Verite Red Wine La Joie Sonoma County 2017 750 ML

Introduction

Tasting like a great bottle of Chteau 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 crme 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 its 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. Producer Information Vrit Winery is a wine producer based in Sonoma County in California. It is most famous for its three Bordeaux-styled blends: La Muse, La Joie, and Le Dsir, which have all received 100-point scores from American wine critic Robert Parker over several vintages. Winemaker Pierre Seillan got his start working with Bordeaux varieties at his family’s estate in Armagnac. Before moving to the United States, he worked at Chteau de Targ in Saumur-Champigny in the Loire Valley, and at several chteaux in Bordeaux. Upon meeting California wine pioneer Jess Jackson in the 1990s, Seillan was convinced to move to Sonoma to make Bordeaux blend wines. Vrit sources fruit from the Alexander Valley, Bennett Valley, Knights Valley and Chalk Hill AVAs in Sonoma County. This range of sites provides more than 40 different types of soil, a range of altitudes and several different mesoclimates. Each vineyard block is vinified separately before a final blend for each wine is created. In a slight departure from the standard approach, Seillan made a 100 percent Tannat from Alexander Mountain Estate (which sits on the western Mayacamas Mountains overlooking the Alexander Valley) in 2010, although it appears this wine was a one-off. The three Vrit blends are dominated by a different Bordeaux variety. La Muse is Merlot-based, La Joie is Cabernet Sauvignon-based, and Le Dsir is primarily Cabernet Franc. Due to the wines’ success with the press, they are only available through a mailing list. The wines are still made by Seillan, although he is now joined by his daughter, Hlne, who has taken over assistant winemaker duties. Jess Jackson died in 2011.