2020 L'Aventure Côte à Côte
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Tasting notes
The 2020 Côte a Côte is youthful and coy, displaying a subtle blend of dusty stone, lavender and wild blueberries. It's pure pleasure on the palate, velvety smooth yet full of energy, with crisp red and black fruits that cascade throughout. This finishes spicy, leaving a primary concentration and subtly grippy tannins that frame the experience without slowing its momentum. The 2020 is an understated beauty that will require some cellaring to blossom fully.
Critic scores
Tom Parker MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Côte a Côte is a beautiful blend of 45% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 25% Mourvèdre and one of the most successful wines I tasted from the challenging 2020 vintage. Deep ruby-purple, it offers pure aromas of blackcurrant, boysenberry, tar and pipe tobacco, continually unfolding with each return to the glass. The full-bodied palate offers wave after wave of perfumed fruit and tremendous spicy accents. It's powerful yet harmoniously structured with powdery tannins and seamless acidity, and it offers a very long, detailed finish.
45% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 25% Mourvèdre . Sweet and polished with notes of kirsch and ripe red cherries on the nose. The palate shows more red fruit than the Optimus, but it is equally sweet and opulent. Soft and forward, this will appeal to those who like classically sweet California wines. (TP)
Blackberries, peppery herbs, graphite, iron, and liquid violet notes all emerge from the 2020 Cote A Cote, a pure, brilliantly textured, full-bodied blend based on 45% Grenache, 30% Syrah, and 25% Mourvèdre. It has a touch of grippy tannins on the finish (which are common in the vintage), but it’s balanced and offers beautiful fruit as well as serious length. It's going to keep for 15 years or more. It's a gorgeous wine. I was able to look at the 2020s and 2021s from L’Aventure, both solid vintages. In fact, they might have made some of the best wines in Paso in 2020, and the wines are impressive across the board.
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.