L'Aventure Optimus 2020

  • 95 Robert
    Parker
  • 94 James
    Suckling
  • 93 Decanter
  • 92 Jeb
    Dunnuck
4.3 Very Good (18)
69 99
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L'Aventure Optimus 2020  Front Bottle Shot
L'Aventure Optimus 2020  Front Bottle Shot L'Aventure Optimus 2020  Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2020

Size
750ML

ABV
14.8%

Features
Green Wine

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes

The Optimus blend is made up of predominately Syrah, as well as Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot and entirely estate-grown fruit from L'Aventure Vineyard. The hilly soils are intriguingly complex- due to their proximity to the ocean as the vineyard site is in West Paso Robles. The soils have a top layer of calcareous shale, filled with old marine bones, shells, diatoms, and plankton, with clay, metals, and quartz below. These vines Low yielding vines at 2.5 tons per acre. After a long growing season, thanks to the region's heavy diurnal shift, the grapes, and harvested and undergo alcoholic fermentation in 60% new French oak, followed by full malolactic fermentation. The wine is aged for 14 months in barrel, no fining or filtration.

Blend: 58% Syrah, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot

Professional Ratings

  • 95
    A blend of 58% Syrah, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Petit Verdot, the 2020 Optimus has a deep ruby color and a deep core of red and black cherries, chargrill, thyme, charcuterie and desiccated violet. The full-bodied palate is light on its feet with juicy acidity and approachable grainy tannins, and it has a long, layered finish. Best After 2023.

  • 94
    Grilled meat, bacon fat, tobacco and olives to the nose that follow through to a medium- to full-bodied palate with rich, creamy tannins.
  • 93
    Tobacco, tar, dark chocolate, floral touches, bitter blood orange, scrubland herbs - so much going on the nose, really aromatic and expressive in a dark, sticky way. Gorgeously lifted and lively, full of bright and crunchy red fruits that you're just not expecting after the nose, this is direct but it has a pristine quality to it. Tannis are fine and the whole taste is just so clean. Juicy, mouthwatering and joyful, really bright and playful, I love the whole lifted tone, almost verging on tangy and sour but just keeps the depth. You get a bit of saltiness too on the finish. I like this a lot, especially the touch of metallic, iron-filing, blood on the finish. Characterful. The first vintage to use an optical sorted at harvest. Ageing 14 months in French oak (65% new and 35% in one year old).
  • 92
    Starting off with the 2020 Optimus, it's a blend of 58% Syrah, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11% Petit Verdot that spent 14 months in 65% new French oak. It displays a solid deeper purple hue to go with a peppery, darker berry, graphite, and smoky earth-driven bouquet. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has a round, supple, mouth-filling texture, quality tannins, plenty of mid-palate depth, and outstanding length. It's clearly an outstanding wine but a step back from past vintages.

Other Vintages

2021
  • 95 James
    Suckling
  • 95 Robert
    Parker
  • 93 Decanter
  • 93 Jeb
    Dunnuck
2019
  • 96 James
    Suckling
  • 94 Decanter
  • 94 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 92 Robert
    Parker
2018
  • 94 Decanter
  • 94 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 94 James
    Suckling
  • 92 Robert
    Parker
2017
  • 94 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 93 Robert
    Parker
2016
  • 95 Jeb
    Dunnuck
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
2015
  • 93 Robert
    Parker
  • 92 Jeb
    Dunnuck
2014
  • 92 Robert
    Parker
2013
  • 93 Robert
    Parker
2012
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
2011
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
2008
  • 90 Robert
    Parker
2007
  • 95 Robert
    Parker
2005
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
2001
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
  • 92 Wine
    Enthusiast
  • 90 Wine
    Spectator
L'Aventure

L'Aventure

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L'Aventure, California
L'Aventure Winery Video

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. 

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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.

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Willow Creek District Wine

Paso Robles, California

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Growing on high elevation bedrock slopes, the vineyards of Paso Robles Willow Creek AVA sit at between 960 and 1,900 feet in elevation.

HEI854600_2020 Item# 1181726

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