Review: This Life Wines, 2024 Vintage

There is a version of celebrity wine, and celebrity anything really, existing purely as a licensing deal: a label slapped onto something bulk-produced and mildly unremarkable. It is the vineyard equivalent of a perfume “partnership”, with the celebrity’s name performing the heavy marketing lift while the liquid inside does as little as possible. You, savvy and informed thanks to reading this site daily, have probably received a bottle as a gift, straining not to have your face automatically contort.

This Life Wines, a collaboration between Maison Wessman and Norah Jones, mercifully bucks that trend. And that is either a pleasant surprise or a rebuke to the low bar the category has set for itself, depending on your level of charity. Jones, a multi-Grammy winner and noted oenophile, paid close attention to what went into these vintages. The wines come out of southern France: a Grenache-Syrah rosé and a Crémant de Limoux built mostly on Chardonnay. This is not coincidental, given that the whole project appears oriented around the French lifestyle in that specific way: sunshine, warm evenings, good food, and an underlying current of ennui serving as a reminder that things will inevitably get worse. Whether that vibe survives contact with your actual evening is between you and the bottle. What can be said is that Maison Wessman, located southeast of Bordeaux, has produced two wines at price points having no particular obligation to be good but are, in fact, good. Which is a more interesting outcome than the alternative.

2024 This Life Crémant de Limoux Sparkling Wine AOC

The nose arrives fresh with white flower, peach and a faint edge of citrus as it warms in the glass. The palate follows through with orchard fruit, hazelnuts and bright acidity keeping everything flowing toward a finish that doesn’t just trail off, but lingers for a good duration. The bubbles are fine and persistent, the kind that stick around rather than giving up halfway through a glass, which seems like the minimum asked of a sparkling wine but is not always what one gets. The blend of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Mauzac provides more dimension than the price point would lead one to expect. It does its job admirably.  B+ /  $25

2024 This Life IGP Méditerranée Rosé

The color is a peony pink with edges, foreshadowing that the Grenache and Syrah inside are not playing around. Strawberries, rose petals and stone fruit arrive in a combination that is integrated and lively without tipping into cloying, but the combination of strawberry and rose petal inevitably takes charge. The acidity keeps the red fruit in order, stops the whole affair from going slack, and pulls everything toward a finish that the label calls elegant and that you would likely, after a glass or two, simply call refreshing. B / $17

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