“Perhaps the finest Cabernet Franc wine made in California…“ The Wine Independent. Can’t dispute that, TBH.

A recent spotlight in The Wine Independent cites an anecdote that sums Vérité up: “By the end of the 1997 California vacation for the Seillan family, Jess Jackson’s linchpin thought turned into a question. He asked Pierre Seillan if he could make a wine from this area that was as good as Château Petrus. ‘Why not better?’ Seillan replied. Liking this answer, Jackson hired him.”

Jess Jaskson is long deceased, but that’s exactly the vision Vérité realized. After all, as they say, nobody went to the moon by accident. They continue to explain, “Today, Pierre Seillan and his daughter Hélène compose the final blends for the three Vérité wines using over 100 different lots, based mainly around the 40 varying soil types and the 50+ micro-crus Pierre has isolated within the Sonoma vineyards. These micro-crus are Pierre Seillan’s unique approach to achieving Jess Jackson’s vision of connecting high-quality wine with Northern California cultural heritage. The large range of blending components based on a wide variety of soils and sites allows Seillan to forge wines that possess jaw-dropping complexity and continue to capture what he came here to do: express Jess Jackson’s truth. This may not be something that can be measured, analyzed, scored, or even described. But I believe that anyone who hears Jackson’s story and tastes these wines can also experience this truth.”

Robert Parker echoes it as “one of the gems of the Kendall-Jackson portfolio of boutique wineries, debuted in 1998 and has been hitting on all cylinders since. I suspect top priority is given to Bordelais winemaker Pierre Seillan’s choice of the finest fruit he can find from Jackson’s holdings in Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill, and Knights Valley. There are 3 Bordeaux-inspired cuvées made, with La Muse, the Right Bank Pomerol style dominated by Merlot, La Joie, a Médoc-like blend dominated by Cabernet, and Le Désir, a St.-Émilion-oriented wine dominated by Cabernet Franc. Percentages of these principal grapes all change with the vintage, but those varieties are clearly the strength of each cuvée. Kudos once again to Pierre Seillan!”

The 2021 Le Désir is exuberant and brilliant. A nod to Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé A, this Cabernet Franc-dominant red is profoundly aromatic, deserving a prized spot in your cellar!

100 Points – James Suckling “Perhaps the finest Cabernet Franc wine made in California, this tightly wound and precise gem is a classic. While smooth and silky on the surface, it has intense flavors and tannic energy underneath, driving red and black cherries, rose petals, blueberries, graphite, and espresso through a vivid palate and a long, lingering finish. Blended with 10% Merlot and 3% Malbec. Certainly a wine that will benefit from more aging, likely for decades.”

99 Points – Jeb Dunnuck “The 2021 Le Désir is based on Cabernet Franc with the addition of 10% Merlot and 3% Malbec. It’s savory and expressive on the nose with aromas of wild, coiled blackberries, cassis, juniper, minty and peppery spice, and dark earth. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins, even, focused acidity, and a long finish, it’s drinking very well now and is a bit more immediate compared to the La Joie. It has notes of black tea through the palate, with a long earth note and its more noble structure making itself known as it lasts long on the palate. It’s going to drink well over the coming 20 or more years. It’s another exceptional wine in the range. This wine has a more rugged, mountainous feel texturally, but it’s done at the highest level. Drink 2025-2045.”

98 Points – The Wine Independent “The 2021 Le Désir is made from 87% Cabernet Franc, 11% Merlot, and 2% Malbec. Deep garnet-purple colored, it’s quite shy to start off and even more closed than its siblings (La Muse and La Joie), needing a lot of swirling to bring out notes of fresh black and red cherries, juicy blueberries, and black raspberries, leading with touches of iris, tilled loam, aniseed, and garrigue. The medium to full-bodied palate is tight-knit and intense with spine-tingling tension, delivering subtle floral, mineral, and earth-inspired sparks, finishing long with a perfumed firework display. Drink 2028-2058.”