Ugh. Condolences to her family and many friends. I was lucky enough to get connected to her for our first Burgundy visit and she spent a whole day taking us around to her various projects. What a lady and what a character.
A great person, an important contributor, a generous and enthusiastic sharer or time and knowledge. This is a great loss for the wine world. One that deserves much deeper expression than “bummer.”
Sad. A wonderful lady. Wishing her husband Russell and her sons peace and comfort. One of the truly great personalities in all of Burgundy.
RIP Becky, a true maverick who touched so many people.
She lived 82 years, over 50 of them in Burgundy. She did what she loved, influenced many, opened so many doors for associates and clients and was a success in any meaningful definition of the word.
Were that we are so fortunate.
Best, jim
4 Likes
Sometime in the late 1990’s my wife and I spent an afternoon visiting with Becky when we were in Beaune (arranged by Paul). After tasting through a ton of wines, Becky, a very nice young lady from Texas who worked there, and the two of us went to lunch at a casual bistro. While there, Pascal Marchand showed up, then Hubert de Montille, and the whole group had a fantastic lunch!! And yes some very good wines. But the people were what made this memorable afternoon.
Condolences to the Wasserman clan!
Very sad indeed. I also want to recommend the Levi Dalton interview of her for those who haven’t heard it. It’s been a little while since I listened, but I seem to recall a wonderful description of a meal with Aubert de Villaine that ended with La Tache poured over fresh strawberries! Now that is pure class.
A terrible loss - never had the chance to meet her, but have heard so many wonderful stories of her generosity and knowledge over the years. Have a lump in my throat…sigh.
Such a sad day. Think of all the Becky Wasserman selections we’ve enjoyed over the years. The knowledge provided by her work. And yet what about her pioneering work as a barrel broker back when nobody was bring Burgundy barrels to the US. She talks about it in the Levi Dalton pod interview. Our debt as American makers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is enormous, incalculable. Long live Becky Wasserman.
Deepest condolences to Russell and her sons. A maverick, a visionary. The world is a better place because of her. I’ll never forget a tremendous lunch at her house, prepared by Russell. Such joy.
I am going to raise a glass of Michel Lafarge’s Volnay on Monday after call is over to toast her. Her bringing in the Lafarge wines was one of my greatest finds.
Plus one -----RIP - May God bless her soul.
Very sad about this - one of those people who made such a difference to those of us in the US who love Burgundy that we probably don’t realize the full scope of her contributions.
2 Likes
Big loss.
We sold a lot of her wine through Diamond Wine Imports in Berkeley in the 80’s.
On our honeymoon/grand tasting tour in 1986.we were invited to pend an afternoon at her amazing old farm home in Beaune. Fine time was had starting with my 1976 Dom and caviar.
She was a brave pioneer with a vision and drive succeeding in a male dominated wine scene, deserving of all the praise.
RIP Becky
beaune
A great loss indeed. Loved selling her wines in the early to mid 80’s and unfortunately, missed an opportunity to meet her in Beaune way back in 1986. An amazing pioneer and innovator. She will be sorely missed.
RIP
Marshall
Very sad news. Both she and the wineries she represented were an inspiration.
2 Likes
A little bit about Becky and barrels: when the Wassermans moved to Burgundy --they left the US. for France in May of 1968 for some calm…maybe not the greatest idea–and bought a farmhouse. etc in Bouilland. While the house was being renovated they rented a home across the street from the original Francois Freres cooperage in downtown St-Romain. So a great friendship was born.
Jean Francois’ buddies were already selling barrels in the US so around 1975 he had the idea of sending Becky to California.At that time Sirugue was the only Burgundian cooperage sold in the the US, thanks to Dick Graf. He had imported a group of five cooperages, Tonnelleries de Bourgogne, decided he liked Sirugue the best, and got them to quit the group. When his winery business took off, he got Jim Boswell to sell the barrels. Jim’s sister is married to Jacques Seysses. The marriage has lasted but Sirugue is now repped by a cousin of theirs, a woman named Francoise Gouges. She lives in Santa Monica, close to the Malibu wineries.
I met Becky and Jean on one of their first trips here…1975?? Becky sensed her marriage was not headed towards blissville and needed to earn money. Sirugue barrels were sold in a crazy manner. You paid three different invoices, one for each stage of the transit. Becky figured out a way to group barrels together so somebody could order less than a container load, assuming everything fit together. One invoice and you didn’t have to order a container.
Not only could Becky charm birds out of the trees, they would ask her what they could do to help.
There used to be a series in the Readers Digest called something like ‘the most unusual character I have ever met’. In my life the two qualifiers would be Clendenen and Becky. To think that Jim painted her office. Small world.
9 Likes
Thank you for sharing that, Mel.
I first met Becky in the early 80s in Chicago - and she set me up for some of my first visits to Burgundy. I was an absolute Rabid customer for many years after. She was an absolute bad-ass, and one of the first people I met in the Wine Business that I was just in total awe of (she could have told me Burgundy was made from mud, and I would have believed her). RIP Becky, and thank you for making me a Burgundy whore.