2020 L'Aventure Optimus Estate Paso Robles

2020 L’Aventure Optimus Estate Paso Robles

L’AVENTURE

OPTIMUS ESTATE
PASO ROBLES 2020

2020 L'Aventure Optimus Estate Paso Robles
One of Paso’s leading winemakers, Stephan Asseo, began making wine in 1982 after studying at L’Ecole Oenologique de Macon in Burgundy. He and his wife Beatrice owned three domains in Bordeaux, and Stephan made wine there for 17 years. 
 
Feeling slightly restricted by the winemaking rules and requirements set by the AOC, Stephan, and Beatrice began searching for a terroir in the New World that would give them the freedom to craft creative blends. After about a year of traveling worldwide, they found what they sought in the rolling hills on the west side of Paso Robles. 
 
L’Aventure’s 2020 Optimus enchants your taste buds with 58% Syrah, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11% Petit Verdot from the estate vineyard then, spent 14 months in French oak without fining or filtering, paying homage to Stephan’s talent and innovative spirit.
 
L’AVENTURE
OPTIMUS ESTATE
PASO ROBLES 2020
 
 
 
“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.”
95 Points
2021 My Favorite Neighbor Blanc Chardonnay San Luis Obispo

2021 My Favorite Neighbor Blanc Chardonnay San Luis Obispo

MY FAVORITE NEIGHBOR

MFN BLANC CHARDONNAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO 2021

2021 My Favorite Neighbor Blanc Chardonnay San Luis Obispo
Eric Jensen’s original “favorite neighbor,” Stephan Asseo of L’Aventure, is a close friend and mentor that helped shape him as a grower and winemaker. What began as an homage to Stephan in 2006 with the launch of the My Favorite Neighbor Cabernet-based wine has turned into a line of carefully crafted wines that can unabashedly stand up to many award-winning, cult-style wines. They’ve been getting lots of well-deserved attention ever since their initial release.
 
Eric believes that great wine begins in the vineyard, so every site that contributes to MFN gets farmed using organic or biodynamic practices for vines that live up to their full potential. The 2021 Blanc/Chardonnay has already earned a blockbuster 97-point score from Wine Advocate, calling it “an old-school style reminiscent of Napa” because of its rich, voluptuous mouthfeel and ripe stone fruit aromatics. At around $40, this wine is a big win for Cali-style Chardonnay fans.
 
MY FAVORITE NEIGHBOR
MFN BLANC CHARDONNAY
SAN LUIS OBISPO 2021
Retails at: $50
 
Your Price: $39.99
 
 
“The 2021 Chardonnay is very ripe in style with scents of banana chip, apple pie, jasmine, allspice and brown sugar. The full-bodied palate is packed with ripe, spicy fruits and plenty of refreshing acidity, and it finishes long with a satiny, mouth-coating texture. It’s an old-school style reminiscent of Napa that fans of ripe, oaked Chardonnays will enjoy.”
97 Points
2020 My Favorite Neighbor Cabernet Sauvignon San Luis Obispo

2020 My Favorite Neighbor Cabernet Sauvignon San Luis Obispo

MY FAVORITE NEIGHBOR

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
SAN LUIS OBISPO 2020

2020 My Favorite Neighbor Cabernet Sauvignon San Luis Obispo
What began as an homage to Stephan Asseo of L’Aventure Winery propelled into an obsession driven by like-minded grape-growers who’ve become winemaker Eric Jensen’s favorite neighbors. Farming is life or Eric, and each grower he works with shares the common goal of sustainable viticulture and raising the highest quality fruit possible to create wines of distinction and trend-setting quality.
 
Founded with extreme dedication and zero compromises, My Favorite Neighbor hits a sweet spot of perfectly ripe fruit, flavor intensity, and lavish textures, giving some of the best $100 Cabernets a real challenge. Eric has made wines from consecutive vintages earning mid-90-point scores, and his 2020 vintage is a tremendous follow-up, moving his wine one step closer to becoming a household name in high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon.
 
MY FAVORITE NEIGHBOR
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
SAN LUIS OBISPO 2020
Retails at: $50
 
Your Price: $45

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“Red chili pepper, olives, tobacco and cocoa powder to the fresh cassis and blackberries. Restrainedly opulent and well-structured on the palate, showing impressive length and polished tannins. Great poise here! Delicious now, but will hold.” 
94 Points