La Muse
2012
Vintage
The 2012 growing season, like the acclaimed 2001 vintage, began as another great year with dry, warm temperatures. The spring opened with beautiful, sunny, summer-like days with temperatures in the 90s and cool, foggy nights with temperatures in the 40s, leading to perfectly timed budbreak and bloom. While these unseasonably high temperatures were too warm for Merlot in many appellations, we are fortunate to have a wide variety of micro-crus across Sonoma County at our disposal, enabling us to use the best fruit from our Knights Valley, Alexander Mountain Estate, and Chalk Hill vineyards to create the complex and luxurious wines you expect from Vérité. Harvest took place September 13th through October 5th. – Pierre Seillan, Vigneron
Notes
Beautifully brilliant ruby edges of the 2012 La Muse give way to pronounced notes of spice and ripe, black fruit aromas. A rich palate is complemented by complex flavors of almond, spice and dried fig. The influence of the oak is very discreet – with just a hint of toasted vanilla – and the long-lasting finish is punctuated by the perfect balance of very fine tannins and acidity.
Composition
85% Merlot
11% Cabernet Franc
4% Malbec
The wine has plenty of spice box, cedar wood, Christmas fruitcake and Asian plum sauce, along with black cherry and blackcurrant fruit. Ripe, round, full-bodied and opulent, this is a wine that can be drunk now or cellared for another three decades.