I’m really torn on this one.
My offer is a box with 3 bottles – one each of the 2011 Muse, Joie, and Desir. For $1170.
This price point for a cult cali cab … in an off year … I don’t think I can pull this particular trigger.
Rich, you need a personal wine buyer. I would volunteer, but I’m already swamped stopping myself from buying 
Easy pass at that price. Easy.
Haha Alan … that would be the worst thing imaginable. Two wine fanatics each with weak will power … total financial ruin.
I visited the estate a few years ago. It’s beautiful, and I think they are doing a nice job of making California wines in a more restrained style. But there are a very small number of wines that I feel are justified (by virtue of quality, track record, terroir, and scarcity) in charging that kind of price. For me, there are zero California producers that meet this combination of criteria.
Alan, I can’t argue with you. I’ve never paid that much for any wine from CA. Does anyone want to argue that Verite is worth this premium?
Rich–Without knowing you, the wines you prefer to drink, etc., I can’t offer any specific advice. I’ll just say that in general, at this price level these should be wines that you “have to have.” If you feel you “have to have” these particular bottles and can afford them, that’s one thing. If you’re seriously questioning whether you absolutely “need” to have these wines in your collection, then I suspect you can find other uses for your wine budget.
This has less to do with whether this particular wine is “worth the premium.” It’s more to do with how comfortable you feel spending a lot of $$$ on a bottle of wine…
Bruce
To each their own, I can easily say that about Bordeaux, and much as I love great Burgundy, the prices are getting way out of control.
I think California wines are getting far more interesting these days.
I don’t think I said anything that would preclude this conclusion. Just that I don’t think ANY California wine is interesting enough to justify $390/bottle. Frankly, there are almost no wines from anywhere in the world that I could justify (to myself) spending that amount on. I have never done it.
Honestly, who buys this stuff these days? I did buy a bottle of 2000 about 10 years ago and it did not impress whatsoever. You can get a case of 2011 Forman, which is a superior wine + an extra bottle for less than $1,170. 13 vs 3. Go for the gold not the bronze.
Bruce - thanks for the thoughts, yes I think you’re right. At this price point you get into a range of “need” that, while subjective, is a high bar. I definitely don’t need these wines, so I’ll be passing. I’m more in the “curious what all the fuss is about” stage. This curiosity could lead me to buy a 2002 wine from Verite to experiment more.
There are some of the cultish CA ca/merlot style wines that I think are pretty amazing and worth spending on (Kapcsandy, Blankiet, Shafer) but my interest seems to peter out well below this price point.
$1,170 really? $390 a bottle? I only purchased the '99’s and '01’s when they were available retail…would never consider those wine north of $150…so many more options for the $$.
Ian, I still find my '91 and '92’s California Cab/Blends more interesting and enjoyable than anything being produced today…
I bought the 99’s for $60 a bottle. A couple years later they called me and asked why I had stopped buying. I responded honestly saying that I can buy the wines much cheaper at retail than directly from them. Never heard from them again…
If you want the wine, pass and wait for it to hit retail.