100pts Jeb Dunnuck
Pure perfection from Paso Robles, the 2019 Estate Cuvee checks in as 50% Syrah, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Petit Verdot that was raised in 81% new French oak. Incredible cassis and black berry fruits as well as violets, chocolate, graphite, and who knows what else emerges from the glass, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a concentrated yet weightless mouthfeel, building tannins, and a great finish. It’s more seamless and approachable than the more backward, structured 2018 and will have two decades of prime drinking.
97pts James Suckling
The pure currant and blackberry aromas are so bright and vivid. Very aromatic. Lots of pure fruit. It’s full-bodied with tension and focus, because the tannins are fine-grained and give form and energy to the wine. They are very long already. I think three or four years will really bring this red into its own. Blend of syrah, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot. Try after 2024, but hard to not drink now.
97pts Vinous
Opaque ruby. A highly complex, expansive bouquet evokes smoke-accented black and blue fruits, oak spices, incense, mocha and potpourri. Sappy, sharply delineated cassis, blueberry and cherry preserve flavors show energetic mineral lift and betray no rough edges. In an ample but lively style, finishing smoky and wonderfully long, with a resonating cherry note and chewy tannins that sneak in late.
96+pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Estate Cuvée, a blend of 50% Syrah, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Petit Verdot, has a deep ruby-purple color and fragrant aromas of cassis, licorice, dried roses, leather and youthful new oak spice. The full-bodied palate is silky and uplifted, with fine, savory accents and a very long, mineral-driven finish. It deserves another 3-5 years in bottle and will be long lived in the cellar.
93pts Decanter
A chocolate-dusted nose with liquorice and cool blue fruit aromas. This has density with ripe and chewy fruit on the palate, similar to the other wines in the L'Aventure range, they major on cool blue fruits, berries and plums. The texture is smooth but this has layers of fruit, spice, caramel, sweetness and savouriness with a long finish. The alcohol is high with a hint of spice on the finish bringing it slightly into focus. A blend of 50% Syrah, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Petit Verdot from 100% estate grown fruit. Wines are aged for 15 months, 81% in new French oak and 19% one-year-old French oak with malolactic fermentation in barrel. No fining or no filtering.
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 50% Syrah, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Petit Verdot
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.