Community Tasting Notes 6

• greg@newsomehh.com Likes this wine: 96 points

  February 7, 2023 - LOved It. Brought down to the Chateau Winter Gathering, didnt share, too good

  2 people found this helpful Comments (1)

• WineBurrowingWombat Likes this wine: 97 points

  April 11, 2022 - Napa Trip - Trying new wines and meeting new people; 4/11/2022-4/12/2022 (Napa): I have to admit my bias that I'm not a fan of Paso but that's largely due to my minimal experience with them.. so this was a pleasant surprise! Great red and black fruits with nice savoriness and minerals to compliment. Wish I had more time with this one, would've been fun to follow throughout the night.

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• bsumoba Likes this wine:

  April 11, 2022 - Spring 2022 Dream Napa Trip; 4/11/2022-4/12/2022: Too little time with this wine and was quite disappointed in myself for not focusing more during the dinner to really understand this wine. Hoping to get another shot at it.

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• LiteItOnFire Likes this wine: 96 points

  August 21, 2021 - 3 - 4 hours in the decanter. Apparently I have had to follow CSIMM on all of these weeks before my tasting. Up until this wine I purposefully didn’t read anyone’s notes before posting as of course wanted them to be my own un-influenced impressions and I didn’t want to slink away from posting following a CSIMM tasting note… and while I am not going to take my diary (tasting notes) and throw it into the fire (delete notes from CT) what I can’t do is post anything after reading CSIMM’s note below. So with that- this is a BMF wine.
  
  This was the best horizontal tasting from the same winery I have ever had. In the past 30 days I have been fortunate enough to experience and taste some of the very best wines I have ever had and will have, this tasting is no exception.

  3 people found this helpful Comments (19)

• csimm1161 wrote: 100 points

  July 27, 2021 - Vice Versa weekend and dinner: A joint venture with the Bretons and Stephan Asseo of L’Aventure, the Les Cousins is a hybrid of Vice Versa’s Napa juice and L’Aventure’s holdings from the Willow Creek District in Paso Robles. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, this sub-species Liger unfolds in the glass with a unique succulence that is simultaneously lavish and precise. Black licorice, dark chocolate, wet limestone, warm blackberry cobbler, plum, and black cherry flavors march across the palate with a decidedly direct but also at once openly expressive bearing. It is almost as if Napa is the engine and Paso is the steering wheel, where powerfully-postured ripe fruit is given course and direction. The front end fools you into thinking it is going to be overtly exaggerated and extravagant, but along comes a mineral grip to crack it all into proper form.
  
  To be frank, I’ve sometimes found Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon to be missing an element of concentration. They can be somewhat one-note for me (though, what Asseo does with L’Aventure is pretty darn phenomenal in general as it is). However, The Vice Versa Les Cousins caulks-in any perceived cracks in complexity and depth. Because I’ve also found many Napa Cabernets to be so bombastic that I can be quickly floored by the palate-burdening sensation of fruit, fruit, and more fruit, I endeavor to discover those Cabernets that carry requisite acidity, frame, and determined purity as well. Here too, the Paso terroir finds purpose in providing focus and keen maneuverability to which the core can travel with distinct persistence.
  
  I mean, let’s be honest; some of these little experimental projects can be fun for the winemakers and proprietors to tinker about and Frankenstein their ways into making wines in attempt to enhance allure in their brands or market some form of fabricated exclusivity. But for us consumers, we are sometimes left wondering if investing in someone’s “just cuz” side project is worth even entertaining. I can tell you as someone who doesn’t have a shower of money constantly raining down on my head, I often ignore these types of ventures and just stick to what I’m relatively comfortable with in a certain winery. Yet, all that said, I can also tell you that as soon as I tasted this wine, my exact quote was, “Hey, hold up Patrice. When are you releasing this and how many am I allowed to get?” So, do your research as I know many of you will, but in the end, I’m ALL about this wine. It is not so unique that it isn’t true to the varietal and doesn’t have a solid place in the Vice Versa lineup. It’s unctuous and delineated in the same breath. It’s perfect fruit and perfect frame. It’s an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon. Period.
  
  98-100 points. Let’s see what happens here once it hits bottle. A very limited production on this. Hopefully I don’t get too busted for doing a write-up on this since there won’t be much of it to go around.

  5 people found this helpful Comments (6)

Pro Reviews 1

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2019
• Type Red
• Producer Vice Versa
• Varietal Cabernet Sauvignon
• Designation Les Cousins
• Vineyard n/a
• Country USA
• Region California
• SubRegion n/a
• Appellation California

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 12 (8%)
• In Cellars 128 (89%)
• Consumed 4 (3%)

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