2016 L’Aventure “Optimus” Estate, Proprietary Red Blend, Willow Creek District, Paso Robles.
This Optimus cuvée is remarkably consistent year after year, with a deep purple/garnet hue in the glass along with pretty dark spring flowers, bold black fruits, charred embers, subtle black olives and vanilla with heaps of creme de cassis. It opens up to display boysenberry and blueberry on the expansive full bodied palate, full of still youthful vigor and grip, though the tannins are lush and sweet. There is as per normal here a touch of sage spice, cedar and blonde tobacco that appear in the background and the finish has black currant and licorice notes that linger on and on. 2016 has turned out to be a great year for Paso Robles and L’Aventure absolutely nailed it, and those that have some in the cellar will be greatly rewarded with them and they look to be good cellar agers as well. The 2016 L’Aventure Optimus cuvée was crafted from all estate grown grapes with a final blend of 50% Syrah, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Petit Verdot, which were all de-stemmed and fermented in separate lots before blending and aging. This wine, according to the winery, saw 14 months in barrel with winemaker Stephan Asseo selecting 60% new French Oak and 40% 1-Year Old French Oak for the elevage, with Malolactic Fermentation taking place in Barrel, it was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
As mentioned here in my prior reviews, Stephan Asseo’s L’Aventure winery is one of the most intriguing estates in California, let alone Paso Robles, and his wines have a noble and hedonistic richness and depth that would make many a Napa winemaker jealous, or and his countrymen back in Bordeaux. I have enjoyed many vintages of Stephan’s remarkable wines, though I admit I have missed the last couple, so again it was wonderful to get a chance to taste this Optimus. L’Aventure’s Asseo is originally from Pomerol and was a Bordeaux winemaker before pursuing the American Dream, moving lock, stock and barrel to the wilds of Paso Robles in the mid 1990s, this transition was a huge culture shock for him and his family, but they have since thrived in their new home and his wines show his happiness and passion in full glory. I remember his very first offerings, which included a beautiful and stunning Zinfandel, before getting his estate up and running. The L’Aventure lineup includes a Rosé, a 100% Roussanne bottling, a wine I always beg for, Côte a Côte (Grenache, Mourvedre & Syrah) Rhône blend, the mighty Estate Cuvee (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot), an Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and this red blend called Optimus, which is also a unique cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petit Verdot. Plus, L’Aventure does some extremely limited mailing list only offerings, all of which are fantastic and I highly recommend visiting the estate in the Willow Creek district of Paso’s Westside.
($68 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive