INNER~VIEWS : DIANA SNOWDEN SEYSSES
Diana Snowden Seysses was born in Napa, California. She graduated from the University of California at Davis, with a BS in Viticulture and Enology in 2001 and then moved to France. Today, she divides her time between the Napa Valley and France. In CA, she makes wine for her family estate, Snowden Vineyards and for Ashes & Diamonds. In France, she is the oenologist at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy and consults for Domaine de Triennes in Provence. After twenty-four years in wine, she finds ever more meaning in the craft of making vins de terroir. “The most memorable wines are living and changing. They are the result of vineyard work without chemicals, native yeast fermentation with minimal handling, and élevage in a cellar that breaths. Beyond these simple, traditional techniques, those of us who are fortunate enough to run wineries must deepen our thoughts on terroir to allow that term to encompass both ecosystem and community. We must think about balance between prosperity in our beautiful grape-growing regions and protecting the natural charm that made them famous in the first place. Climate change and all our farming choices have genetic impact on the vine. The emotional state of our employees leaves its signature on our wines. All these complex issues are in part our responsibility. I seek to protect a healthy environment in the largest sense of the term and transmit this just savoir faire to the next generation.”
Diana is a member of the Académie du Vin, a board member of the Porto Protocol thinking committee, and a mentor for Batonnage Forum and the Roots Fund.
*This interview was originally published on December 24, 2022. Today, the home renovation of Diana and her husband Jeremy is not quite done but very close! They did their best to compromise between conserving the 17th century French bones (see the photos of stone, oak beams and Burgundian tomette tiles, while adding modern ecological innovations: heat pump, 150hl tank to hold rainwater, and insulation everywhere. Follow Diana (@dianasnowsey) and Jeremey (@drinkdujac) to see more.
17th century oak and stone are the bones of Diana’s home in France.
In your work, you honor the fact that climate change is happening right now and needs to be addressed on a daily basis, with strong community support. When did this hit you as our reality, and how did you adjust to implement changes?
Climate change was on my radar pretty early… I can’t remember exactly, but growing up in granola No Cal, I was conscious of ecology. In college, I read a book called “the Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Changes”. It was about the impact of consumerism, covering topics from garment industry, and mining and e-waste etc., and how to make responsible choices to shape the world through how we spend money. At some point in the book, the authors stopped to point out, of all the things we might do, the most impactful thing we can all do is have no more than two children. I was rattled to the core. It was the first moment I was confronted with what would become a recurring conundrum; how to reconcile our “inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” with ecological planetary balance?
My next awakening was when I realized I was seeing changes in my wines due to a warmer environment. In 2017, I opened up Jacque’s [of Domaine Dujac] harvest notes. I plotted harvest dates and sugar concentration and acidity at picking going back to the 1970s and my blood ran cold to see how quickly our wines were putting on alcohol and ripeness. As a student of plant biology and microbiology, I know how narrow the window of life is with regards to temperature. Enzymes only function within a very small temperature band. Once you exceed that band, enzymes are denatured. Heat stroke is due to denatured enzymes. We know that, statistically speaking more people will die of heat stroke next year than died of Covid-19 in 2020. “Denatured enzymes” is science-speak for “cooking”.
Since then, I became obsessive about climate activism and changing my own personal habits and business choices. I have been a student of biology, but I’ve also been on a personal path for inner peace, love and harmony. It is what I call to myself ‘Nirvana or Bust’. Every time I am confronted with an uncomfortable situation which would be much easier to avoid, I tell myself “Nirvana or Bust” and go in to examine the dark corners of my own soul. Work I’ve done on my own heart, studying what makes me, me, what the existential point of this life is, led me to another truism for climate change. We are only going to figure this out by working together. Humanity is in this current pickle because of the way we behave in the world, not just combusting carbon based fossil fuels, but systematizing the exploitation of people and planet. In short, and I’m borrowing this from a sister-in-arms on bottle reuse, Muriel Chantal of Borough Wines, we are moving from the vertical patriarchy to horizontal feminine. I’m not talking about genitals. I’m talking about a way to live in the world. We are shifting from the individual to the collective. We are all part of a whole, interwoven ecosystem, and if we are to live sustainably, our waste must be part of a great cycle, not a one-way dumping endpoint. Sustainability is such an important concept. It means that the way we live today, allows for life of future generations. It seems non-negotiable to me. However, on the daily, most of us, myself still included, are making a choice against the life of the next generations.
