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
$60.00 $50.00
It took only two 2016 Barbaresco offers to come across my desk before I emphatically have decided I’m all in on this vintage. It’s a modern-day classic in the making, one that after tasting from barrel, preeminent Italian wine critic Antionio Galloni gushed, “The young 2016 Barbarescos are some of the most compelling young wines I have tasted in twenty years of visiting the region…the picture that is starting to emerge from wines I tasted in bottle and cask is of a very high quality vintage with the potential to be truly extraordinary.”
He’s right. So, I’ve been on the hunt to find the best. The first offer was Gaja, the legend. 96 points for the ’16. The second was from Giancarlo Rocca, winemaker and proprietor of Ronchi, a tiny estate (just 12 acres total!?!) that I discovered on a trip a few years ago. His 2016 grand cru, Ronchi recently received an emphatic 95 point review from Galloni, just a point behind the HOFer, Gaja. Both wines are aromatic fireworks shows, with deep concentration and the bones to improve for decades. The catch? Gaja’s average price online of $269 keeps this out of reach of most, including me.
But Giancarlo’s epic Ronchi 2016 can be had for $45/btl on case orders, a crazy price given the pedigree. Oh, the other catch is that while Gaja pumps out tens of thousands of bottles from his 250 acres in Barbaresco and Barolo, with only 12 acres, Giancarlo Rocca bottles each one of his by hand! I have just 60 bottles of these under the radar treasures. You’re definitely going to want this one.
“Ronchi has been on a roll these last few years. The 2016s are the most complete wines I have tasted yet from this small estate in Barbaresco with its core holdings in the Ronchi cru. Both Barbarescos are fermented in steel and aged in a combination of small and large oak. The wines are powerful and rich, but have the structural frames to handle all of that intensity. A few years ago the wines were a bit rustic, but that is less often the case these days. As for the 2016s, they are dazzling, electric wines that deserve a wider audience. Best of all, the Ronchi Barbarescos offer tremendous value.” -Antonio Galloni
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95 Points, Antonio Galloni – Vinous
The 2016 Barbaresco Ronchi, the estate’s top selection, marries elegance with power so well. Freshly cut flowers, mint, sweet red berries, anise and blood orange confer freshness that plays off the wine’s dense, expansive fruit. A rush of sweet raspberry, cherry and rose petal punctuates the exuberant finish. The 2016 is a fabulous wine from a property that has been on the ascent in recent years.
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97 Points (Cellar Selection), Wine Enthusiast
“Quietly powerful, dense with alluring oak spices and late-picked fruit flavors, this full-bodied, velvet-textured Cabernet-dominant blend is generous and inviting to drink, but also balanced and structured for the long haul. Concentrated, deep and layered, it is meant for drinking with appreciative friends or family in the future. Best from 2027–2040.”
The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino from Aleramici hits all the right notes. It has a nice medium weight to it with easy drinking cherry, creme de cassis and purple fruits. It’s multi-dimensional with waves of some dark plum and blackberry with more sage and spice components as well that compliment it perfectly.
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.
2016 happens to be one of the highest rated ever (98pts, Wine Spectator) so it was no surprise that this year’s made the cut. The 2016 Riserva which was just released, is an intense version steeped in complex layers of flavor. It’s compact and well built with a touch of leather that compliments dark cherries, fresh licorice and a hint of cocoa all framed on a mineral backbone.
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