Domaine de l’Iserand – The Vertical Purity of Saint-Joseph

In the steep hills of Sécheras, in the northern Rhône, Jean-François Malsert tends his vines like a craftsman sculpting granite. His Domaine de l’Iserand, founded in 2011, is small, rugged, and quietly uncompromising — a few hectares of Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussanne clinging to schist and granite soils overlooking the Rhône Valley.

Malsert farms organically and works with a mule on the most difficult slopes, following a rhythm closer to nature than to commerce. In the cellar, everything is gentle: indigenous yeasts, whole-cluster ferments, amphora, concrete, and minimal sulphur. The goal is purity and expression — wines that taste of where they come from, not what’s done to them.

The reds, especially the Saint-Joseph “Les Sabots de Coppi”, are all about lifted fruit, pepper, and mineral tension rather than weight or extraction. The whites, like “Rodéo”, made from Marsanne and Roussanne, carry herbal notes, texture, and a quiet depth that lingers.

2023 Domaine de l'Iserand Saint Joseph Blanc Rodéo

The Rodéo is raised in amphora and born from pure gneiss soils in Sécheras, 350 metres above the Rhône Valley. A blend of Marsanne and Roussanne, it opens with the scent of yellow apple skin, wild herbs, and crushed stone. On the palate, there’s a gentle, skinsy grip — a tactile richness that feels almost pulpy — before the wine tightens and lifts, finishing with white flowers and mineral tension that seem to hang in the air.

2023 Domaine de l'Iserand Saint Joseph

The Saint-Joseph Rouge from Domaine de l’Iserand shows just how much finesse and vitality this appellation can deliver. Made entirely from Syrah, it draws fruit from two elevated sites — south-facing granite and mica-schist slopes in Sécheras, and decomposed granite with loess in Ozon — both perched around 300 metres above the Rhône. Any higher and the vines would lie beyond the Saint-Joseph boundary. Fermented naturally with whole bunches, the wine spends about two weeks on skins, with a touch of carbonic lift, before resting 18 months in concrete and amphora, untouched by oak. What emerges is vivid and pure: red fruit, cracked pepper, and mineral brightness, all held together by brisk acidity. It’s a Syrah that feels almost Beaujolais-like in its energy — joyful, juicy, and alive.

Jean-François Malsert

Domaine de l’Iserand feels like a return to the essentials — farming, patience, and respect for place. It’s a reminder that in an era of over-styled wines, sometimes the most radical gesture is restraint.

Credit to blastvintners.com

From Polaner Selections website 

Jean-Francois seeks a true expression of grape and terroir, which he believes can only be achieved through respect for Mother Nature and the natural life of the wine. He work he feels is equally influenced by the great masters of the region, Trollat, Verset, Gentaz, as they are by the leaders of natural viticulture such as the Souhauts, In his own words, "We fight to grow good grapes, it would be a pity to pollute them in the cellar.”