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Sonoma County and Napa Valley are the most prestigious wine regions in California, with Sonoma County wines known for being more laid-back than their Napa counterparts. That's not to say that Sonoma County wines aren't wonderfully sophisticated, because they are.
Sonoma's cool, coastal climate makes much of it ideal for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but sharp, robust Zinfandels can also be produced in areas like Dry Creek Valley. Among the more famous Sonoma County wine producers are Benziger, Deloach, Gallo Family Vineyards and Simi Winery.
SP9090 pts. - Wine Spectator - Aug 31, 2022 Zesty, bold and fruity, offering raspberry and spice flavors, with a hint of mint as this finishes on a plump and briary accent. Drink now through 2029. 46,700 cases made. (Tim Fish)
SP8888 pts. - Wine Spectator - Jul 31, 2022 Lemon curd, orange sherbet, pear and yellow apple flavors show notes of green tea, spice and ginger on a compact, juicy frame. Drink now. 37,200 cases made. (MaryAnn Worobiec)
WE9292 pts. - Wine Enthusiast - 5/1/2022 This wine presents outstanding value. It was aged 14 months in French oak, mostly neutral. Velvety thick, it is peppery and bursting in berry bramble, graham cracker and cola. The richness is nicely offset by bursts of acidity that keep it fresh and grounded. (Virginie Boone)
RP97+97+ pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 28th Oct 2016 The 2014 La Joie has a spicy black purple color and a big, sweet kiss of camphor, black truffle, pen ink, blackcurrants and unsmoked cigar tobacco, followed by layers of fruit and glycerin in an opulent, beautifully savory, pure and multidimensional wine. The final blend Seillan produced in 2014 was 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. This is a compellingly great effort once again. It should be given 2–5 years of bottle age, then drunk over the following three decades.JD97+97+ pts. - Jeb Dunnuck - 12/29/2017 The estate’s Cabernet Sauvignon dominated release is the 2014 La Joie. It’s an incredible wine based on 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and the balance Petit Verdot. Reminding me of a top vintage of Ducru-Beaucaillou (the 2010?) with its classic Cabernet character, it offers thrilling notes of crème de cassis, exotic flowers, liquid rock-like minerality, and graphite and lead pencil nuances. Deep, concentrated, and backward, it has perfect balance, good acidity, and an undeniable Bordeaux-like weight and texture. Nowhere near primetime, it needs 5–7 years of cellaring and is going to keep for three decades. (Jeb Dunnuck)VN9797 pts. - Vinous - Mar 2017 The 2014 La Joie exudes freshness, energy and intensity. Black cherry, plum, licorice, lavender espresso and expressive spiced notes are all beautifully delineated in the glass. Raspberry jam, wild flowers, mint and gently spiced notes are laced into the super-expressive, silky finish. A final kick of Cabernet Sauvignon intensity adds lift in the 2014 La Joie, Vérité’s Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend.
RP9999 pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 28th Feb 2018 A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2015 La Joie features a very deep purple-black color and almost electric nose of crushed blackcurrants, ripe black cherries and mulberries with sparks of raspberry pie, wild blueberries, unsmoked cigars, charcuterie and crushed stones. Medium to full-bodied and charged with the most amazing energy, the youthful, vibrant black-fruited palate is framed by very firm, very finely grained tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing with lingering crushed stones and earth layers. 4,000 cases produced.JS9797 pts. - JamesSuckling.com - Thursday, November 22, 2018 This is a beautiful cabernet sauvignon-based red with blackcurrants, blueberries and a light mint character. Full-bodied, firm and tight with a compressed fruit structure and polished tannins. Extremely long and focused. A beautiful wine. Mostly cabernet sauvignon. Drink in 2021.VN9696 pts. - Vinous - Apr 2018 Vérité’s 2015 La Joie is deep, powerful and structured, with tons of Cabernet savoriness running through a core of intense, dark fruit. Grilled herbs, leather, menthol and licorice all develop in the glass. Sumptuous and yet also structured, La Joie is another winner from Vérité.
JD100100 pts. - Jeb Dunnuck - 5/21/2020 Tasting like a great bottle of Château Lafite, the 2017 La Joie is based largely on Cabernet Sauvignon and brought up, I suspect, in mostly new French oak. Deep ruby/purple, with a heavenly bouquet of crème de cassis, lead pencil, cedarwood, graphite, and tobacco, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, an incredible sense of elegance and purity, building tannins, and a great, great finish. This majestic, regal Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon is going to require a decade of cellaring to hit maturity (although it’s far from unapproachable today) and will see its 50th birthday in fine form. I followed this bottle for three days and it never showed a hint of oxidation. This is easily my wine of the vintage in 2017. (Jeb Dunnuck)RP98+98+ pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 29th May 2020 A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2017 La Joie has a very deep garnet-purple color. It opens a little closed and broody, giving glimpses of blackcurrant cordial, espresso, charcoal and black truffles to begin, before blossoming out to a whole array of preserved black and blue fruits, dusty soil, crushed rocks and iron ore scents plus a waft of roses. The medium to full-bodied palate is built like a brick house, with firm, grainy tannins and a lively backbone supporting the muscular fruit, finishing very long and mineral laced. The alcohol weighed in at just 13.9% this year (14% on the label), making for a particularly elegant but no less impactful La Joie! 2,500 cases were made.VN9696 pts. - Vinous - Apr 2020 The 2017 La Joie is another gorgeous wine in this lineup. Deep, pliant and nuanced, the 2017 is impeccably balanced. Silky and plush, La Joie is especially refined in 2017, and that complements its mid-weight structure so nicely. Hints of rose petal, lavender, mint and blood orange add brightness. The 2017 is a stunning wine by any measure.
