For the first time, the Verite estate in Sonoma Valley released its flagship wines – La Muse, La Joie and Le Desir – as a 3-pack collection case.
The 2015 vintages have been released at €660 per 3×75 ex-negociant. Last year, each bottle was offered at €210 ex-negociant. The international retail price of the assortment is £3,560 per 12×75, a 1% discount on the 2014 release price of £3,600 in sterling terms. This year, there is 60% less volume coming to the market.
Le Desir is the smallest batch – only 2500 cases were produced. It is also the highest scoring wine from the collection. The Wine Advocate’s Lisa Perotti-Brown MW, who rated this year’s releases back in February, awarded it the ultimate 100 points. She described it as “very firm and elegant yet incredibly intense in the mouth”.
La Joie earned the almost perfect 99 points. Perotti-Brown commented on its “amazing energy” and “wonderful freshness”.
She awarded La Muse 97 points, saying that it is “rich and seductive in the mouth”. The wine was previously scored a range of 96-99 points by Robert Parker, who called its style “flashy and flamboyant”.
The release price of the assortment currently sits above almost all other recent vintages available in the market. As an individual wine, only La Joie 2005, which offers bottle age, commands a slightly higher price.
Buyers wishing to focus on a single bottle might thus look at previous vintages, which might also present better value. The relatively low availability and pack diversity of this year’s release, however, might attract attention.
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