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Tasting notes
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. 2017 will be remembered for the devastating fires in Sonoma County, but the vineyards thankfully escaped unharmed for Vérité. Harvest finished a week before the fires hit, meaning all the fruit was either in barrels or finishing fermentation at the time the smoke hit, preventing any smoke taint in the wines. Deep purple colour. Ripe cassis, cured meat, graphite and toast on the nose. Chalky, bold tannic structure complements the cassis fruit core and promotes notes of cedar and pencil shavings. There are hints of red fruit too that just help to lift the mid palate. Long and driven on the finish, this is still clearly Californian Cabernet, but an elegant and poised style. (TP)
Critic scores
Average Score
Tom Parker MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
An elegant, complex red with currants, blackberries and hints of cedar, graphite and lead-pencil shavings. It’s full-bodied with polished, velvety tannins and a fresh, bright finish. Fluid and refined. 70% cabernet sauvignon 16% cabernet franc, 10% merlot and 4% petit verdot.
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.
“The Cab Franc was quite spectacular in 2017. There is a bit more in the blend this year,” Pierre Seillan told me during the tasting of the 2017s with his daughter and one day successor, Helene. 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.
About the producer
The winery was the dream of Jess Jackson, the man who founded the incredibly successful Jackson Family Wines. He, however, wanted to produce truly fine wine in Sonoma County.