2018 L'AVENTURE Estate Cuvée, Lea & Sandeman

L'AVENTURE

2018 Estate Cuvée

Grapes Cab Sauv, Petit Verdot, Syrah
Colour Red
Origin USA, California
ABV 13%

The 2018 Estate Cuvee checks 45% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot brought up in 90% new French oak. Tasting like the straight Cab, yet with more sex appeal, it offers a huge nose of crème de cassis, white flowers, crushed stone, graphite, and crushed flowers. This carries to a full-bodied, gorgeously textured red with incredible balance, no hard edges, a thrilling mid-palate, and a great, great finish. It's going to benefit from 5-6 years of bottle age and keep for upwards of two decades or more. Hats off to winemaker Stephan Asseo on another incredible wine, as well as, I suspect the wine of the vintage. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 100 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Sept 2020)


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A barrel sample blended of 45% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Petit Verdot aging in about 90% new oak, the 2018 Estate Cuvée has a very deep ruby-purple color and explodes to crème de cassis, black cherries, blueberry and boysenberry preserves with accents of violet, grilled lamb, dried thyme, coffee, soil and chocolate with exotic spices in the undercurrent. The full-bodied palate is incredibly pixelated and silky with very bold freshness and a long, layered finish. I can’t wait to see taste this beauty from bottle. Rating: 94-96 Erin Larkin, www.RobertParker.com (Feb 2020)

A classic feel to this 2018, less exuberant than the 2016, more refined in fruit character, with bilberry, cassis and raspberry leaf, with clear spice, dried herbs and concentrated liqourice. The tannic grip closes in fairly early, and you feel the linearity of the wine stretching out in the palate. It will benefit from another few years in bottle. The high alcohol is well handled, but I suggest erring on the side of cool temperature for serving. 100% new oak. First vintage with a shade cloth during the growing season to protect the grapes. Drinking range: 2023 - 2040 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (Sept 2022)

Deep, glass-staining violet. Powerful, mineral- and smoke-accented blueberry, cherry liqueur, incense and pipe tobacco aromas show outstanding definition and pick up suggestions of mocha and exotic spices with air. Offers deeply concentrated black/blue fruit, cherry-vanilla, espresso and bitter chocolate flavors; a spicy flourish emerges as the wine stretches out. Finishes smooth, energetic and extremely long, with youthful, slowly building tannins and lingering suggestions of candied flowers and smoky minerals. Drinking range: 2025 - 2035 Rating: 97 Josh Raynolds, www.vinousmedia.com (Dec 2020)

L'Aventure

The spirit of L'Aventure is most evident in Stephan's "Paso Blends", such as Optimus and Estate Cuvée. Both wines are Syrah/ Cabernet Sauvignon/ Petit Verdot blends. In these wines, as well as in our Rhône blend Côte à Côte, the blending of premium varietals increases the authenticity, complexity, and balance of the wines. In this adventurous spirit, we find the future of Paso Robles wines... great, balanced red blends.

Stephan Asseo, owner and winemaker at L'Aventure Winery, began making wine in 1982, following his education at L'Ecole Oenologique de Macon, Burgundy, France. In that same year, Stephan established Domaine de Courteillac in Bordeaux. He and his family later purchased Chateau Fleur Cardinal and Chateau Robin in the Cotes de Castillion, Bordeaux. Over the next 15 years, Stephan developed into an artisan winemaker of fastidious craftsmanship and gained a reputation as a maverick vigneron. However, his true desire was to be more innovative than AOC law would allow. In 1996, this led him, his wife, Beatrice and his three children, including his daughter Chloé on a quest for a great terroir, where he could pursue his ideal as a winemaker. After searching for over a year among the world's great wine fields, ranging from South Africa to Lebanon, Argentina to Napa, they found Paso Robles. Stephan and Beatrice immediately "fell in love" with the unique terroir of west side Paso Robles. The rolling topography of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range, the deep calcareous soils, and the maritime influences of the renowned Templeton Gap all combine to produce a world class wine country, with the potential to craft some of the world's greatest blends. It is here, in Paso Robles, that Stephan and his family began their adventure, "L'Aventure" in 1998.

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