The 2010 La Joie is a cool, mineral-drenched wine oozing with class and elegance. Today the 2010 is all about potential, and there is no shortage of that here. Blackberries, cassis, graphite and spices are some of the many notes that wrap around the powerful, insistent finish. This is another showstopper from Verite. In 2010 La Joie is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2030. Pierre Seillan thinks of himself as a master blender and vigneron, an intriguing combination. Seillan sources fruit from a wide number of vineyards in the Kendall-Jackson empire. He employs the same approach to cooperage, mixing and matching barrels from various barrel makers to come up with the perfect combination of component wines. It works. All of the Verite wines are aged in 100% new oak, but Seillan keeps the time in oak moderate, such that these wines hardly ever show signs of oakiness, even when they are young. Seillan’s goal is to make wines that improve in bottle and that are capable of lasting 30 years. The 2009s and 2010s are both exceptional vintages. I have a slight preference for the 2010s, a vintage with more aromatic and flavor delineation, firmer tannin and more long-term potential, all results of a season with large diurnal shifts. The 2009s are the product of the vintage with much more even ripening. They will offer terrific early appeal, but also have more than enough stuffing to age well for years. I also tasted the 2010 Tannat, a new wine in its first vintage. The last bottle of the morning was the 1998 La Muse, a wine from a very challenging year that is still youthful and full of life. I have little doubt these 2009s and 2010s will prove to be superior wines. My only hope is that Verite and Kendall-Jackson will keep prices for these wines reasonable. Tel. (707) 431-3930

With the lowest alcohol (14%), the 2010 La Joie is composed of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Copious aromas of incense, unsmoked cigar tobacco, Christmas fruitcake, cedar, underbrush, black currants and a hint of espresso roast emerge from this medium to full-bodied, rich, concentrated red. It needs 4-5 years of cellaring and should keep well for 2 to 3 decades. This is the flagship, luxury, world-class winery of the late Jess Jackson’s portfolio of small, high quality estates. Jackson convinced Bordelais Pierre Seillan to come to California from St.-Emilion to make these wines, and Verite has been one of the classics for well over a decade. The La Muse cuvee represents a Pomerol-styled wine, La Joie a Medoc and Le Desir a St.-Emilion. These are long-term, concentrated, tannic efforts that usually require 5-10 years of bottle age, and are meant to age for at least three decades. The 2012s possess fabulous potential. It is nearly impossible to decide which of the three cuvees is the finest (it probably depends on your own personal stylistic predilections), but the alcohols are normal for a top California vintage, ranging from 14.1% to 14.3%. Obviously, 2011 was a much more challenging vintage, and the wines reflect that although they are unquestionably successful, even in this vintage. Pierre Seillan told me that the harvest was extremely late, and there had to be an enormous amount of selection done both in the vineyard and the winery to create these cuvees. A relatively cool, late-harvest year with a tiny crop, the 2010 vintage required a tremendous selection process as well as meticulous work in both the vineyard and winery. All three offerings have turned out to be surprisingly approachable for young Verite wines. A great vintage for Verite that rivals 2012 and probably what was achieved in 2013 is 2009. It was the type of vintage that Seillan desires – high in tannin, high in extract, with incredible upside potential for all three cuvees. The 2009s are the most backward and powerful of the four vintages reviewed in this report. The alcohols ranged from 14.5% to 14.6+%. Tel. (707) 433-9000