L'Aventure Winery Estate Cuvee

90-93 Points Robert Parker's Wine Spectator

The 2016 Estate Cuvee reveals a youthful bouquet of crème de cassis, ripe plums, licorice, pencil shavings and anise, framed by a generous application of creamy, spicy new oak. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ripe and heavily extracted, clamping down on the tongue and gums with an impenetrable wall of firm, chewy tannin that makes it hard to read. It's a bit too soon after bottling to truly get a handle on this, so I've given it a hesitant bracketed score. It's a blend of 52% Syrah, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon and 16% Petit Verdot that was matured in 90% new oak. (WK)