California Classics

wines

Bright, deep ruby-red. Slightly high-toned scents of raspberry, coffee, milk chocolate and rose petal, plus some Old World hints of meat and earth. Utterly fine-grained and seamless on entry, with perfectly integrated acidity and a floral element giving clarity and lift to the red fruit, spice and mineral flavors. A first sample of this wine showed some porty high tones but this one is refined and pure, rich but not a bit heavy. In fact, it’s wonderfully delineated, aromatic and fresh in the style of a top Pomerol. Finishes with firm, dusty, nicely buffered tannins, terrific thrust and sneaky rising floral perfume. This wonderfully elegant, pure, broad wine comes across as less wild than the Le Désir and La Joie bottlings. It should continue to evolve gracefully on its balance and palate-saturating breadth. Wow! Held up beautifully with aeration.Vinous Media | 97 VMThe 2010 La Muse (14.4% alcohol) is a blend of 84% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. One of the more soft, opulent, precocious wines I have tasted from this estate, it exhibits abundant notes of spicy oak, plum, Asian soy, new saddle leather, barrique, black cherries and black currants. Round and generous with considerable fat and succulence, it can be drunk in 2-3 years or cellared for 15-20.Robert Parker | 94 RPRipe and mature-tasting, with decadent cooking spice notes to the brooding dark currant and dried berry flavors. Green olive details show on the viscous finish. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now. 1,200 cases made.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

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.Robert Parker | 99 RPThe most exotic and aromatically seductive of the Verité wines, wild red and black fruits marry with nuances of cigar tobacco and incipient floral details. While similarly large-scalled, La Desir’s tannic structure is more supple than its siblings and its palate presence appealingly energetic. 62% Cabernet Franc, 22% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Malbec. Drinking Window 2020 - 2045.Decanter | 96 DECThis is a tannic and rich red that is tightly wound and very muscular. Full-bodied, very intense and powerful. Needs time to show its full self. Try in 2021.James Suckling | 93 JSThe 2013 Le Désir is once again alluring. Le Désir is quite powerful and intense, but it also has fairly soft contours for the year. Dark cherry, plum, smoke, chocolate, mocha, licorice and cloves are all pushed forward. Energetic and explosive, the 2013 is going to need at least a few years in bottle to settle down, but it has plenty to offer. I tasted the 2013 from tank just prior to bottling.Vinous Media | 92-95 VM

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.Robert Parker | 100 RPFascinating aromas of blackberries and orange peel with dried flowers. Full-bodied and very structured. Superb density and length. Just starting to open up now. Fantastic merlot.James Suckling | 98 JSAnother huge wine, the 2013 La Muse is endowed with serious power and overall structure, especially compared to the 2012 tasted alongside it. Sweet tobacco, grilled herbs, cedar and smoke add considerable nuance. There is plenty of fruit and overall richness, but the imposing tannic heft is going to demand considerable cellaring.Vinous Media | 93-96 VMNotes of black raspberry, forest floor, burnt sugar, methol and rich barrel toast are the prelude to a wine strucutred around fine, dense tannins and good acidity. 89% Merlot, with the balance Cabernet Franc and Malbec, La Muse is the richest and most opulent of the Verité wines, as well as the most marked by its barrel programme, but it retains nicely savoury definition. Drinking Window 2023 - 2045.Decanter | 93 DEC

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 La Muse is composed of 93% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Malbec. Wow—it comes strutting out of the glass with flamboyant crème de cassis, ripe plums and black cherries notes followed by nuances of aniseed, chocolate box, wild thyme, violets and chargrill plus a fragrant suggestion of potpourri. Full-bodied, rich and concentrated, the densely packed perfumed black fruit layers are beautifully framed by perfectly ripe, finely grained tannins and fantastically knit freshness. It finishes long with the most incredible display of mineral sparks. 2,300 cases were produced.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPIncluding 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!Jeb Dunnuck | 100 JDThis is a fabulous, merlot-based red with blackberries, blueberries and rust. Ink, too. Medium to full body, round tannins and a juicy finish. 93 per cent merlot with the rest in cabernet franc and malbec. Drink after 2021.James Suckling | 96 JSThe most approachable of the three Verité wines right now. This is richly textured with plush raspberry and grilled damson, high floral aromatics, and plenty of tannic structure that becomes more apparent as you give it time, and the weight of the mid palate asserts itself. There is a serious side to this wine that will become clearer as it ages and the welcoming puppy fat of young fruit trims down. This is Merlot dominated, and is exceptionally successful. Drinking Window 2023 - 2040.Decanter | 95 DECThe 2016 La Muse is a brooding, somber wine, just as it was en primeur. Black cherry, gravel, savory herbs, smoke, game, licorice and incense add a real feeling of gravitas that comes through in the wine’s tannic heft. La Muse is often more showy when it is young, but the 2016 is going to require quite a bit of patience.Vinous Media | 94 VMDense, smoky and powerful, featuring notes of freshly ground coffee to the roasted plum and dried blackberry flavors. Hoisin sauce accents show on the tannic finish, with green herbal shadings. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Drink now through 2025. 2,205 cases made.Wine Spectator | 92 WS