Vérité Winery

About Vérité Winery

Described by Robert M. Parker, Jr. as “one of the most extraordinary men in the wine world I have ever met”, Jess Jackson had a vision for a winery that would treat Californian terroir with the same enthusiasm and respect as those in France. An encounter with Pierre Seillan in the early 1990s confirmed that Jackson had found his vigneron, and the pair founded Vérité (French for “truth”) with the express intention of being as truthful as possible to the more than 50 “micro-crus” across three appellations from which the estate sources.

Viniculture

Truth, transparency and terroir characteristics are the single most significant guiding principle of Pierre Seillan as a winemaker, who passionately repeats his mantra of “la droit du sol” - “the right of the soil”. Three distinct yet equally brilliant cuvées are produced, with each representing a unique blending of varietals, climate, soil and winemaking.

These three wines are titled La Muse, La Joie and Le Désir. La Muse is a Merlot dominant blend, with a touch of Cabernet Franc (5%) and Malbec (2%) - the resulting wine is elegant, graceful and impossibly silky.

La Joie is Cabernet Sauvignon based, supported by 11% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. The resulting wine is incredibly pure, focused and aristocratic, displaying classic varietal notes of redcurrants, blackcurrants, menthol and fresh sage - gloriously complex with a savoury edge to temper the gorgeous fruit.

Finally, Le Désir is Vérité’s glorious expression of Cabernet Franc alongside 12% Merlot and 6% Malbec. One of the single greatest Cabernet Franc dominant wines in the world, it is beguilingly complex and spicy on the nose and palate, with hints of star anise, vanilla and warm toast are undercut by a pronounced iron minerality and beautifully fine tannins.

