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
$25.00 $21.00
I’ve seen 95-point scores from Decanter. But you don’t see them for $20 Cabernet. Then again, you don’t see many artisanal, small production wines like Jean-Pierre’s in the market. When you do, you have to snatch them up when you can. You never know when our secrets may become the wine world’s news.
As many of you know, Jean-Pierre Chavallier is a magician in the Loire Valley, and his whites and reds at Château de Villeneuve continue to dazzle new readers every year. If you haven’t tried a Cabernet Franc or a Chenin Blanc, I can think of no better place to start. As I’ve observed on several occasions, the man is a perfectionist, meticulous in every last detail in the cellar. And he’s incredibly humble. Really, it’s the perfect mix.
He only releases his top cuvées when they’re ready – not when others release theirs. If the vintage isn’t good, he doesn’t even make his signature cuvees. But in what turned out to be a glorious 2020 growing season in the Loire Valley, Chevallier found a new gear, and he did something he never does, let someone take a crack at reviewing his Saumur-Champigny Cabernet.
But when Europe’s stingiest and most respected wine critics got their hands on Villeneuve’s S-C, something unusual happened. Decanter met their match!! Chevallier blew them away, as I’ve seen so many times when I put these wines in front of someone new. They awarded his Saumur-Champigny 2020 a 95(!) and waxed poetically about the Cabernet Franc made off 40+ year old vines grown on sloping limestone hills.
95 Points, Decanter
In what turned out to be a glorious 2020 growing season in the Loire Valley, Chevallier found a new gear, and he did something he never does, let someone take a crack at reviewing his Saumur-Champigny Cabernet. But when Europe’s stingiest and most respected wine critics got their hands on Villeneuve’s S-C, something unusual happened. Decanter met their match!! Chevallier blew them away, as I’ve seen so many times when I put these wines in front of someone new. They awarded his Saumur-Champigny 2020 a 95(!) and waxed poetically about the Cabernet Franc made off 40+ year old vines grown on sloping limestone hills.
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95 Points, Decanter
Dense and powerfully black fruited, this has some wood notes, good ripe tannins and a long finish. This is a lovely wine and is only the straight domaine cuvée. Given the consistent quality of his wines – both white Saumur and Saumur-Champigny – Jean-Pierre Chevallier is remarkably modest as well as being highly principled. His top cuvées are only released when they hit the required quality. In difficult vintages everything goes into the ‘domaine’ wine. The now organically certified Château de Villeneuve is based in Souzay-Champigny by the Loire river in the northern part of the Saumur-Champigny appellation. The Cabernet Franc for this ‘domaine’ wine is between 40-50 years old and planted on clay-limestone. The grapes are handpicked. After fermentation, 60% is matured in 40-hectolitre wooden vats and the rest in concrete and stainless steel.
A ridiculously good, chalky Chenin Blanc at a price point that can’t be beat.
Weight | 2 lbs |
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Vegetable dishes or salads or a good, old-fashioned cream based dish.
90 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Xavier Vignon’s brand spanking new CDR 100% is a thing of beauty. It’s already got a blessing from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate who described this wine as, “Full-bodied, concentrated and supple”. This is a gorgeous and intricate blend that features all of the Southern Rhone appellations. This year, the blend was 40% Grenache, 25% Mourvedre, 15% Syrah, 7% Cinsault, 7% Marselan, 6% Terret Noir. Nobody can do it like the mad scientist, Xavier Vignon.
91 Points, Wine Enthusiast
Always the one with the most personality of the bunch, this is what Wine Enthusiast had to say about the 2021 release: “This extremely ripe and bold style of Pinot Noir will please those seeking such lushness. Dark in the glass, it begins with black cherry, toasty caramel and cola milk shake aromas.” The cool, coastal days and abundance of sunshine lines up perfectly for a wine that has a good natural acidic backbone, with bold fruit-forward flavors. In an easy 2021 vintage, Joe Wagner had a field day with this single-vineyard beauty.
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.
In the 2020 vintage in Gevrey-Chambertin, yields were super low and temperatures were hotter than most Burgundian winemakers are accustomed. Many picked too late when the sugars were high and the fruit really ripe, but that was not the play. Still, Ann remained as cool in those hot temps as she did so many years ago in Napa, concentrating more on acid levels than sugars and picking at just the right time. This wine is absolutely singing – it’s an age-worthy beauty that should be even better in 4-7 years.
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