Winemaker Notes
Blend: 87% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, 3% Malbec
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Perhaps the finest cabernet franc wine made in California, this tightly wound and precise gem is a classic. While smooth and silky on the surface, it has intense flavors and tannic energy underneath, driving red and black cherries, rose petals, blueberries, graphite and espresso through a vivid palate and a long, lingering finish. Blended with 10% merlot and 3% malbec. Certainly a wine that will benefit from more aging, likely for decades.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Le Desir is based on Cabernet Franc with the addition of 10% Merlot and 3% Malbec. It’s savory and expressive on the nose with aromas of wild, coiled blackberries, cassis, juniper, minty and peppery spice, and dark earth. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins, even, focused acidity, and a long finish, it’s drinking very well now and is a bit more immediate compared to the La Joie. It has notes of black tea through the palate, with a long earth note and its more noble structure making itself known as it lasts long on the palate.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Le Désir is composed of 87% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot and 3% Malbec—Pierre Seillan says it’s the highest percentage of Cabernet Franc this blend has ever incorporated. Matured for 16 months in 95% new French oak, it has an opaque ruby color and very slowly unfolding scents of chocolate-covered blueberries, cast iron, violet, bay leaves and cardamom. The full-bodied palate features transparent, alluringly herbal flavors. It’s structured by clay-textured tannins and bright acidity, and it has a very long, spicy finish. It transforms dramatically over several days and will be epically long lived in the cellar.
Rating: 96+
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Home to a diverse array of smaller AVAs with varied microclimates and soil types, Sonoma County has something for every wine lover. Physically twice as large as Napa Valley, the region only produces about half the amount of wine but boasts both tremendous quality and variety. With its laid-back atmosphere and down-to-earth attitude, the wineries of Sonoma are appreciated by wine tourists for their friendliness and approachability. The entire county intends to become a 100% sustainable winegrowing region by 2019.
Sonoma County wines are produced with carefully selected grape varieties to reflect the best attributes of their sites—Dry Creek Valley’s consistent sunshine is ideal for Zinfandel, while the warm Alexander Valley is responsible for rich, voluptuous red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are important throughout the county, most notably in the cooler AVAs of Russian River, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Syrah have also found a firm footing here.