2022 L'Aventure Optimus
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Tasting notes
66% Syrah, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot. Late-season heatwave: 10 days at over 40 °C from 31 August. Harvest 26 August to 3 October. Aged for 18 months in French oak, 18% new, remainder second use. Bottled without fining or filtration March 2024. Been on the Place for years. Mainly Japan and UK sales apparently. Ripe and round on the nose though it doesn’t really follow through. Pleasant rather than stunning. Stringy finish. (JR)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
A delicious, juicy, fruit-driven wine with a ton of chocolate and liquorice alongside the supple tannins. Lower alcohol than past few years, despite this being a heatwave vintage, but this is still a Californian hug. Small yields, around 30% down, 32ha of land in Paso Robles (up from 25ha), Chloe Asseo director, Stephan Asseo owner and winemaker, from the Willow Creek district of Paso Robles.
The 2022 Optimus is 66% Syrah, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Petit Verdot aged in 19% new French oak. The nose displays a combination of ripe, seductive dark fruits with a pointed, menthol-like sharpness, giving off aromas of pine sap, green peppercorns and incense. The palate is medium-bodied but quite sappy and concentrated, transitioning to a hard finish that calls back the astringent notes found in the nose.
The 2022 Optimus checks in as 66% Syrah, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 9% Petit Verdot. This deep ruby/purple-hued effort offers a terrific nose of ripe blackberries, peppery herbs, violets, and game to go with a full-bodied, concentrated, yet beautifully balanced style on the palate. I love its tannins, it has soft, supple mouthfeel, and a great finish. It’s already drinking beautiful and will evolve nicely for 8-10 years.
About the producer
L’Aventure is one of the leading wine estates in Paso Robles, California. It was founded by Stephan Asseo and his wife Beatrice who left their native France in 1997 in search of a place to make wine without the restrictions of France’s appellation system.