Icelandic pharma-titan, Robert Wessman of Maison Wessman in Bergerac and his Wine Director, Lise Sadirac, fight for a new Issigeac micro-appellation with musical backing from Nora Jones
Wessman seeks vinous validation for Issigeac and Conne-de-Labarde, which lie on a clearly defined limestone plateau and merit their own micro-appellation according to Vineyard Director Lise Sadirac, who is working hard to convince the INAO. The layered limestone plateau of D’Issigeac took 1.5 million years to form. Vines take a decade to root in the fissured rock, where soil is a mere 20 cm deep. Bergerac has 13 appellations and no distinct identity. Fine wine would benefit from a perceptible point of difference and a dose of celebrity stardust.
Famed chanteuse Nora Jones announced her partnership with Wessman in July. The collaboration will make wine under the Nora Jones ‘This Life’ label, a name taken from a track on her album, ‘Pick Me Up Off the Floor’. Nora now has a share in the business (size undisclosed) – she marked her territory with an intimate concert at the winery last month.
‘Sometimes you get tapped on the shoulder to do something interesting. Wine is a whole new world for me, and it’s really fun to do something different.’
Nora jones
A sparkling and a rosé have been released thus far, and Nora claims to play a significant role in the blending of her wines. A white and red are in the pipeline awaiting assemblage by Nora – her involvement, love of rosé and intense attention to aromatic notes were vigorously confirmed by Vineyard Director Lise Sadirac. Wessman has plans to bring further celebrities on board, having already collaborated with Icelandic rock stars Kaleo.
‘My wife and I contacted Nora through a friend, we sent her some samples which I chose myself, and she really liked and after that it was fairly straightforward. She is very much involved. We have been working together now for a year, she has visited Iceland on tour, and we are also developing a friendship, which makes it easy. There are hundreds and thousands of good wines, and they don’t get any attention. Nora is opening doors for us everywhere, especially in America.’
Robert Wessman
Ethical, impossibly youthful and music-obsessed, Robert Wessman is a self-made pharmaceutical king who specialises in producing lower-priced, accessible generic medicines and fine wine. Wessman is an impressive individual, dyslexic, state-educated and markedly astute. He started in sales before building a billion-dollar ethical business from a near derelict pharmaceutical company. A decisive turn to drink came in 2001 when he purchased the Vignoble des Verdots winery and vineyards, having acquired the nearby majestic Château de Saint-Cernin, to house his family, a decade before.
Bergerac is the capital of the verdant, Rubenesque Dordogne, yet has suffered over the centuries for its Bordeaux satellite status. Proudly independent yet being 100km east of Bordeaux and inland on the Dordogne River, it was historically beholden to Bordeaux’s once punitive river rules and market access rights. A Huguenot stronghold when Bordeaux was staunchly Catholic, Bergerac’s wine production was heavily penalised for its use of Bordeaux varieties and lower caste status. Today, Bergerac is allied with the Southwest rather than Bordeaux. Côtes du Gascogne, Jurançon, and Madiran are regional bedfellows today.
Continental in climate, red grapes ripen later in Bergerac than in Bordeaux, hence the popularity of Merlot, which ripens a good two weeks earlier than Cabernet. Maison Wessman has slightly more red than white with 19 hectares of Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle. Plus, 26 hectares allocated to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec & Bergerac’s native variety, Mérille. The old vine Cabernet Franc is fresh, balanced and particularly profound, a perfect partner for the velvety Merlot.
Lise Sadirac, who was born in Bergerac, conjures a magnificently serious Cabernet Merlot blend, Saint-Cernin No 1 and a gorgeous white blend, Château Les Tours des Verdots Blanc, from the vines with little intervention. Sadirac touts the region’s ageing potential. The woman is a talented vigneron and a seasoned agronomist who favours organic viticulture. Her playful Robert Wessman, Imprévu Blanc de Noir (100% Merlot) is refreshingly whimsical and delicious. Every Imprévu label is unique thanks to AI. Link to tasting notes.
Lise is supported by expert consultants, Michel Rolland and Andreas Larsson, but like Bergerac, maintains the kind of fierce independence required of a French woman in the vineyard. She is as charming and likeable as her wines and a proud member of the Vinifilles subgroup, Southwest Femme du Vin, the networking sorority that promotes female solidarity in wine.
‘We all love men, we are not against, but we women of the soil share ideas, taste together, and we have each other’s backs, it’s a safe space.’
Lise Sadirac
Sadirac loves working for Wessman, who is appreciative of creative freedom, being a maverick thinker himself. The INAO have already inspected Issigeac twice, Sadirac estimates the earliest possible date for micro appellation status is 2027.
