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As of the 2008 vintage all of Stephan Asseo's wines are estate-grown, something that the Bordeaux native said makes him "feel like a whole man!" Asseo told me that even in a hot climate like Paso Robles it was essential to harvest truly ripe fruit because "the worst fault of a wine is to have unripe tannins. Here, with the sun and the heat, you have to work hard with the canopy to protect the grapes as they mature." He believes that his 2008s will be "wines you can drink now and over the short term. They probably will age just fine but they're showing a lot already." His 2007s, in contrast, "are in the process of shutting down and will probably be asleep until about 2015." I barely recognized Asseo this year as he has taken up cycling and had dropped a good 25 pounds since my visit last year. He still likes to indulge in cigars (and wine) but told me that a heavy vineyard and winery work load coupled with a Bacchanalian lifestyle was starting to wear him out. "There's no room in the world for a lazy or worn-out vigneron," he summarized.

From Focus on the Central Coast (Nov 2010) by Josh Raynolds

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2008 Optimus Paso Robles

Release Price: $45

Color: Red

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