Stephan Asseo - PharaohMoans Paso Syrah
Imagine this situation: You are the owner of not one but three spectacular Chateaux in Bordeaux. Each produces its own delicious terroir-driven wine. The first, an estate in Entre-deux-Mers, makes vibrant, piercing Sauvignon Blanc. A second property is in Cotes de Castillon, the region hailed as Bordeaux's next St. Emilion. Your crown jewel is nothing less than a Saint Emilion Grand Cru where you craft powerful, ageworthy Merlot-based wines. Your peers respect every wine you make and regard you as an excellent vintner. The greater wine world and the media consider you a maverick in your field, someone who is willing to push boundaries in the name of great wine.
Not a bad life, right? That was Stephan Asseo just a little over a decade ago, well established within Bordeaux with a career that started with the historic 1982 vintage. A dream life for most -- but something was eating at Stephan, a need to break free of Bordeaux's AOC laws and do things his way. So he did what any true visionary would do. He did his research, fell in love with the terroir of Paso Robles, and promptly picked up his life and set out to make wine in the New World.
Through his work as winemaker for PharaohMoans and his own winery, L'Aventure, Stephan has quickly achieved a reputation as great as the one he established in Bordeaux. He is a tireless worker in the vineyard, forever toiling in the sun and manicuring his vines with surgical precision. During his extensive travels through Lebanon and France's Languedoc, Stephan was inspired by vintners who made beautiful wines out of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Now his own Syrah/Cab blends have become some of the most coveted wines in Paso Robles, a terroir perfectly suited for Stephan's talent.
His 2007 PharaohMoans Syrah comes from a sun-soaked 3 acre vineyard ideally situated on the western slopes of Paso Robles. A wine of remarkable depth and concentration, Pharaoh Moans presents a sublime introduction to the quality of wine that Stephan demands. Stephan's Old World experience comes through in the wine's complexity as it exudes the best attributes of its Northern Rhone roots. To experience this wine is to bridge the best of both worlds; the intense, fruit-driven style of Paso Robles with a complexity typically reserved for only the finest Hermitage.
