Vérité

A shy nose hints at dark berry and some graphite only. It is on the palate that the fine freshness, the superfine tannin, like combed, starched silk, break though. There is crunch, there is freshness, there is this insistent, lasting, long and pure, tart red berry fruit. This is Cab Franc the California way. AK

A mild, dry, winter led to another early bud break in mid-March followed by an early bloom at the end of April. A cool, rainy April and May delayed bloom until June and an early July veraison, but it was the first time 49 vintages vigneron Pierre Seillan picked in August. Harvest at Verité lasted only 12 days, and while yields were low, the quality of the grapes was outstanding. Seillan likes to talk about structure and precision, and both are in evidence here. The red fruit is intense but hardly soft, supported by a stony mineral undercurrent. The mid-palate is filled in with earthy, savoury, leathery notes before a denouement of lightly smoked blue and black fruits and silky, dense tannins that signal a decade or two of bottle age are possible. It's a complex Sonoma star and the definition of world class. The fruit is highly selected by the fastidious Pierre Seillan, choosing from an impressive array of sites owned by Jackson Family Farms in the Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill and Knights Valley. Every block, every tilt of land, every exposure, and the multitude of places and facets that make up any vineyard are the storytellers.