Orders are available for pick-up at Restaurant Nicholas at 160 Route 35 South Red Bank, NJ 07701 during the following times:
Monday: 9:30-3:30; Tuesday – Friday: 9:15am – 9:00pm; Saturday: 11:00am – 9:00pm; Sunday: Closed
$90.00 $80.00
Alain Voge was referred to by his peers as “truly remarkable” and “the ultimate pioneer.” He was known for leading the way not only in Cornas but also for his St-Peray wines as well. It’s hard enough to be a star in one region, let alone another that’s completely different. Tragically, he passed away a few years ago.
One of the ‘grandfathers of Syrah,’ Voge had an illustrious wine career during his 81-year life. He somehow managed to greatly expand the already stellar reputation of his grandfather (same name) who founded the winery all those years ago.
I had a chance to taste some of the recent Alain Voge selections, which were unfortunately the last ever made by the iconic winemaker.
It’s amazing how powerful the wines are. It’s even more amazing how perfectly chiseled and representative they are to their unique Northern Rhone terroir.
His old-vines bottling comes from some of the gnarliest 80-year old vines you could ever lay your eyes on. That’s where the magic happens. It’s an incredible bottling that rivals elite Cote Rotie, and does so for a whole lot less. It’s full-bodied, with layers upon layers to peel back, and it only gets better with every second it sits in the glass. It’s a baby that I would think has another 15-20 years ahead of it, easily.
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97 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
The older vine cuvée, the 2020 Cornas Les Vieilles Vignes is 100% Syrah. It’s similarly inky hued and offers up full-bodied aromas and flavors of ripe black cherries, graphite, bouquet garni, and iron. It’s deep, concentrated, and powerful on the palate, with flawless balance, building yet silky tannins, and a great, great finish.
95 Points, Wine Spectator
Concentrated and polished, with good energy, this hefty red features a core of sweet black cherry, singed tobacco, wood spice and mulled plum, all wrapped around a spine of iron. Reveals incense and violet notes, and though the tannins aren’t too grippy, this still needs time for its tightly wound layers to unfurl. Best from 2025 through 2035.
95 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Voge’s 2020 Cornas Vieilles Vignes was reassuringly excellent, with gently lifted, floral scents of violets, cassis and crushed stone. Full-bodied, deep and powerful, concentrated and rich but still almost painfully unformed, this needs time in the cellar. It’s a blend of several parcels, aged in barrel but with just 15% or so new oak.
WS #4 2019 Wine of the Year, 96 Points, Wine Spectator
2016 was an incredibly special year in Napa Valley. It was essentially the 5th straight vintage of near perfect-conditions and a lot of the big boys produced some of their biggest, most elegant Cabernets to date. Groth’s was still one of the standouts in any group, a deeply concentrated, weighty Cab with sappy, juicy fruit and a carefully intertwined tannic structure. Absolutely gorgeous.
Winemaker Pascal Sirat consistently puts out some of the best value Bordeaux in the region but he may have outdone himself in what was a stellar 2019 vintage throughout the region. Just south of Pomerol, the vines at Panchille borrow deep in the soil. The resulting wines are ripe but fresh, with an aromatic complexity and stony finish usually reserved for wine twice the price. Daniel Boulud tells me it’s been the hottest bottle of wine at Bar Boulud for over a month, so I figured I’d better hurry up and secure my allocation! Don’t miss it.
At J Vineyards, Nicole is nothing short of a magician, making 30 different skus or more each vintage between her Pinots, Chardonnays, and Sparkling wines. For the vineyard’s flagship Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, up to 100 individual small lots are combined to make this great wine. Somehow, the blend is effortless–a quintessential RRV Pinot that has those soaring aromatics, bright red fruits, clove, and nutmeg spice with perfect balance.
The newly released Fiancetto Howell Mt. Cabernet is a dream – a gorgeous, elegant dark-fruited Cabernet Sauvignon that is it picks up time in the glass, unfurls its full signature of cedar laced cassis nose and mid palate of chocolate-covered cherries and savory spices. Only four palates of this (224 cases) were made off a gorgeous, sprawling high elevation spot 1500 feet above sea level. It’s full and plush and finishes fresh and oh so long. The price is crazy for Howell Mountain Cabernet but that’s what Ry Richards and Fiancetto is all about.