Verite "Le Desir" Red 2013
(Sonoma County, California) - [WA 99] [VM 92-95]

About the Winery:

Jess Jackson convinced Bordelais Pierre Seillan to come to California from St.-Emilion to make these wines, and Vérité has been one of the classics for well over a decade. The La Muse cuvee represents a Pomerol-styled wine, La Joie a Medoc and Le Desir a St.-Emilion. These are long-term, concentrated, tannic efforts that usually require 5-10 years of bottle age, and are meant to age for at least three decades. Seillan has crafted multiple 100 point Wine Advocate wines under the Vérité label to date!

The Vérité Estate is located in the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountain range at the southern tip of Sonoma County's Alexander Valley. This unique location is just north of the confluence of the Chalk Hill and Knights Valley appellations, an area know for superior soil, climate, and potential to express a strong sense of terroir.

About this Wine:

Bound by precision, elegance and grace, Le Désir is a Cabernet Franc-based blend that exudes high-toned, exotic aromatics, an iron graphite core and pronounced minerality. It is a complex symphony, at first presenting a quiet force that needs time to unveil its many delicate and mysterious layers.

Tasting Notes

Ratings & Reviews

99 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"The 2013 Le Desir represents 2,500 cases. This is the softest of the three wines in 2013, and this blend of 61% Cabernet Franc, 23% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec emerges with more than half of the cuvée coming from Hillsides in Alexander Valley, 37% from Chalk Hill and the rest tiny dollops from Bennett Valley and Knights Valley. Opaque purple, like its siblings, the wine is showing incredible floral, blueberry and espresso notes, exotic Asian spices, velvety texture, a supple, multilayered mouthfeel and incredible finish, with incense and licorice. This is magnificent young wine, with a good 40-50 years of upside potential. Pierre Seillan is justifiably proud of what he has achieved, and his first vintage of Vérité was only 1998, but they go from strength to strength." - RP (Oct 2015)

92-95 Points - Vinous Media:
"The 2013 Le Desir is once again alluring. Le Desir is quite powerful and intense, but it also has fairly soft contours for the year. Dark cherry, plum, smoke, chocolate, mocha, licorice and cloves are all pushed forward. Energetic and explosive, the 2013 is going to need at least a few years in bottle to settle down, but it has plenty to offer. I tasted the 2013 from tank just prior to bottling." - AG (Feb 2016)