2015 L'Aventure Estate Cuvée Willow Creek District

Blended of 55% Syrah, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot, the 2015 Estate Cuvee sports a deep garnet-purple color and nose of fresh black currants, blackberries and cigar box with touches of cardamom, bay leaves, pencil lead and cloves. Full-bodied and built like a brick house, it has a solid frame of grainy tannins and plenty of freshness supporting the muscular fruit, finishing with lingering black fruits. Forget it for three to four years and drink it over the next 20+.

The 2015 Estate Cuvée is terrific, and certainly one of the wines of the vintage. Made from 55% Syrah, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot, its deep ruby color is followed by classy notes of cassis, lead pencil shavings, crushed rocks and charcoal, and it’s a fresh, elegant, beautifully textured 2015 that should put on a touch of mid-palate depth with a year or three of cellaring. It will keep for a decade or more. Located in the heart of the appellation, just off highway 46, Stephan Asseo’s l’Aventure Winery is unquestionably in the top 3-4 estates in Paso Robles. While he made just a handful of cuvees in the past, today he releases upwards of eight cuvees in each vintage. In addition, he’s just completed construction on a new cave/winery, and he continues to fine tune the style here, experimenting with amphora and larger barrels, with the goal of getting more elegance and purity into his wines. Looking at the wines reviewed here, the 2015s are certainly rock solid, and show tighter, elegant, and structured personalities. His 2016s are a step up over the 2015s and will be the first vintage completely made in the new cellar. They offer broad, sumptuous profiles, yet with no loss of purity or precision.

Always one of my favorite whites from Paso, the 2015 Cuvee Blanc is a blend of 38% Roussanne (this will be the last vintage to include Roussanne as it was replanted), 36% Grenache Blanc and 26% Viognier that was brought up in a mix of new, once used and twice filled barrels. This rich, textured, gorgeously pure beauty is loaded with notions of orange blossom, flower oil and citrus, and it stays fresh and lively on the palate while not making any concessions on texture and depth. Drink it over the coming couple of years.