2019 L'Aventure Cabernet Sauvignon Les Cousins
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Tasting notes
To call the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Les Cousins a Vice Versa wine is a bit misleading. It's actually a blend of Vice Versa Napa Cabernet with some of L'Aventure's Paso Robles Cab, hence the simple California appellation and the moniker, which is meant to evoke the relationship between the French (L'Aventure's Stéphane Asseo) with the Québecois (Vice Versa's Patrice Breton). So, what's the wine like? The nose boasts notes of cinnamon, cocoa, dark chocolate and brandied cherries, while the full-bodied palate is a touch warm and dense, almost fudge-like. There's no denying its impressive power and concentration, but it could use more nuance and detail—perhaps that will develop with some time in the bottle.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
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The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon emerges from a collaboration between Patrice Breton (Vice Versa) and Stephan Asseo (L’Aventure) and is a blend of two barrels each from To Kalon and the L’Aventure Estate Vineyard in Paso Robles. It’s 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 18 months in new French oak, and there are a tiny 200 cases produced. It’s a gorgeous wine offering pure cassis and blackberry fruit as well as notes of crushed stone, graphite, and savory herbs. Round and supple on the palate, it has some To Kalon opulence yet stays more focused (no doubt from the Paso Robles limestone soils) with beautiful tannins, a remarkable sense of freshness and purity, and a great finish. It will be almost impossible to find, but this is gorgeous any way you look at it.
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.