Lovingly Eager

THIS RENDITION of Cabernet and Syrah tempered with a plush splash of Petit Verdot and Zinfandel comes from the hands of Paso Robles superstar, Stephan Asseo at L'Aventure.

Optimus '00 [£20, reduced from £40, Bedales] is technically damn near perfect - made from vines planted in the dry-ski slope-esque dustbowl of Paso's 'Grand Cru'. But it is somehow lacking soul.

Nonetheless it is well worth diving into.

Like the '05, tasted in California, it has a remarkable 'gliding' texture [PREVIOUS POST]. Being very full of flavour, with slightly overripe blackberry, warm, greeting spice, almost overtly conspicous oak used in an eager (but lovingly eager) way, it offers something upmarket, classy, impressive and distinctively memorable at a quaffably low price.