The Frenchman's Daughter Hélène Seillan Brings a Unique Perspective to New Blends The current release of Vérité is 2015. On the nose, La Muse exudes a delicate floral quality with a complex earthiness beneath; flavors of plump cherries and red berries are edged with spiciness and delivered with soft tannins. La Joie is perfumed, complex, and rich, but elegantly balanced; black fruit is wrapped in aromatic herbs and underlined with a stoniness emphasized by firm tannins. There’s a purity expressed by Le Désir—bright red fruit stands out against smoke and spice, with high-toned notes of violets over a long, silky finish.

A Veritable Treat These wines, however, are not in the Screaming Eagle mold. Jackson’s original “vision and concept” was for a Merlot as good as Petrus, but while showing his Merlot blend to Jackson, Seillan also produced a Cabernet Sauvignon blend, and now there are three wines: La Muse, which is Merlot with, in 2014, 10% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec; La Joie, 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot in 2014; and Le Désir, 61% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Malbec in 2014. A crucial point is that Seillan eschews acidification, and so the wines have intrinsically better balance as well as a sense of coolness. Alcohol levels are around 14.5%, and about 1,000 to 1,500 cases of each are made each year and sold through the Bordeaux Place, so any wine merchant with connections there should be able to source the wines.

Thick, rich, intense fruit with smoky overlay from toasted oak and very chewy tannin. Very powerful core fruit, yet slightly lighter body than their Joie and Muse cuvées. 17/20

A Veritable Treat These wines, however, are not in the Screaming Eagle mold. Jackson’s original “vision and concept” was for a Merlot as good as Petrus, but while showing his Merlot blend to Jackson, Seillan also produced a Cabernet Sauvignon blend, and now there are three wines: La Muse, which is Merlot with, in 2014, 10% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec; La Joie, 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot in 2014; and Le Désir, 61% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Malbec in 2014. A crucial point is that Seillan eschews acidification, and so the wines have intrinsically better balance as well as a sense of coolness. Alcohol levels are around 14.5%, and about 1,000 to 1,500 cases of each are made each year and sold through the Bordeaux Place, so any wine merchant with connections there should be able to source the wines.

Strong toasty oak on the nose, dense and layered black fruit on the palate. The toasted, burnt spice aroma from oak dominates the palate, but there is delicious fruit succulence too. 17/20

Very fine and floral on the nose, pungent, pure fruit, juicy, licorice root, velvety, fine, elegant tannins, long on the palate, sweet spices, persistent.

What to Drink Now: Cabernet Franc In Sonoma, Tuscany and Bordeaux, celebrated winemaker Pierre Seillan reveals the beauty and structure of the grape while allowing each individual micro-climate to shine...The ultra-premium Verite Le Desir ($400) reveals structure and concentration with dried blueberry, cherry, and toasted spice with a tannic backbone making this a wine that can be enjoyed now after a bit of decanting or held for years.

Escape to Sonoma County This is an ethereal Cabernet Franc with concentrated notes of red fruit, violet, exotic spice, and a savory spine of earthy tobacco running through it. The plush finish goes on and on.

8 Wines to Try Before You Die The late Jess Jackson brought Bordeaux Winemaker Pierre Seillan to Sonoma to produce the Vérité wines and there are three, each priced at $400 a bottle. La Muse is predominately Merlot and the 2013 vintage of the wine earned a perfect 100 points from influential critic Robert M. Parker Jr. It’s broadly flavored and beautifully layered, with lavish oak spice adding to the precise balance and texture.

The Merlot dominates, black fruit, blond oak, great respect for the fruit, a smooth bitter note, tight velvety tannins, very sappy, licorice root, very balanced, deep, well rounded, fresh.

Escape to Sonoma County With dense flavors of plum, black pepper, and mint, this Merlot-driven wine offers layered complexity, firm structure, and an energetic full body.

19.5/20 points

19/20 points

Vérité: The Truth of Sonoma Wonderful, vibrant core of almost electrified and candied blue fruit framed by savory herbs, truffles and black tar.

This Dark Lady - elegantly draped in deep folds of blackberry, licorice, and espresso - is faintly perfumed with seductive hints of clove, lavender, and vanilla. A breathtaking blend of 50 percent Cabernet Franc, 40 percent Merlot and 10 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2010 vintage provides a silky accompaniment to a tender veal Marsala.

Vérité: The Truth of Sonoma Big and muscular wine with a velvet frame. Dark fruit is accented by intense minerals, charcoal and roasted game.

Vérité: The Truth of Sonoma Very balanced mix of red and blue fruits with a fresh acidity and moderate alcohol. Some black olive, mushroom and graphite minerality.

20/20 points

Seillan's version of a Bordeaux Blend-Cabernet Franc and Merlot-is what he calls a micro cru, made from select vines in three different Sonoma vineyards. Seillan has created a profound wine with deeply woven notes of blackberry liqueur, smoke and cassis.

Medium to dark ruby in color, this wine has a surprisingly Old World nose of earth, graphite, and the unmistakable scent of green bell pepper, which manages to hover well below the range of objectionable. In the mouth that greenness manifests as a hint of green wood studded in a matrix of bright cherry fruit dusted with fine tannins. Beautiful texture and a long finish make for lingering pleasure on the palate. 49% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, with a splash (0.1%) of Malbec.

Merlot plus an almost equal portion of Cabernet Franc with a little Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec in this blend. show generous concentrated dark fruit, spice, coffee/caramel/mocha undertones with hints of damp earth and tar. It has a warm dusty plum, cassis and spice palate, and very fine-grained but big, defined tannins that will be even more approachable with time.

Of the three wines produced by Pierre Seillan for Vérité, Le Désire blended with a large percentage of Cabernet Franc in the St.-Émilion style - remains the most seductive. Its luxurious black fruit enfolds complex essences of espresso, licorice, smoke, cinnamon, clove, and sandalwood.

Dark ruby in color, this wine has a brawny nose of pipe tobacco, cola, and incense. In the mouth it reminds me of an operatic baritone -- rich, clear and resonant with flavors of cherry, tobacco, cola, and beautiful cedar notes that merge with the drying, powdery tannins. Hot damn I wrote in my notebook, this is definitely the best Bordeaux blend I've ever had from Sonoma County. And all the while the finish kept going and going and going. 86% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec.

Verite is french for the word truth. La Muse--French vigneron Pierre Seillan's seventh vintage--is Merlot-based, with small amounts of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec; aged 16 months in 100% new oak. Aromas of violet, sweet berry, red fruit, pencil lead and iron hints; huge dry tannic grip is offset almost enough with lifted blackberry bramble and cherry. Verite is the flagship red of Jess Jackson's Jackson Family Farms, which uses only prime hillside fruit, experimenting with terroir, distinctive rootstocks and clones; to create blends modeled after the Bordelais.

In 1997, French winemaker Pierre Seillan was recruited by Kendall Jackson owner Jess Jackson to create a Bordeaux-style wine from vineyards in Sonoma's Alexander Valley. From the first vintage, 1998-a difficult one in California-the wine created a stir, displaying pronounced structure, refined texture, and elegant fruit. There are three blends in the portfolio: La Joie, which emphasizes Cabernet Sauvignon; La Muse, which is blended in a Pomerol style; and Le Desir, a Cabernet Franc-based wine in the Saint Emilion style.