L'Aventure, Estate Cuvée, Paso Robles, California, 2020

Overview of the Wine
L'Aventure was founded in 1998 by a French winemaker, Stephan Asseo. After Stephan graduated enology school in Burgundy, the Asseo family bought their first estate, Domaine de Courteillac, in the Bordeaux area in 1982. Later, the family purchased additional properties: Chateau Robin and Chateau Fleur-Cardinale in Saint-Emilion. Stephan raised these properties to a level of great quality, while managing some other well-established domaines such as Chateau Guillot-Clauzel in Pomerol and Chateau Corbin in St Emilion.

Stephan saw in the New World a unique opportunity to expand his experience, while gaining more freedom in viticulture and vinification. He began by looking all over California for land, including Napa/Sonoma and Santa Barbara counties, but it was the terroir and climate of Paso Robles that impressed him the most.

L'Aventure is located on the west side of Paso Robles in the Willow Creek District. The 127-acre property with 57 acres planted, is comprised of multiple hills of various elevation and complex soils. Because of its proximity to the ocean, the vineyard has clear warm days and drastic cool nighttime temperatures which increases the time of the grape’s maturation cycle providing fruit that creates a more complex and balanced wine. Stephan’s choice of this lean terroir provides him with the fruit necessary to create wine with a good balance between alcohol and acidity. The resulting wines are full and rich yet well balanced and elegant. 

Grape / Blend
45% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot

Origin
Paso Robles, California

After searching for over a year, the St. Emilion native fell in love with the unique terroir of Paso Robles and built L'Aventure Winery to pursue his ideals as a winemaker. L'Aventure's flagship Estate Cuvee (a blend of Cabernet and Syrah) has incredible track record 94-98 point scores each vintage since 2002. Robert Parker has reported that Asseo "continues to go from strength to strength, producing a fabulous portfolio of wines that makes L'Aventure one of the bright, shining reference points for the region. This is one of the California Central Coast superstars, and the wines are worth every cent."

Aromatically the wine is sultry with jammy dark fruits, pencil lead, and violets. On the palate, the wine is smooth, with well-integrated tannins, bright fruit flavors and a balancing kick of minerality. 

99 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 
A blend of 45% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Petit Verdot, the 2020 Estate Cuvée is another outstanding wine from L'Aventure in the challenging 2020 vintage, offering singular concentration and elegance. Deep ruby-purple, it has a pure core of cassis and slowly unfolding accents of licorice, cured meats, tobacco leaves, cedar and truffle. Full-bodied, juicy and alluring, it floods the mouth with layers of blue fruit, floral perfume and spice. It is supported by powdery tannins and boasts a tremendously long, detailed finish.

96 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Estate Cuvee is the flagship and checks in as 45% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Petit Verdot. It has a big, black-fruited bouquet with lots of graphite, smoky oak, chocolate, and chalky minerality. This carries to a full-bodied wine revealing the more savory tannins of the vintage, plenty of mid-palate flesh, sweet tannins, and a great finish. It picks up a beautiful sense of salinity with time in the glass and is unquestionably one of the top wines in this vintage.

96 Points - James Suckling
Really impressive depth here. Violets, blueberries, blackberries, graphite, ink and chalk to the nose. Rich, voluptuous and flavorful with firm, but silky tannins. Concentrated, restrainedly plush and muscular with a lingering finish that goes on and on. 45% syrah, 40% cabernet sauvignon and 15% petit verdot.

Product size: 750ml