RP96+96+ pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 29th Dec 2013 The 2009 La Muse (86% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec; 14.5% alcohol) is a blockbuster offering complex, intense notes of Asian plum sauce, figs, black currants, white chocolate and cedar. The wine reveals an extra level of texture and richness along with full body, an unctuous texture, and a super ripeness and richness that does not go over the top. The tannins are noticeable, but well-integrated as are the new oak and acidity. This big, backstrapping, Merlot-based wine is meant for long-term cellaring. Give it 4–5 more years in the bottle and enjoy it over the following 30 years.ST9595 pts. - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar - May/Jun 2013 Bright red-ruby. Sweet aromas of black raspberry, bitter chocolate, violet and smoke. Large-scaled, velvety and deep, with outstanding intensity and sweetness to its dark berry, violet and mineral flavors. Boasts a compelling combination of suavity of texture and sheer energy. Extremely long on the aftertaste, with noble tannins barely noticeable today.SP8888 pts. - Wine Spectator - Web only – 2013 Offering layers of fresh-turned earth, spice, dark berry, leather and anise notes, this is chunky and chewy from extracted tannins, with a bitter edge. Ends dry and grainy. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now through 2024. 800 cases made.
RP9999 pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 29th May 2020 Composed of 100% Merlot for the first time this year, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2017 La Muse rolls sensuously out of the glass with scents of black raspberries, Black Forest cake, boysenberries and cinnamon toast, followed by nuances of a garrigue, forest floor, beef drippings and clove oil. Medium to full-bodied, the richly fruited palate slowly builds in the mouth to a crescendo of black fruit preserves and exotic spice layers, framed by exceptionally ripe, round tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and fragrant. Stylistically, it stands apart from previously vintages, possessing the same magical intensity, but with less weight and more pop. 2,500 cases were made.JD9898 pts. - Jeb Dunnuck - 5/21/2020 Not far behind, the Merlot-dominated 2017 La Muse offers a big, rich nose of chocolate-covered black cherries, espresso, damp earth, and leafy herbs that gains more bass notes and richness with time in the glass. It tastes like a great Pomerol from La Conseillante. Full-bodied, it has an incredible sense of elegance and purity, plenty of mid-palate stuffing, and a great, great finish. Made from 100% Merlot (this is the first time this cuvée has been all Merlot), it’s another incredible wine from this estate that has the flesh and texture to shine today yet the freshness, purity, and balance to evolve for 30 years or more. (Jeb Dunnuck)VN9696 pts. - Vinous - Apr 2020 The 2017 La Muse is 100% Merlot for the first time. In this vintage, La Muse stands out for its freshness, energy and red-toned fruit. It will be interesting to see if the 2017 represents a longer-term shift. To be sure, the 2017 is aromatically deep, beautifully persistent and just impeccable in its balance. I liked it more than the 2016.
JD9797 pts. - Jeb Dunnuck - June 14, 2019 The 2009 Le Desir is mostly Cabernet Franc and is another wine drinking beautifully today. Classic cassis and dark fruits as well as notes of bay leaf, sandalwood, and spice all flow to a full-bodied, elegant, concentrated red that has fine tannins, perfect balance, and one great finish. Drink it over the coming 20–25 years. (Jeb Dunnuck)ST96+96+? pts. - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar - May/Jun 2013 Deep ruby-red. Vibrant nose offers cassis, blackberry, licorice, minerals, tobacco leaf and violet. Rich, tactile and deep, offering outstanding energy for the vintage. Boasts a rare combination of explosive fruit intensity and elegance. Builds and echoes dramatically on the vibrant, nuanced finish, which saturates the palate with dark fruits and minerals. This shut down in the glass but my recorked bottle showed uncanny freshness after three days in the refrigerator.RP9393 pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 29th Dec 2013 Another big red is the 2009 Le Desir, a blend of 74% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Malbec. The densest, most tannic, and most forbiddingly backward of the 2009s, it exhibits an inky/purple color along with copious aromas of graphite, spring flowers, blackberries and blueberries as well as a crushed liqueur of chalk-like character, and a huge, multilayered and multi-dimensional finish that lasts nearly 50 seconds. It requires 4–5 more years in the cellar, and should keep for three decades. If you have not yet experienced the wines of Verite, they are true connoisseurs’ efforts that should be purchased by those with cold cellars and long lifelines.
