2005 Le Désir | MG

Bright ruby. Distinctly wilder on the nose than La Muse, showing a sexy Old World funk to the aromas of black raspberry, leather, smoked meat and mocha. Wonderfully fine-grained but distinctly leathery, with slightly peppery acidity giving power and vinosity to the middle palate. But in a rather sauvage style compared to La Muse, and less pliant and sweet. The leather component gives the tannins a dusty edge. A second bottle showed a bit more texture but was still a bit dry-edged.

- Stephen Tanzer (2016)

The myth perpetrated by Old World wine proponents is that California wines don’t age. Those critics need to taste Verité, because these wines are aging far slower than I imagined. Perfect in its own right, and probably my favorite of the three Verite wines I tasted, the absolutely, drop-dead bouquet of the 2005 Le Désir is the most stunningly complex and fragrant display of a blend of Bordeaux varietals (50% Cabernet Franc, 39% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and a touch of Malbec) that I have found in my horizontal tastings of 2005. This is the Sonoma version of an Ausone, for lack of a better frame of reference. Like its siblings, it is opaque purple, with an extraordinary and exhilarating nose of blackberries, forest floor, graphite, licorice and hints of charcoal embers and truffle. Very plush, it is the most evolved and silkiest of all three cuvées. This is another prodigious effort with fabulous purity, depth and overall harmony. This wine is just remarkable, and anyone lucky enough to own any of these wines is in for untold joy over the next 25-20+ years. I just hope the owners live long enough to see these wines at their peak!

- Robert M. Parker, Jr. (2015)