Year	Wine	Region	Format	Qty	Score	Price
Verite Assortment 2008 (3x75cl) HK$9,305.00
2008	Verite Assortment 2008 (3x75cl) Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 5-6 months	California	3x75cl	1	-	HK$9,305.00
Verite Assortment 2015 (3x75cl) HK$8,575.00
2015	Verite Assortment 2015 (3x75cl) 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) In Stock in France	California	3x75cl	1	100 Read Review/Description	HK$8,575.00
Verite Assortment 2016 (3x75cl) HK$9,240.00
2016	Verite Assortment 2016 (3x75cl) 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! Estimated Arrival to France: 3-4 months	California	3x75cl	1	100 (JD) Read Review/Description	HK$9,240.00
Verite Assortment 2017 (3x75cl) HK$11,810.00
2017	Verite Assortment 2017 (3x75cl) 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 In Stock in France	California	3x75cl	1	- Read Review/Description	HK$11,810.00
Verite Assortment 2018 (3x75cl) HK$9,490.00
2018	Verite Assortment 2018 (3x75cl) 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 In Stock in France	California	3x75cl	6	- Read Review/Description	HK$9,490.00
Verite La Joie 2007 (6x75cl) HK$23,280.00
2007	Verite La Joie 2007 (6x75cl) Wine Advocate (100) Composed of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot and Malbec, the 2007’s fruit came from four sources, Alexander Valley Mountain Estate, Knight’s Valley, Chalk Hill and Bennett Valley. This utterly perfect, flawless wine reveals great intensity along with a wonderful perfume of roasted coffee, blueberries, blackberries, spring flowers, forest floor and crushed rock. Full-bodied and viscous without being heavy, the wine possesses admirable precision as well as good acidity and balance. This stunning wine is developing beautifully. It contains 14.4% alcohol (one of the highest amounts) and a final pH of 3.64. It should last another 30 years. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	1	100 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$23,280.00
Verite La Joie 2013 (6x75cl) HK$16,710.00
2013	Verite La Joie 2013 (6x75cl) 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. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	42	100 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$16,710.00
Verite La Joie 2014 (3x75cl) HK$6,980.00
2014	Verite La Joie 2014 (3x75cl) Wine Advocate (97+) The 2014 La Joie has a spicy black purple color and a big, sweet kiss of camphor, black truffle, pen ink, blackcurrants and unsmoked cigar tobacco, followed by layers of fruit and glycerin in an opulent, beautifully savory, pure and multidimensional wine. The final blend Seillan produced in 2014 was 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. This is a compellingly great effort once again. It should be given 2-5 years of bottle age, then drunk over the following three decades. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	3x75cl	8	97+ (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$6,980.00
Verite La Muse 2006 (6x75cl) HK$18,495.00
2006	Verite La Muse 2006 (6x75cl) Wine Advocate (92) Composed of 86% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec from Chalk Hill, Bennett Valley, Knight’s Valley and Alexander Mountain Estate vineyards, the 2006 is a chunkier, more monolithic, deeply colored La Muse. It is capable of saturating the palate with full body in addition to revealing more tannin, structure and foresty, meaty, animal-like notes as well as a distinctive truffle-like component. Drink it over the next 15-20 years. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	1	92 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$18,495.00
Verite La Muse 2008 (3x75cl) HK$8,535.00
2008	Verite La Muse 2008 (3x75cl) Wine Advocate (100) A blend of 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec (52% Chalk Hill, 45% Alexander Mountain Estate and 3% Bennett Valley fruit), the 2008 may have even greater intensity and richness than the 2007. Still young and unformed, it exhibits phenomenal richness and equilibrium as well as a finish that lasts nearly a minute. Its dense plum/purple color is accompanied by notions of black fruits, forest floor, truffles and spring flowers. It should age for 25-30+ years. Estimated Arrival to France: 5-6 months	California	3x75cl	3	100 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$8,535.00
Verite La Muse 2012 (6x75cl) HK$14,930.00
2012	Verite La Muse 2012 (6x75cl) Wine Advocate (97) The 2012 La Muse, which is 85% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 4% Malbec, is a smaller cuvée of 1,840 cases. The wine has plenty of spice box, cedar wood, Christmas fruitcake and Asian plum sauce, along with black cherry and blackcurrant fruit. Ripe, round, full-bodied and opulent, this is a wine that can be drunk now or cellared for another three decades. Interestingly, the alcohol levels are not all that high in any of these wines, with most of them rarely exceeding 14.3%. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	1	97 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$14,930.00
Verite La Muse 2013 (6x75cl) HK$16,165.00
2013	Verite La Muse 2013 (6x75cl) Wine Advocate (100) The 2013 La Muse, like all of the 2013s, comes about one-third from Alexander Valley vineyards, 40-plus percent from Chalk Hill, and the rest Knights Valley and Bennett Valley – all high-elevation hillside vineyards. A blend of 89% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec at 14.3% alcohol, the wine is amazingly like a great vintage of Petrus, with mulberry, black cherry, licorice, truffle and unctuous, thick, juicy fruit all present in this full-bodied masterpiece. The tannins are still present. The wine has purity and savory presence and is remarkable. The finish goes on for well past a minute. This wine would probably benefit from 5-8 years of bottle age and last 40-50 years. In Stock in United Kingdom	California	6x75cl	1	100 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$16,165.00
Verite La Muse 2014 (3x75cl) HK$7,110.00
