Vérité Winery 2004 Le Desir "Sonoma County" Merlot

Le Désir represents the grace and opulence of the best St.-Emilion-style wines. A very dark to opaque ruby color is followed by medium forward aromas and an exhilarating combination of dark and red fruits featuring blackberry, cassis, cranberry, red plum, and pomegranate along with distinct gravelly notes and hints of black pepper, anise, graphite, and smoke. The wine is very concentrated on the palate with intense flavors of blackberry and dark raspberry combined with dark earth and leather.

96 Points, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (May/June 2007): "stunning inner-mouth aromatic character...noble, fine-grained tannins..."

95 Points, (3 out of 3 Stars), Connoisseurs' Guide (November 2007): "Strong focus on ripe black cherries and sweet currants with a twist of dried raspberry, this blended wine finds a higher level of range than is typical of the directly fruity Sonoma style..."

94 Points, Robert M. Parker, Wine Advocate (Dec. 2006): "...full-bodied power with the sweetness of mountain-styled, cool-climate California fruit and French savoir-faire..."

Only 791 cases made. Hold for 12-15 years.

This wine was recently featured in The California Wine Club's wine of the month club.