What projects are you most excited to be working on right now?
Well, I’ve got the battle waging on several fronts, and really the possibilities for changing to sustainability are infinite—that’s the good news. I am doing everything I can with my little platform, my life choices and gifts; my earned and unearned privileges, to move to the horizontal feminine. I have a good mind for science. I have dug into CO2 capture during alcoholic fermentations, and educated on the subject. With my family in Napa, I started a wine brand with reusable bottles and I’m trying to push the whole industry in that direction. I have a seat on Porto Protocol’s global steering committee, where I share information and connect people in the wine world who are looking for sustainable solutions for their businesses.
From the recent breakthrough in nuclear fusion, to Carbon Capture, to regenerative farming, to bottle reuse, we are all, the wine world, the whole world, moving faster and faster in the right direction.
The impressive renovation is almost done after two years+ of work.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with you through House Play over the last year & a half. In that time, there has been some shedding that took place ~ in the home + in life. You’re undergoing a major renovation with your house; a home that is centuries old, that you’ve lived in for 15 years, and that you will live in for the rest of your life. Letting go was necessary to make way for this renovation. Can you talk about what that process looked like for you?
Moving out of my house and sorting through all of the things we had accumulated in 15 years was horrific! The guilt, the exhausting and endless choices of what to do with everything. I did my very best to find new homes for out-grown toys, clothes, and obsolete radiators. Some things had to be sent to landfill. If I hadn’t used it in 5 years, it was time for it to go. I had stashes of my children’s baby teeth, makeup that I used at High School Prom, gifts I never used but couldn’t well throw away… Thanks to you, Paige, I understood that these unused, unloved items in my home were taking productive energy hostage. Moving out was an exercise in acceptance. Whenever we talk about acceptance, read a metaphorical death, followed by a rebirth. My take take-away enlightenment once I reached the other side? There is no such thing as perfect. I let go of guilt. Guilt is also wasted energy. I accepted that this process is going to be messy and haphazard. I accepted that we’re not going to make Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C, which would have allowed us to live as we had, grow grapes and make wine as we had. I accepted that the next decades will know much upheaval, much change, much loss. On the flipside, it’s looking most likely that we have made enough progress in green energy that we will not reach 5°C and humanity will not go extinct. We will survive to see a hotter world and adapt to it. As I breath in the chaos, I will carry on seeking and spreading balance in this new world. Every bit of improvement on the way we consume energy will make the transition a little less bad.
How are you keeping climate change in mind when remodeling your home?
This is very exciting. Insulation to the nine. All rooms are thermally independent, so that when they are empty, we don’t need to heat them and they won’t cool down neighboring rooms. Renewable materials as much as possible; insulation is hemp, floors are local French wood. The new plumbing will capture rainwater for use in the house and –hopefully- we’ll be reusing grey water. We’re figuring out the filters necessary to recycle grey water right now. Our house is located in a historic center where solar panels aren’t allowed. We are none-the-less plumbing in solar water heaters for the day the French government pulls it’s head out of its ass and allows us to put them on our roof. Finally, all local artisans will be doing the renovation.
It’s important for us to make changes as the earth does. At home, how do you address climate change in daily life & what can we work on as individuals to help?
Beautiful, Paige, we will need to change as the earth does. Again, acceptance.
