Verite Le Desir 2014

Description

Robert Parker, Jr.’s Wine Advocate: “The 2014 Le Désir (53% Cabernet Franc, 21% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec) hasan inky purple color and a sweet kiss of chocolate, black truffle, forest floor, black raspberry and black currants. Opulent, but again structured andsuper-dense and pure, this is another massively concentrated wine meant for the long haul (and for our grandchildren). Give it 4-6 years of cellaring anddrink it over the following 35-40 years. Remarkably, Pierre Seillan told me that 2014, while a drought year, was not actually that hot in the micro-terroirshe was working, but in terms of quality, it turned out to be the most surprisingly positive vintage he’s ever witnessed. Drink date: 2020 -2060.This winery, one of the gems of the Kendall-Jackson portfolio of boutique wineries, debuted in 1998 and has been hitting on all cylinders since. I suspecttop priority is given to Bordelais winemaker Pierre Seillan’s choice of the finest fruit he can find from Jackson’s holdings in Alexander Valley, ChalkHill and Knights Valley. There are three Bordeaux-inspired cuvées made, with La Muse the Right Bank Pomerol style of wine dominated by Merlot, La Joiea Médoc-like blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, and Le Desir a St.-Emilion-oriented wine dominated by Cabernet Franc. Percentages of these principalgrapes all change with the vintage, but those varieties are clearly the strength of each cuvée. Kudos once again to Pierre Seillan!” Oct 2016Winery: “The wines of Vérité, French for “truth,” are the result of a combination of old world experience and new world fruit.Each wine is a distinct blend of unique components harvested from small vineyard blocks, culminating in a meticulously formed union of grape varieties,climate, soil expression, and winemaking technique. Vigneron Pierre Seillan refers to this methodology as droit du sol, “right of the soil.”Marking the 50th year of Pierre Seillan’s cultivation of Cabernet Franc, the precision of this wine is matched only by its elegance. A bouquet of blackberries,rose petals and herbs de provence unite in the iron-rich minerality that is the varietal’s birthright. Perfectly cultivated fruit — harvested by micro-cruand masterfully blended — here produces an intensely structured, long-lasting wine. Bottle 750ml Varietal 53% Cabernet Franc, 21% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec Alcohol 14.1% Total Acidity 0.57g/L pH 3.70 Aging 15 monts in 100% French oak with majority new oak Region Sonoma County, California