Verite Winery Le Désir 2012

Parker: 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. (100/100, 2015)

Jancis Robinson: 64% Cabernet Franc, 24% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec. Fruit from Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill, Bennett Valley, Knights Valley. Harvest 13 September to 5 October. Aged 15 months in 100% new French oak. There will be no 2020 release, so Vérité are instead offering three-bottle verticals of 2019, 2015 and 2012. Still impressively youthful at the core with plush ripe fruit. The tannins are just as youthful, providing a chalky backbone against seductive black fruit. This is very smooth and now delicious to drink, melding fruit and spice together. Another excellent expression of Cabernet Franc. (17.5/20, 2023)