2014	Verite La Muse 2014 (3x75cl) Wine Advocate (100) The 2014 La Muse (2,800 cases ) is a legendary effort. The wine offers an opaque purple color and a gorgeous nose of lead pencil shavings, blackberry, incense, Asian spice, cocoa, plum, and a touch of chocolate and barrique. On the palate, more cassis and blackberry come to the forefront. The wine is unctuous, with adequate acidity and a stunning energy underneath the massive fruit and body. This is a spectacularly fragrant and, at the same time, dense wine, with enough structure (somewhat surprising in this vintage) to last 35-45+ years. The final blend was 88% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	3x75cl	7	100 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$7,110.00
Verite La Muse 2017 (1x300cl) HK$10,955.00
2017	Verite La Muse 2017 (1x300cl) Wine Advocate (99) “Our Malbec in 2017 was awesome, it usually gives the spice,” Pierre Seillan told me during the tasting of the 2017s with his daughter and one day successor, Helene. “But this year, we didn’t need it. The alcohol is only 14.2% this year—it has the energy, the minerality. I think it will age for 40 years at least. I think it is the best I’ve made.” Composed of 100% Merlot for the first time this year, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2017 La Muse rolls sensuously out of the glass with scents of black raspberries, Black Forest cake, boysenberries and cinnamon toast, followed by nuances of a garrigue, forest floor, beef drippings and clove oil. Medium to full-bodied, the richly fruited palate slowly builds in the mouth to a crescendo of black fruit preserves and exotic spice layers, framed by exceptionally ripe, round tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and fragrant. Stylistically, it stands apart from previously vintages, possessing the same magical intensity, but with less weight and more pop. 2,500 cases were made. In Stock in France	California	1x300cl	1	99 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$10,955.00
Verite Le Desir 2007 (6x75cl) HK$23,280.00
2007	Verite Le Desir 2007 (6x75cl) Wine Advocate (100) A profound blend of 44% Cabernet Franc, 44% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Malbec, with 56% of the fruit from Chalk Hill, 26% from the Alexander Valley Mountain Estate, 14% from Knight’s Valley and 4% from Bennett Valley, the 2007 is a wine of unbelievable intensity. It boasts a deep blue/purple color as well as notes of acacia flowers, graphite, licorice, blackberries, blueberries and a hint of burning embers/charcoal, superb intensity and purity, and abundant tannin in the finish. This massive wine needs 5-6 more years of bottle age, and is meant for 35-40 years of cellaring. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	1	100 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$23,280.00
Verite Le Desir 2008 (3x75cl) HK$8,535.00
2008	Verite Le Desir 2008 (3x75cl) Wine Advocate (100) The fruit for this blend of 61% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec came from Chalk Hill (58%) and Alexander Valley (42%). Pierre Seillan believes the Chalk Hill fruit provides a truffle-like character and the Alexander Valley gives minerality, structure, tannin and intensity. The 2008 will be fascinating to taste next to the 2007 over the next 30+ years. Sweet mulberry, blueberry and blackberry fruit intermixed with notions of black truffles, damp earth and forest floor emerge from this beauty of stunning intensity, purity and texture. The alcohol is 14.4% and the relatively elevated pH is 3.76. Estimated Arrival to France: 5-6 months	California	3x75cl	4	100 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$8,535.00
Verite Le Desir 2012 (6x75cl) HK$14,145.00
2012	Verite Le Desir 2012 (6x75cl) Wine Advocate (100) The 2012 Le Desir (64% Cabernet Franc, 24% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Malbec) reminds me of a young vintage of Ausone, such as 2005. The wine has amazing minerality and an explosive blueberry nose intermixed with blackberries, new saddle leather, charcoal and camphor. It is full-bodied, with espresso notes emerging on the palate. There are 1,900 cases of this super-endowed, prodigious wine that should drink well for 35-40 years. How fun it would be for mega-millionaires to put this in a blind tasting of a great vintage of Ausone in 10, 20 or 30 years from now. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	1	100 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$14,145.00
Verite Le Desir 2013 (1x150cl) HK$6,050.00
2013	Verite Le Desir 2013 (1x150cl) Wine Advocate (99) 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. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	1x150cl	1	99 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$6,050.00
Verite Le Desir 2013 (6x75cl) HK$12,385.00
2013	Verite Le Desir 2013 (6x75cl) Wine Advocate (99) 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. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	6x75cl	1	99 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$12,385.00
Verite Le Desir 2014 (3x75cl) HK$6,745.00
2014	Verite Le Desir 2014 (3x75cl) Wine Advocate (98) The 2014 Le Désir (53% Cabernet Franc, 21% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec) has an inky purple color and a sweet kiss of chocolate, black truffle, forest floor, black raspberry and black currants. Opulent, but again structured and super-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 and drink 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-terroirs he was working, but in terms of quality, it turned out to be the most surprisingly positive vintage he’s ever witnessed. Estimated Arrival to United Kingdom: 3-4 months	California	3x75cl	10	98 (WA) Read Review/Description	HK$6,745.00

Vérité Winery

About Vérité Winery

Viniculture

Jeb Dunnuck (La Muse) (100)

Wine Advocate (100)

Wine Advocate (100)

Wine Advocate (97+)

Wine Advocate (92)

Wine Advocate (100)

Wine Advocate (97)

Wine Advocate (100)

Wine Advocate (100)

Wine Advocate (99)

Wine Advocate (100)

Wine Advocate (100)

Wine Advocate (100)

Wine Advocate (99)

Wine Advocate (99)

Wine Advocate (98)