L'Aventure Estate Cuvee 2018
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
45% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
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.
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James Suckling
This is a superb red with blackberry, blueberry, crushed-stone and currant character. Full-bodied, yet nervy. Hints of burnt orange and walnuts. Energy here. Framed and precise. 45% syrah, 40% cabernet sauvignon and 15% petit verdot. Give it three or four years, but already great.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Estate Cuvée is made up of 45% Syrah, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Petit Verdot aged in 90% new French oak. Deep ruby-purple, the nose takes some time to unfurl to touches of cast-iron pan, tar, turned earth, cassis and blueberry pie with floral top notes. The palate is full-bodied with lush, mineral-tinged fruits in a firm frame, lifted by surprising freshness and finishing long and perfumed. Give it another 3-5 years in bottle.
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Decanter
Powerful, concentrated and confident with added swagger. Owner Stephan Asseo has deftly brought out opulent swathes of redcurrant and raspberry fruits laced with liquorice and cigar that is both striking and moreish. 100% estate grown fruit cropped to low yields of under 30hl/ha. 90% new French oak, 10% one-year-old French oak, with malolactic fermentation in barrel. No fining, no filtering.
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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.
With hundreds of red grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended red wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged resulting in a wide variety of red wine styles. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a red wine blend variety that creates a fruity and full-bodied wine would do well combined with one that is naturally high in acidity and tannins. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
How to Serve Red Wine
A common piece of advice is to serve red wine at “room temperature,” but this suggestion is imprecise. After all, room temperature in January is likely to be quite different than in August, even considering the possible effect of central heating and air conditioning systems. The proper temperature to aim for is 55° F to 60° F for lighter-bodied reds and 60° F to 65° F for fuller-bodied wines.
How Long Does Red Wine Last?
Once opened and re-corked, a bottle stored in a cool, dark environment (like your fridge) will stay fresh and nicely drinkable for a day or two. There are products available that can extend that period by a couple of days. As for unopened bottles, optimal storage means keeping them on their sides in a moderately humid environment at about 57° F. Red wines stored in this manner will stay good – and possibly improve – for anywhere from one year to multiple decades. Assessing how long to hold on to a bottle is a complicated science. If you are planning long-term storage of your reds, seek the advice of a wine professional.
Growing on high elevation bedrock slopes, the vineyards of Paso Robles Willow Creek AVA sit at between 960 and 1,900 feet in elevation.