2015 Avennia Les Trouves Red Wine

• By Stephen Tanzer
  Washington: Various Shades of Hot (Oct 2017), 10/1/2017, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Avennia Red Wine Les Trouvés Washington Red) Login and sign up and see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull The Found, 2/26/2018

  (Les Trouves Red) Hello friends. In 2015, our pals Chris Peterson and Marty Taucher at Avennia launched a new label called Les Trouvés (French for the found). In just three vintages, it has become one of the best values in an increasingly popular category for Washington wine—value GSM blends. Les Trouvés works a little differently than its older sibling. While Avennia is made by Chris, Les Trouvés is more “curated” by him. Some of the juice comes from Avvenia, and the rest is meticulously sourced from Chris’ extensive network of winemaking and grape growing colleagues in Washington.A few quick logistics notes to start. First, we pre-purchased a large enough quantity to drive the price from its release of $25 down to a tick below $20; an already-excellent value now made even better. Second, what we pre-purchased is the entire remaining stock in Seattle. The March issue of Wine Enthusiast is going to include a terrific review from our abstemious-with-the-points friend Sean Sullivan. Trade folks have already caught wind of the upcoming review, and this wine suddenly picked up some scary sales velocity. To be safe, we locked down every last bottle we could get our grubby mitts on. We’ll set upper order limits at 8 bottles, but I wouldn’t be surprised if actual allocations land in the 2-4 bottle range. Now then, drinking like a baby Justine (Avennia’s $40 GSM) Les Trouvés is an attractive gateway drug into the greater Chris Peterson house style. Here Mourvedre and Syrah make up 80% of the blend equally, with Grenache balancing the rest. For a wine that’s made to be approachable and charming, Les Trouvés consistently overdelivers with complexity. This vintage, with a listed alcohol of 14.8%, opens with an enticing nose full of blackberries, bramble, peppered game, and wild-grown Mediterranean plants. The palate is plush with dark berry fruit and cocoa nibs, lifted by an herbaceous savory thread. For all of its outright delicious fruit, this wine finishes savory, with earthy fine grained tannins. Supply textured, insistently savory, openly delicious. This project is made for youthful consumption, and this particular wine fits the bill. No need to cellar endlessly; this bottle brings real, immediate pleasure on pop-and-pour. And complexity that easily outpunches its price class. Wine Enthusiast: Copyrighted material withheld.