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
$24.00 $20.50
There may be no other wine region in the world that is more like Napa than Argentina’s Mendoza Valley. Much like Napa – wineries are easily reachable from the wine capital city of Mendoza with many people simply biking from winery to winery. And much like Napa – there are a few very special AVAs with personality and quality in a totally different stratosphere.
The vineyards east of town are what put Argentinian wine on the map. Big operations that churn out drinkable but mass production wine in gargantuan quantities. Out of town heading to the south is the hit parade of tiny subzones making world-class wines – many that rarely make it stateside.
This is the area of tradition – where vines are typically much, much older having escaped constant replanting as wineries elsewhere constantly chased worldwide varietal trends. Arid Perdriel – with some of the oldest vines in the world can be found here – blocked from rain by the Andes. Las Compuertas with some of the poorest soils in the country are right here too.
But continue the drive just a bit further south and you’ll find the town of Agrelo and Catena winery. This is where the most complex wines in the entire country are grown – high up on the steep slopes overlooking the town and in the shadows of the mountains – combining the effect of extremely great drainage with the ‘rainshadow’ of the Andes.
Out of stock
91+ Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
As with many wines this time around, I got more than one vintage to taste, including the 2017 Appellation Agrelo Cabernet Sauvignon. Next to the 2016, you could see the different climatic conditions of the two vintages, with this 2017 coming through riper and rounder. In any case, it’s a textbook example of Agrelo, with juicy fruit and polished, sweet tannins. This is also a favorite in 2017 and shows a very classical Bordeaux-like profile, peppery, spicy and elegant.
91 Points- Stephen Tanzer, Vinous Media
Bright red-ruby. Cassis, leather, musky licorice, spices and tobacco leaf on the nose. The palate delivers captivating subtle sweetness and insidious flavor intensity, with its red and darker berry flavors showing excellent delineation. Harmonious acidity lifts the middle palate but the wine’s firm spine of dusty tannins calls for a couple years of patience. This serious Cabernet finishes with excellent length.
Winemaker Patrick Brunet’s tiny Domaine Robert estate consists of 50-60 year old vines, deeply rooted in the granitic soils of Fleurie. What I love about him is that every vintage brings something new but it consistently stays excellent. In the newly released 2020 vintage, Patrick produced a concentrated, structured Beaujolais that’s roaring out of the gates but with the bones to improve in the bottle over the next decade. This is a fantastic bottle to have around.
Poggio Al Sole’s high elevation vineyards bring out the Burgundy-side of Chianti Classico, producing lush wines with just a touch of earthy rusticity and great length. Their 2019 edition is sleek and elegant, with great aromatic complexity and length. The nose is really special, with soaring aromatics of black cherry, anise and peony. Give it time to unwind in the glass. It’s fresh and long on the palate, with the fine tannic structure that defines ever classic vintage, making it great at the table tonight and any night for the next decade.
The 2019 Fiancetto Howell Mt. Cabernet is restrained at first, needing air to develop its full signature of cedar laced cassis nose and mid palate of chocolate-covered cherries and savory spices. Full and plush it finishes long and fresh. This is a serious Cabernet for serious Cabernet fans. The price is crazy for Howell Mountain Cabernet at just $54 per bottle but that’s what Ry Richards and Fiancetto is all about.
98 Points, James Suckling #36 Top US Wine of the Year – 97 Points, Decanter
In 2015, the last of four consecutive drought years and one of Napa’s great vintages over the past few decades, it’sno surprise that one of Napa’s all-time great wineries turned in a flawless bottling from the legendary Martha’s Vineyard. Decanter absolutely gushed, giving it 97 points and declaring, “no Cabernet has the aromatic profile of Martha’s. They would even go so far to say, “There isn’t a more definitive Cabernet Sauvignon in the world, at any price.” James Suckling would go a step further in the points department giving the wine a 98, but if Wine Enthusiast had got their hands on it, this would be a 100-point wine yet again. Just 30 bottles of Napa winemaking history up for grabs today.
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