Wine Advisor
Verite, Le Desir 2005
View analysis
Description
Verite, Le Desir, Sonoma County, California, Red, 2012
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The myth perpetrated by Old World wine proponents is that California wines don’t age. Those critics need to taste Verité, because these wines are aging far slower than I imagined. Perfect in its own right, and probably my favorite of the three Verite wines I tasted, the absolutely, drop-dead bouquet of the 2005 Le Désir is the most stunningly complex and fragrant display of a blend of Bordeaux varietals (50% Cabernet Franc, 39% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and a touch of Malbec) that I have found in my horizontal tastings of 2005. This is the Sonoma version of an Ausone, for lack of a better frame of reference. Like its siblings, it is opaque purple, with an extraordinary and exhilarating nose of blackberries, forest floor, graphite, licorice and hints of charcoal embers and truffle. Very plush, it is the most evolved and silkiest of all three cuvées. This is another prodigious effort with fabulous purity, depth and overall harmony. This wine is just remarkable, and anyone lucky enough to own any of these wines is in for untold joy over the next 25-20+ years. I just hope the owners live long enough to see these wines at their peak!
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
This blend of 87% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec (the highest percentage of Merlot ever used for Le Desir) reveals notes of truffles, mocha, wild mountain berry fruit, crushed rock and coffee. Fabulous fruit, tremendous viscosity and opulence and a full-bodied, voluptuous texture result in a wine that is hard to resist even though it remains an adolescent in terms of development. It should provide pleasure over the next 15+ years.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
A dead ringer for a great vintage of St.-Emilion’s most expensive wine, Ausone, the 2005 Le Desir (50% Cabernet Franc, 39% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Malbec) has an inky/purple color and a gorgeous nose of crushed rocks, violets, licorice, sweet black cherries, blackberries, and currants. The wine is full-bodied, like all of these wines, rich, but ferociously tannic and dominated by its mineral component. This is an exceptional wine that needs to be forgotten for at least 5-10 years and drunk thereafter. Whatever one says about Verite, these are wines with the aging potential and backwardness of a first-growth Bordeaux. Patience is most definitely a primary consideration when contemplating a purchase, as these are not wines for near-term gratification. Previously recommended: 2004 Le Desir (94+), 2004 La Joie (93+), 2004 La Muse (93). Tel.(800) 273-0177; Fax (707) 431-1261
About the Producer
Verite is a local boutique winery located in Sonoma County, California, USA. Verite Winery is a winery owned by Jackson Family Wines. The winery name "Verite" means "truth" in French, which means that the wines produced by the winery can faithfully show the local terroir characteristics. The winemaker of the winery is Pierre Seillan, a famous winemaker with 22 years of winemaking experience in Bordeaux, France. (Haut-Medoc) winemaker and technical guide of 7 Bordeaux wineries in the production area. In the 1990s, Celine, who was a winemaker at a winery in Bordeaux at the time, met Jess Jackson, president of the Jackson family wine business, and the two hit it off. Soon Celine accepted Jess' invitation to come Sonoma County makes great wines. With the joint efforts of the two, Winery Truth released its first vintage in 1998. Over the years, the winery has been adhering to the winemaking philosophy of interpreting the truth of the soil and showing the unique terroir. The winery’s vineyards are located in the Alexander Valley, Bennett Valley, Knights Valley and Chalk Hill appellations. These appellations vary in terroir and hill topography, elevation and slope orientation, resulting in a diverse range of micro-vineyards under the estate’s entire vineyard. There are more than 40 different types of soil in the vineyard, among them, rocky and red volcanic soils provide ideal conditions for the growth of Cabernet Sauvignon (Cabernet Sauvignon) and Merlot (Merlot). In addition, the vineyard is also planted Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. During the grape growing process, the winery precisely controls the differences between different vineyards, the characteristics of the grape plants and even the subtle differences between each spore or tendril, so that the wine produced can reflect the characteristics of the local terroir. Currently, the wines released by the winery are Verite La Muse, Verite La Joie and Verite Le Desir. Among them, the creation of the Muse of Truth is inspired by the Pomerol wines and made from the quality Merlot of Sonoma County, which is balanced and elegant; the Joy of Truth has the depth and elegance of a good Cabernet Sauvignon. Strength, reminiscent of Pauillac-style wines from Bordeaux; Desire of Truth red wines with the suppleness of Saint-Emilion Cabernet Franc. The three series of blends, Le Desir, La Joie and La Muse, have all been awarded full marks by the Robert Parker Points.