RP100100 pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 29th Oct 2015 The 2012 Le Desir (64% Cabernet Franc, 24% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Malbec) reminds me of a young vintage of Ausone, such as 2005. The wine has amazing minerality and an explosive blueberry nose intermixed with blackberries, new saddle leather, charcoal and camphor. It is full-bodied, with espresso notes emerging on the palate. There are 1,900 cases of this super-endowed, prodigious wine that should drink well for 35–40 years. How fun it would be for mega-millionaires to put this in a blind tasting of a great vintage of Ausone in 10, 20 or 30 years from now.ST95+95–98 pts. - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar - May/Jun 2014 Bright, deep ruby. Seriously dark aromas of cassis, violet, bitter chocolate and espresso. Hugely rich and ripe but with uncanny energy and definition to the flavors of black raspberry and musky bitter chocolate. This has the density of a top vintage of Chateau Ausone. Finishes with a boatload of ripe tannins that are buffered by the wine’s palate-staining fruit. Another monument in the making.VN94+94–96 pts. - Vinous - Jan 2015 The Cabernet Franc-based 2012 Le Désir is the most aromatic and nuanced of these three 2012s. Savory herbs, mocha and spices meld into a core of punchy pomegranate and red stone fruit in a wine that is both silky and powerful. Here, too, readers can look forward to a long drinking window that will last two decades or so. In 2012, Le Désir is all about finesse.
RP9999 pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 29th Oct 2015 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.VN92+92–95 pts. - Vinous - Feb 2016 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.
RP9898 pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 28th Oct 2016 The 2014 Le Désir (53% Cabernet Franc, 21% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Malbec) has an inky purple color and a sweet kiss of chocolate, black truffle, forest floor, black raspberry and black currants. Opulent, but again structured and super-dense and pure, this is another massively concentrated wine meant for the long haul (and for our grandchildren). Give it 4–6 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 35–40 years. Remarkably, Pierre Seillan told me that 2014, while a drought year, was not actually that hot in the micro-terroirs he was working, but in terms of quality, it turned out to be the most surprisingly positive vintage he’s ever witnessed.VN9797 pts. - Vinous - Mar 2017 The 2014 Le Désir is the most inward of these 2014s from Vérité. Dark raspberry jam, wild flowers, spice, pencil shavings, mocha, lavender and licorice infuse this deep, powerful, structured Cabernet Franc-based blend. The interplay of dense, sumptuous fruit and aromatic freshness makes for an absolutely compelling wine.
RP100100 pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 28th Feb 2018 A blend of 64% Cabernet Franc, 27% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Malbec, the very deep garnet-purple colored 2015 Le Désir is a little reticent at this very youthful stage, offering glimpses at dusty soil, iron ore, black truffles and salami notes over a core of red currant jelly, black raspberries, blackberries and star anise plus a waft of roses. Medium-bodied, very firm and very elegant yet incredibly intense in the mouth, it delivers loads of red fruit and earthy layers, finishing with great length and depth. 2,500 cases produced.JS9898 pts. - JamesSuckling.com - Monday, December 17, 2018 Love the aromas of black cherries and blackberries, violets and roses. Stunning. Full-bodied, layered and dense with focus and precision. Full tannins, yet compressed and polished. A great cabernet franc-based red. Give this four to five years of bottle age before drinking but already beautiful to tasteVN96+96–98 pts. - Vinous - Mar 2017 The 2015 Le Désir brings together striking aromatic lift from the Cabernet Franc with the dark, sumptuous fruit of the year. Chocolate, mocha, plum, licorice, crème de cassis and pencil shavings add striking aromatic nuance. This is a dazzling wine from the Seillan family.
RP9999 pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 29th Oct 2018 Composed of 82% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot and 6% Malbec, the very deep purple-black colored 2016 Le Désir is a little closed to begin, opening out to reveal absolutely stunning scents of potpourri, roses and orange peel over a core of crushed blackcurrants, black cherries and dark chocolate with touches of cinnamon stick and cloves plus a waft of forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is exquisitely delicate and refined, with super ripe, fine-grained tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing with epic persistence. 3,500 cases produced.JD9999 pts. - Jeb Dunnuck - 6/14/2019 The 2016 Le Desir checks in as 82% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot, and 6% Malbec. Readers looking for world-class Cabernet Franc should beg, borrow, or steal to get hold of a bottle of this. Incredible floral, violet, forest floor, lead pencil, and cassis notes all flow to a medium to full-bodied red that’s flawlessly balanced, has ultra-fine tannins, and a finish that won’t quit. More intellectual and elegant than the La Joie, it’s still a wine of incredible intensity and class that builds incrementally on the palate, has an exotic, singular character, and the class to evolve for 30 years or more. (Jeb Dunnuck)VN9898 pts. - Vinous - Apr 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon takes center stage in the 2016 Le Désir. Graphite, menthol, lavender, spice, pine, dried herbs and licorice give the 2016 striking aromatic depth to match its mid-weight personality. Elegant and nuanced, but with plenty of richness, the 2016 has a ton to offer.
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St. Francis “Old Vines” Zinfandel
St. Francis Sonoma County Chardonnay
St. Francis Sonoma County Chardonnay
Valravn Sonoma County Zinfandel
