2013 Vérité, Le Désir, Sonoma County, California, USA

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Full Bodied
Ready - youthful
Jancis Robinson MW
18/20
James Suckling
93/100
William Kelley
96/100
Antonio Galloni
92-95
Antonio Galloni
93-96/100
Robert Parker
99/100
Product: 20138114929
2013 Vérité, Le Désir, Sonoma County, California, USA

Description

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 shows incredible floral, blueberry and espresso notes, exotic Asian spices, velvety texture, a supple, multilayered mouthfeel and an incredible finish, with incense and liquorice. 

This is a 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.

Drink 2015 - 2065

Robert M. Parker, Jr., Wine Advocate (October 2015)

Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2013
Maturity Ready - youthful
Body Full Bodied
Producer Vérité Winery

Critics reviews

Jancis Robinson MW 18/20
Really racy and lively – yes! This is my sort of wine. It has real lift and transparency together with beautiful balance and evolution – though I suspect most of the 2013 vintage will already have been drunk.Drink 2021 - 2029jancis_robinson_mw MW, JancisRobinson.com (April 2022)
Drink 2021 - 2029
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2022)
James Suckling 93/100
This 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 2021james_suckling, jamessuckling_com (November 2018)
Drink 2021 - 2029
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (Nov 2018)
William Kelley 96/100
62% Cabernet Franc, 22% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Malbec.The 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 is appealingly energetic. Drink 2020 - 2045William Kelley, Decanter.com (May 2016)
Drink 2021 - 2029
William Kelley, Decanter.com (May 2016)
Antonio Galloni 92-95
The 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. antonio_galloni -vinous.com, Feb 2016
Drink 2021 - 2029
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (Feb 2016)
Antonio Galloni 93-96/100
Today, the 2013 Le Désir is the least showy of the three Vérité wines, but then again Cabernet Franc is often quite slow to reveal itself. At this stage, what comes through most is a remarkable sense of silkiness and nuance. Finely sculpted fruit and fabulous overall balance are among some of the other signatures. For such a big wine, the Le Désir is remarkably delicate.Drink 2020 - 2033antonio_galloni, Vinous.com.com (January 2015)
Drink 2021 - 2029
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (Jan 2015)
Robert Parker 99/100
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 cuve 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 Vrit was only 1998, but they go from strength to strength.Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 30/10/2015
Drink 2021 - 2029
Robert Parker, RobertParker.com (Oct 2015)

About this wine

Vérité Winery

The Vérité estate is a vision created by the late Jess Jackson, a man who in Robert Parker’s eyes “was one of the most extraordinary men in the wine world I have ever met.”  These wines always rate very highly (indeed, since 1998 seven  have been awarded 100 Parker points) and the 2010 vintage is gaining great praise from the press and critics alike as a potential emergence of a new iconic wine from the United States. The wines of Vérité, French for “truth,” are the result of a combination of old world experience and new world fruit. The wine is a distinct blend of varietals harvested from small vineyard blocks, each cuvée culminating in a bespoke union of grape varieties, climate, soil expression and winemaking technique.  Vigneron Pierre Seillan refers to this methodology as droit du sol: “right of the soil.”   “The wines are elegant and complex, possessing superb concentration of flavor and color. These are wines meant to age over the next thirty years and will develop greater depth and character in your cellar.” Pierre Seillan, winemaker
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