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.
Out of stock
Don't worry! Enter your email and we'll notify you when it's available again or if we have very similar products from this producer.
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 |
---|
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Vegetable dishes or salads or a good, old-fashioned cream based dish.
93 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate – 93 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
“Vignon’s 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape delivers even more than I hoped for based on a previous sample. Hints of garrigue, roses, cherries and raspberries appear on the nose, while the palate is full-bodied, silky and long, with an intense, almost briny finish. The assemblage is 50% Grenache, 10% each Mourvèdre and Syrah, plus smaller proportions of seven other permitted varieties, while the élevage includes foudres, demi-muids, concrete and wooden tanks, plus terracotta amphorae.”
The secret to Philippe’s tightly wound, complex Pinot Noir is a combo of ancient vines, natural farming techniques, and low yields. The wines are built to age, with incredible tension and length. And the secret to me securing his other-wordly 2017 old-vine Gevry-Chambertin can be chalked up to a great relationship and over a decade supporting superior Burgundian winemaking. The wine is scary good. The nose is wild, filled with spiced dark raspberries, red flowers, and baking spices. The palate is elegant and racy, with a dynamic tension that runs right through its minute-long finish. This is a high-toned, wound-up Pinot, that is starting to hit its prime and is really turning out to be a ‘must-have’ for true Burgundy lovers.
The 2021 Napa Valley East side Cuvee is an instant classic. From the first whiff to the moment it hits the lips, its clear that this is a fabulously concentrated, serious wine: black in color, and featuring aromas of cassis, cedar and chocolate-tinged purple fruit. The mouthfeel is plush and voluptuous with a firm, solid finish that speaks to its potential for considerable aging.
95 Points, Jeb Dunnuck – 95 Points, Lisa Perotti-Brown
The oft 100-point winemaker, Jayson Woodbridge had this to say when tasting his 2021 ‘Stargazing’ Sonoma Pinot: “The wine is vibrant and complex with subtle dark fruits and berries, grandmother’s cherry pie, minerals, and a slight touch of rain-soaked earth, intertwined with a balance and very pleasing easy-going luxury. Should have been priced higher but what the hell.” I have no doubt this clerical error will be addressed in the vintages moving forward. But for now, this is a cult Pinot for under $100/bottle.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.