Verite, founded in 1998 by Jess Jackson and vigneron Pierre Seillan under Jackson Family Wines, produces three Bordeaux-inspired blends from Sonoma County hillsides. Le Desir is the Cabernet Franc-led wine of the trio, drawn from Seillan's mosaic of more than fifty micro-crus across the Alexander, Bennett and Chalk Hill valleys, where volcanic, gravel and clay soils at differing elevations and exposures suit the variety's aromatic red-fruited character. The 2018 growing season was cool and generous, following a wet winter with a mild, even summer and a long autumn that allowed the Cabernet Franc to ripen slowly and fully – the team making repeated selective passes through the blocks – giving deep colour, fine tannin and vivid freshness in one of the region's finest recent vintages.

Every micro-cru is picked and fermented separately, giving Seillan hundreds of components to shape the final blend. Fermentation is lot by lot with gentle extraction to protect the wine's perfume and elegance, and malolactic fermentation is completed in barrel. The 2018 Le Desir – 82% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot and 6% Malbec – was aged for sixteen months in 100% new French oak barrels of custom toasts matched to each parcel. Late blending after barrel maturation yields a medium to full-bodied wine of striking purity and finesse, with ultra-fine tannins, perfect balance and the structure to age gracefully for decades.