Vinous (89)

The 2014 Chardonnay (Santa Barbara County) is a super-polished appellation-level Chardonnay. Pear, white flowers and mint give the 2014 its brightness and aromatic lift. This is an especially appealing, mid-weight Chardonnay built on freshness. I would prefer to drink the 2014 over the next few years. The key vineyard sites are Bien Nacido, Dierberg, La Rinconada, Zotovich and Sanford & Benedict, with an increasing reliance on Santa Maria fruit.

Vinous (89)

The 2014 Chardonnay (Santa Barbara County) is a super-polished appellation-level Chardonnay. Pear, white flowers and mint give the 2014 its brightness and aromatic lift. This is an especially appealing, mid-weight Chardonnay built on freshness. I would prefer to drink the 2014 over the next few years. The key vineyard sites are Bien Nacido, Dierberg, La Rinconada, Zotovich and Sanford & Benedict, with an increasing reliance on Santa Maria fruit.

Wine Advocate (97)

The 2018 Chardonnay La Rinconada Vineyard opens with crushed almonds and flint that segue to white peaches, allspice and pastry aromas. The palate is seamless and expansive, with waves of concentrated, savory fruit and pure floral accents, and it finishes with tremendous length and energetic acidity. Delicate yet intense, this 2018 has everything it needs for a long life in the cellar.

A collaboration between winemakers Jess Jackson and Pierre Seillan, Vérité was launched with the aim of creating wines from Sonoma that could rival that of Pétrus. Since its inaugural vintage in 1998, Vérité has achieved colossal success, including being awarded seven 100 point scores from Robert M. Parker Jr. Guided by Pierre Seillan’s micro-cru philosophy and over 50 years of experience, Vérité produces 3 blends – La Joie, La Muse and La Désir, from a myriad of over 50 distinct plots spread across 4 appellations across Sonoma - namely Knights Valley, Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill and Bennet Valley AVAs.

It contains one bottle of each:

1x75cl La Joie 2013 - 100 Points | Robert M. Parker, Jr. (Wine Advocate)

1x75cl La Muse 2013 - 100 Points | Robert M. Parker, Jr. (Wine Advocate)

1x75cl La Désir 2013 - 99 Points | Robert M. Parker, Jr. (Wine Advocate)

A collaboration between winemakers Jess Jackson and Pierre Seillan, Vérité was launched with the aim of creating wines from Sonoma that could rival that of Pétrus. Since its inaugural vintage in 1998, Vérité has achieved colossal success, including being awarded seven 100 point scores from Robert M. Parker Jr. Guided by Pierre Seillan’s micro-cru philosophy and over 50 years of experience, Vérité produces 3 blends – La Joie, La Muse and La Désir, from a myriad of over 50 distinct plots spread across 4 appellations across Sonoma - namely Knights Valley, Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill and Bennet Valley AVAs.

It contains one bottle of each:

1x75cl La Joie 2015 - 99 Points | Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate)

1x75cl La Muse 2015 - 97 Points | Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate)

1x75cl La Désir 2015 - 100 Points | Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate)

Jeb Dunnuck (La Muse) (100)

Including the highest percentage of Merlot (at the moment anyway), the 2016 La Muse checks in as 93% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Malbec that spent 15-16 months in roughly 90% new French oak. This magical wine shows how good Merlot (and Sonoma) can be and offers extraordinary notes of crushed violets, spring flowers, scorched earth, graphite, black cherries, and crème de cassis. As elegant and seamless as they come, it’s full-bodied, perfectly balanced, has an incredible spine of acidity and tannins, and a finish that won’t quit. It has the class and purity to drink well even today, but it’s not going to hit prime time for at least another decade and will keep for 3-4 decades. Bravo!

LA MUSE 2017
100% Merlot
99 Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate
98 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
98 Points - James Suckling
96 Points - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

LA JOIE 2017
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot
98+ Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate
100 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
98 Points - James Suckling
96 Points - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

LE DESIR 2017
80% Cabernet Franc, 17% Merlot, 3% Malbec
98 Points - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate
98+ Points - Jeb Dunnuck
98 Points - James Suckling
98 Points - Antonio Galloni, Vinous

Containing 1 bottle each of:

Vérité La Muse 2018 | 100 WA, 99 JD

Vérité La Joie 2018 | 98 WA, 98+ JD

Vérité Le Désir 2018 | 97+ WA, 98+ JD

Wine Advocate (Le Desir) (100)

The 2019 Le Désir is an exceptional blend of 83% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot, 5% Malbec and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, offering complex, layered flavors, soaring aromatics and very detailed expression. Deep ruby-purple in color, its aromas unfold slowly and offer new nuances with each return to the glass: Morello cherries, warm chocolate, dried thyme, desiccated roses and dried herbs. The full-bodied palate offers concentrated, floral fruits, pixelated tannins, bursts of fresh acidity and a very long finish with layer after layer of detailed flavor. 2,500 cases were made.

This assortment contains:

1x75cl Vérité La Joie 2021 |98-100 JD
Also inky black, the 2021 La Joie is packed with loads of licorice, blackcurrant, menthol, and polished leather. Full-bodied and plush, with a rocky texture, massive structure, and tremendous power, it will be a wine to cellar while you’re drinking the 2022s.

 

1x75cl Vérité Le Désir 2021 |97-99 JD
Tasted as a tank sample and made from 87% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot, and a splash of Malbec, the 2021 Le Desir is highly aromatic at this stage and opens to wild and savory aromas of black and blue fruit, with a mineral-tinged lift. Gripping in structure, it’s long on the palate with savory richness and the feel of a rugged landscape. Massive structured, while having reined in alcohol levels, this is going to be another one to lay down for some time.

