains hospitable for those of us who evolved in the last 100,000 years The goal: a concentration of 350 ppm of CO2 (which is higher than pre-industrial 280 ppm) Direct air capture is just as it sounds: Huge fans suck air into a refinery where CO2 is removed and then the air is returned to the atmosphere The harvested CO2 gets transformed into other carbon-based materials critics of DAC point to the huge electrical expenditure to run the fans and to concentrate the atmospheric CO2 the headspace of a tank is 990,000 ppm of pollutant-free CO2 During vinification each year winery buildings are full of pure clean carbon dioxide—and we just blow it out the windows I believe the ventilation of our wineries is a wasted opportunity the emerging carbon trapping installations are expensive we were quoted 100,000 euros for an installation which transforms CO2 into organic bicarbonate This labor-intensive process involves loading and unloading 30 tons of white powder into steel columns—at the same time as harvest and vinification is taking place which means this costly machinery would sit unused during the remaining 10 months of the year so far there is no real market for the 30 tons of bicarbonate we would produce All this effort and expense would only capture an annual eight tons of CO2—a tiny amount For perspective: One round trip flight from Paris to San Francisco in economy class generates four tons of CO2 per person Or compare this to the impact of a wine’s glass bottle: Domaine Dujac’s 575-gram bottle is responsible for roughly 0.75 kilograms of CO2 The CO2 from the fermentation of the wine in that 750-milliliter bottle is approximately 0.01 grams—grams It’s therefore understandable why wine producers have not yet bothered to trap this natural gas Having studied the options currently available I have concluded that the answer to carbon capture lies in the collective All of Burgundy could capture 20,000 tons of CO2 the entire viticultural area of Bordeaux could collect 80,000 tons annually and the state of California an impressive 300,000 tons The future for carbon capture in wine would require pipelines under and around viticultural areas to move compressed carbon dioxide to one central carbon recycling center where biofuel would be produced throughout the year carbon capture during fermentation has the potential to transform our businesses into a negative CO2 emission industry nothing about this is simple or straightforward—my research has been an emotional rollercoaster marked by many disappointments and it can feel meaningless when the world is producing 50 gigatons of CO2 annually (The Paris Agreement stipulates that all countries achieve zero emissions by 2050 and no nation on earth is on track to meet this goal.)  Yet carbon capture during fermentation represents something fundamentally unique in our industry’s efforts: While eliminating new glass would be a 65 percent reduction in our emissions and using electric tractors also reduces farming emissions this is insufficient to get us to zero emissions CO2 capture offers the potential for negative emissions If we plumb our wineries’ carbon to a DAC factory where they produce biofuel which is then used for air transport eco-thoughtful winery due for completion for the 2022 harvest We’re adding charging points for cars and offering to partially subsidize our employees’ electrical cars We have two underground tanks collecting rainwater for cleaning and vineyard applications we have invested in stainless steel pipelines on our tanks to usher the captured CO2 to a carbon dioxide compressor outside the winery In 2022 we will rent the above mentioned equipment to use on a trial basis before committing to the installation I expect carbon trapping options to multiply Terroir is so much more than AOP vineyard designates traced onto a map The human element is vast to the edges of the infinite and even the political and economic context in which a wine region finds itself All these variables under the “people” category inevitably circle back and impact the first two elements the sphere surrounding our terroir is expanding to the atmosphere of Earth itself It is our responsibility to expand our awareness of our own radius of impact the most important measure of success of a wine region is maintaining production over generations Generational transition is thanks to a whole body of people working together seamlessly over time Their greatest legacy is not the bottles left behind but how they protected and transmitted a cultural heritage To pass the baton, this generation of wine professionals is reorganizing wine production and distribution to slow climate change and to achieve true sustainability. Carbon recycling by DAC is inevitable. Our alcoholic fermentations give our industry an opportunity to become a key player in the future of green fuel and climate stabilization.   Don’t miss the latest drinks industry news and insights—delivered to your inbox every week. Marginalized journalists are crucial to the beverage industry’s survival, writes Shayna Conde. But having experienced racism firsthand, it’s clear the industry needs to do more to protect underrepresented voices Jane Lopes reports on how the WINE Pledge helps businesses—including her own—cultivate a more diverse, equitable, and environmentally sustainable wine industry One writer with epilepsy shares what it’s like to work in a winery with an invisible disability—and examines what the industry can do to create a more welcoming workplace Jeff Carroll on how new challenges for on-premise operators—and increasing channel overlap—highlight the need to modernize an outdated three-tier system Full access to our database of more than 425,000 wine ratings Early access to reviews on our editors' favorite just-rated wines the owners of Domaine Dujac are keeping their feet on the ground and producing top-class