L'Aventure : Côte à Côte 2018

Tasting characteristics and advice for the Côte à Côte 2018 from L'Aventure

Tasting

Appearance

The color shows a moderately intense ruby hue with garnet highlights at the rim.

Nose

The nose reveals beautiful aromatic complexity with notes of black raspberries and blackberries, accompanied by earthy and mineral nuances reminiscent of dusty soil, tea leaves, and licorice. With aeration, the bouquet expands with freshly ground pepper, Asian spices, candied violets, saffron, and rosemary, as well as dried fruits such as fig and cocoa bean.

Palate

The palate shows a medium-to-full body with remarkable concentration. Spicy and juicy, it is carried by creamy, silky tannins that are perfectly integrated. Red fruit expresses itself generously alongside notes of peach and honeysuckle, while the mineral dimension brings a lovely texture. The whole is harmonious and pure, with a very long, layered finish in which chalky minerality becomes increasingly prominent.

Food and wine pairings

This wine pairs ideally with grilled lamb, whose texture and natural flavors marry perfectly with the wine’s tannins and red fruit. It also beautifully accompanies roasted vegetables, especially beets, parsnips, or portobello mushrooms, whose caramelized and earthy notes echo the wine’s minerality. For dessert, opt for dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa.

Serving and cellaring

The Côte à Côte 2018 can be enjoyed now but also offers strong aging potential thanks to its tannic structure and mineral complexity.

A tribute to the Southern Rhône from the hills of Paso Robles

The estate

Founded in 1998 by Stephan and Beatrice Asseo, L'Aventure is one of Paso Robles’ pioneering estates. Stephan Asseo, a graduate of the École Œnologique de Mâcon with seventeen years of experience in the Bordeaux region, chose California to free himself from French regulatory constraints and fully express his creativity. The estate spans 127 acres, including 57 planted to vines, located in the Willow Creek District on the western slope of Paso Robles. Today, the Asseo family remains at the helm, with their daughter Chloé Asseo-Fabre as CEO.

The vineyard

The Côte à Côte vineyard is planted on the hills of the Willow Creek District in Paso Robles, in the Santa Lucia mountain range. The parcels range from 960 to 1,900 feet in elevation on limestone and siliceous schist soils made up of ancient marine sediments. This unique geological makeup gives the terroir a naturally poor profile that limits vine vigor and encourages berry concentration. The Pacific’s maritime influence creates diurnal temperature swings that can reach forty to fifty degrees Fahrenheit, allowing for extended ripening while preserving freshness. Yields are deliberately kept very low, between 1.5 and 2.5 tons per acre, to maximize quality and the expression of terroir.

The vintage

The 2018 vintage proved particularly favorable for L'Aventure. Stephan Asseo emphasized that this vintage showed his vineyard had reached full maturity, enabling the vines to express an optimal level of grape ripeness.

Vinification and aging

The Côte à Côte 2018 was aged for fourteen months in a combination of new French oak barrels (35%), once-used barrels, concrete tanks, and terracotta amphorae. This diversity of vessels adds complexity while preserving the wine’s fruity character. No filtration or fining was carried out, preserving the full spectrum of the wine’s natural compounds.

Grape varieties

Grenache (51%)
Mourvèdre (26%)
Syrah (23%)