I am not religious, but “Zero Waste” may as well be my religion! I apply all those “R”s, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renew, Redesign, Refuse…. And so on, to everything. I would say start with one thing; for example, bottled water. It is insane that we truck water in plastic bottles across the first world when we have plumbing which brings drinking water to our homes. Refuse bottled water. Get a reusable bottle. At this point, my preferred bottle is reusing glass bottles, I’ve got a glass milk bottle as a water bottle these days. Buy a water filter. Carry your own filtered water with you. Again, the good news is, the possibilities for reducing your impact are infinite. Compost, grow a plant, or join a community garden, see if you can borrow rather than buy, repair your clothes, carry around a reusable shopping bag, go to the farmers market, turn off lights when you leave the room, shop in bulk, take a vacation via train rather than plane, install a solar panel, ride your bike, join a “green” association… Just pick one thing, and start there. Once it is integrated into your life, pick another. And, again, perfection is impossible, the system is rigged against sustainability, it’s bigger than any one of us. Just do your best.
Let's talk about the holiday season. In general, we typically don’t need more stuff. Personally, I’m conflicted on gift giving and have been for years. Especially as someone who sells something. But, of course, there is a way of gifting with intention. I talk about this a lot ~ the responsibility we have as consumers. How do you go about gift giving during the holidays?
I feel you. We need a real consciousness shift about socially-imposed gift exchange.
I’ve found great joy in combining Zero Waste and creativity. In the past, with my kids, I’ve made soap, candles, compostable Christmas cards, made from their old homework and embedded with seeds and homemade artwork. I gave my mother-in-law a glass bottle and the ingredients from a drugstore to make home-made laundry detergent. She’s been carrying on with home-made laundry detergent since.
And I have to say, I’ve found my people. My in-laws have always been eco-conscious and given gifts accordingly. Jacques gives everyone a gift certificate for a massage. This year I’ve given everyone a tree. Japanese maple for one brother-in-law, Meyer lemon for the other brother-in-law, Fuyu persimmon, table grapes…
But then also, there are a lot of great, sustainable companies out there. Supporting one is wonderful! We all have to make a living. The wines we make support the livelihood of dozens of families. And, I’m pushing my companies to zero emissions as hard as I can. Find a company that is doing the same. Wrap the present in a dishtowel.
I like releasing holiday traditions that don’t align with me & experimenting with new ones. Any traditions that you love? New or old.
I do love decorating the Christmas tree. I have ornaments which belonged to my grandmother that I’ve used and revisited all my life. This week, the family was reunited and we started ZWC, Zero-Waste Christmas, by each decorating our own 6”=15cm potted Christmas tree. After Christmas, we are going to plant the 5 trees (one for the dog) outside to start a little forest. So, new meets old, I guess.
What are you making with your hands these days?
My Christmas gift to my kids and niece & nephew is a tie-dying project of 100% Organic white cotton, made-in-France PJs I tracked down for each of them. We’ll also be growing mushrooms over the holidays. I’ve started using Sashiko patterns to patch up clothes with holes. Mending clothes and listening to books on tape has become a very soothing past time.
Conscious consumerism is something worth understanding for us as individuals; from media, to foods, drinks, etc. These things we take in, in so many different forms, affect us & others. What do you consume for your well~being?
This is a work in progress, for sure. It is constant resetting. As far as food and drink, your guidelines on House Play are so beautifully summarized and 100% the goal. I feel so much better when I take the time to shop at the farmers market and buy produce directly from the producer. And those days I do shop in a supermarket, thanks to you, removing those little stickers on produce before putting them in a bowl in the kitchen has become a habit.
On the whole, whether it be wine or media, I try to pay close attention to what makes me feel good vs what is depleting. I seek wines made with integrity and attention, that feel alive & reinforce my own light. Media is a bit more complicated because one must stay informed, and today we are so very informed it is tricky to protect one’s mental health. Sometimes I slip into a depressing abyss. Then it’s time to put the phone down.
Non-negotiable rituals that bring you joy?
A cup of green tea in the morning. Dog walks in the forest. Messy, sciency, arty projects with kids. Music with exercise. Practical, emotional and spiritual check-ins with my husband, sister, close friends.
Prayer to the world?
See the light within you and shared by all living things. Build from there.