 

1x75cl Vérité La Muse 2021 |97-99 JD
Tasted as a tank sample, the 2021 La Muse is 91% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, and a splash of Malbec. It’s loaded with attractive ripe fruit, graphite, and lots of flowers. Offering ripeness as well as incredible structure, it has nothing heavy or heated about it. With alcohol levels at 14.2%, it’s unquestionably going to improve with significant age, so it will probably be best to stash this away for quite a few years before it reaches its peak drinking window. Scheduled to be bottled In February 2024, it’s showing the potential to be a truly stunning wine.

Vinous (94+)

(72% cabernet, 19% merlot, 5% cabernet franc and 4% petit verdot; Pierre Seillan's Pauillac-style blend) Good bright ruby-red. Very ripe aromas of cassis, black cherry, graphite, iron, tobacco, menthol and spice cake. Lush and broad on entry, then sweeter and lusher in the middle palate than the Muse, with a captivating chocolatey quality and outstanding volume. As rich and full as this is, there's no sense of excess weight. Finishes long, dense and palate-saturating with major dusty tannins. This Pauillac is sweeter and deeper than Seillan's Pomerol, a comment on the comparative quality of cabernet sauvignon and merlot in California's North Coast.

Wine Advocate (96)

A blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 9% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec, the 2009 La Joie sports a very deep garnet color. It opens with baked plums, licorice and blackcurrant cordial notes—on steroids—with an undercurrent of oolong tea, aged meats, fragrant earth and new leather plus a waft of black olives. Medium to full-bodied, it delivers mouth-filling evolved black fruits and earthy sparks with a foundation of firm, chewy tannins and soft freshness, finishing long with some herbal accents coming through. 2,400 cases were made.

Wine Advocate (100)

The 2012 La Joie, which is a blend of 76% Cabernet, 12% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, blew me away. A profound effort, with 55% of it coming from Hillsides in Alexander Valley, 31% from Knights Valley and the balance from Chalk Hill, the wine shows great minerality, oodles of crme de cassis fruit, incense, licorice, crushed rock, and a provocative full-throttle mouthfeel. A wine of great intensity, purity and equilibrium, this definitely begs for 4-7 years of bottle aging and should drink well for at least 30+ years.

Wine Advocate (100)

The 2012 La Joie, which is a blend of 76% Cabernet, 12% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, blew me away. A profound effort, with 55% of it coming from Hillsides in Alexander Valley, 31% from Knights Valley and the balance from Chalk Hill, the wine shows great minerality, oodles of crme de cassis fruit, incense, licorice, crushed rock, and a provocative full-throttle mouthfeel. A wine of great intensity, purity and equilibrium, this definitely begs for 4-7 years of bottle aging and should drink well for at least 30+ years.

Wine Advocate (100)

The 2013 La Joie, which is 46% from Knights Valley, 32% from Chalk Hill and 22% from Alexander Valley, is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. Showing loads of graphite, cedar wood, charcoal, crème de cassis and forest floor, this may well turn out to be a 50+-year wine. It tastes like a great first-growth Pauillac and has an amazing amount of complexity and richness.

Vinous (97+)

The 2014 La Joie exudes freshness, energy and intensity. Black cherry, plum, licorice, lavender espresso and expressive spiced notes are all beautifully delineated in the glass. Raspberry jam, wild flowers, mint and gently spiced notes are laced into the super-expressive, silky finish. A final kick of Cabernet Sauvignon intensity adds lift in the 2014 La Joie, Vérité's Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend.

Vinous (97+)

The 2014 La Joie exudes freshness, energy and intensity. Black cherry, plum, licorice, lavender espresso and expressive spiced notes are all beautifully delineated in the glass. Raspberry jam, wild flowers, mint and gently spiced notes are laced into the super-expressive, silky finish. A final kick of Cabernet Sauvignon intensity adds lift in the 2014 La Joie, Vérité's Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend.

Vinous (97+)

The 2014 La Joie exudes freshness, energy and intensity. Black cherry, plum, licorice, lavender espresso and expressive spiced notes are all beautifully delineated in the glass. Raspberry jam, wild flowers, mint and gently spiced notes are laced into the super-expressive, silky finish. A final kick of Cabernet Sauvignon intensity adds lift in the 2014 La Joie, Vérité's Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend.

Vinous (96)

Vérité's 2015 La Joie is deep, powerful and structured, with tons of Cabernet savoriness running through a core of intense, dark fruit. Grilled herbs, leather, menthol and licorice all develop in the glass. Sumptuous and yet also structured, La Joie is another winner from Vérité.

Vinous (96)

Vérité's 2015 La Joie is deep, powerful and structured, with tons of Cabernet savoriness running through a core of intense, dark fruit. Grilled herbs, leather, menthol and licorice all develop in the glass. Sumptuous and yet also structured, La Joie is another winner from Vérité.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

Another perfect wine is the 2016 La Joie, which is 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot sourced all from the estate vineyards in the Pocket Peak portion of the Alexander Valley. This full-bodied, powerful yet elegant Cabernet Sauvignon couldn’t be better and has incredible purity, layers of crème de cassis, white flowers, tobacco leaf, and flowers, a deep, multi-dimensional texture, and loads of ultra-fine tannins. I’d confidently put this up against any Cabernet Sauvignon in the world. As with the La Muse, it has the balance, purity, and class to drink spectacularly well even today, but it’s another wine that will benefit from a decade of cellaring and keep for 40-50 years.

Vinous (94-97)

The 2018 La Joie exudes class from the very first taste. Firm underpinnings of structure provide a gorgeous framework that wraps around a core of intense dark fruit. Lavender, sage, mint and grilled herb accents exalt the aromatic intensity of Cabernet Sauvignon.