Luftmensch · The Nebbiolo Vines
The Nebbiolo Vines:
A Story of Passages
Chapter I
A Story of Passages
Behind this plot lie two old friends, Jean-Francis Rispoli and Francis Kertekian. Lifelong companions, always game for slightly mad projects.
In 2008, Jean-Francis bought La Colettine, an old wine property clinging to the southern slopes of the Luberon. He dreamed of establishing an estate there. Francis, a music producer who had worked with Fela Kuti among others, and his partner Marie, then working in music publishing, also fell in love with the place. Together with their children, they regularly came to help Jean-Francis. They tinkered, gardened, restored the house and put the world to rights. In 2013, the venture took a new turn: Marie and Francis bought the property from Jean-Francis and founded Domaine des Passages.
Chapter II
The Piedmontese Intuition
Jean-Francis, passionate about the great wines of Piedmont, was convinced that Nebbiolo had potential on Luberon soils. A study trip to Italy, in search of the “king of wines, wine of kings”, confirmed his intuition: certain features of the soils and climate in the southern Luberon closely resemble those of Italian Piedmont and its legendary Barolo and Barbaresco.
Nebbiolo is as noble as it is capricious, budding early, ripening late and producing wines renowned for their acidity, powerful tannins and remarkable ability to age. High on the property, an old vineyard abandoned since the 1980s was cleared. The stone terraces were restored, the soils prepared, pomegranate trees planted along the edges. Friends and family joined in the work.
Chapter III
A Furious Mistral
The Nebbiolo vines were planted in spring 2014, on a day of furious mistral winds. Many of the young vines did not survive. The wager got off to a difficult start. Two years later, Francis died after an illness. Marie decided to leave Paris with their children, settle at La Colettine and carry on the adventure. She learned the craft of winegrowing and set about bringing back to life a plot whose early years had been chaotic. The vines had suffered; some trailed along the ground, and the trellising had yet to be built.
Chapter IV
The Vines Stand Tall
It took time, helping hands and a great deal of work. In 2018, the Nebbiolo vines finally stood tall on a high trellis inspired by Barolo vineyards, and the first proper harvest gave rise to brilliant wines with stern tannins and remarkable acidity. Subsequent vintages would bring their share of upheaval, including a terrible hailstorm. From this stubborn fruit came Nebbia, Domaine des Passages’ first Nebbiolo cuvée. An extraordinary, vibrant, intense, thoroughbred wine that continues to evolve in bottle in the cellars of its fortunate owners.
Chapter V
Passing the Baton
In 2025, Marie decided to step back from winegrowing. We tended her Nebbiolo plot together that year. The following year, she entrusted me with full responsibility for it under a free loan-for-use arrangement (commodat). The estate's activity was put on hold for a while, as Marie had decided to return to her native Lille region. Meanwhile, the vines are anything but sleeping beauties. Marie has temporarily entrusted them to winegrowing friends, myself included.
Chapter VI
A Balcony Facing the Sunset
The Nebbiolo vines stand on a balcony overlooking the Luberon plain, facing the setting sun. On evenings when the sky catches fire above the terraces and Mourre Nègre cuts its black outline through the last light, the spectacle overwhelms me. I feel immense gratitude, respect and friendship for those who imagined, planted and tended this vineyard. At my modest scale, I now try to help it flourish. And I add my name to the list of its planters and shepherds: Zadig, Vasco, Marie and Francis Séité-Kertekian, Jean-Francis Rispoli, Alain Huet, Robert Reynier, Denis Roueire, René and Cédric.