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.
Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
California | 1 | - | HK$7,955.00 | |||||
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) |
|||||||||
|
California | 1 | 100 (WA) | HK$12,655.00 | |||||
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. |
|||||||||
|
California | 1 | 100 (WA) | HK$5,860.00 | |||||
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. |
|||||||||
|
California | 1 | 100 (WA) | HK$13,250.00 | |||||
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. |
|||||||||
|
California | 3 | 99 (WA) | HK$12,535.00 | |||||
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. |