Vin Vérité

Jess Jackson (1930–2011) was already the founder of one of the most successful family-owned wine companies in the United States when he met Pierre Seillan during a visit to France in the 1990s. A true visionary, Jackson’s lengthy career, which spanned more than 30 years, was driven by a passion for producing extraordinary wine from California’s best vineyards. Jackson had longed to create a wine that would be just as good as the world’s best wines and was confident that the terroir in Sonoma County had that potential. A friendship developed between the Jackson family in California and the Seillan family in Bordeaux.  When Pierre Seillan visited California in 1997, he too saw the potential and did not hesitate when Jackson asked him to come to Sonoma County to realize this dream together. And so, Vérité was born.

Pierre Seillan has crafted the wines of Vérité since 1998. Under Pierre’s leadership, Hélène Seillan has stepped into the role of assistant winemaker at the estate to usher in the next generation.

Born in 1987, Hélène Seillan spent her childhood in both France and California, surrounded by family and friends for whom winemaking was as much a passion as it was a profession. Following in her father’s footsteps, Hélène pursued a career in winemaking and began splitting her time between Sonoma County and Saint-Émilion. Starting in 2006, she served as assistant winemaker for her father at the family’s Bordeaux estate, where she worked on all aspects of winery management showing the same talent, passion and ability as her father. Hélène studied Viticulture and Oenology at the Institut Rural de Vayres in Bordeaux.