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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
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
$115.00 $99.00
The 2019 vintage in Bordeaux is just straight up special. All the wine writers, critics and consumers have chimed in. It’s unanimous.
As the technical director of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild perfectly put it, “I love the vintage because it was always, always delicious. The fruit was delicious before the harvest. The juice was delicious before the vinification, during the vinification, after malolactic and at the beginning of aging.” I’m telling you people…. It was special.
Today, I’m returning with an exclusive on one of the star wines of the entire legendary 2019 vintage in Bordeaux. This one has all the scores – 4 scores of 95 points or more including a 97 from Wine Enthusiast and 96 from James Suckling.
It outclasses and outpoints some of the big names in Bordeaux such as Duhart-Milon, Leoville Poyferre, Le Bon Pasteur and Ducru-Beaucaillou. And from the first second you open the bottle, until the last drop that you shake like crazy to get out, this is one of those bottles that excites you, captures your full attention and doesn’t let go.
In stock
97 Points, Wine Enthusiast
This estate has made a dark, dense wine in this vintage. That density is penetrated by the freshness of the black currant fruits. The result is a wine that is powered both by structure and crisp fruit. There is definitely plenty of aging potential here.
96 Points, James Suckling
A vibrant, fragrant red with aromas of blackberries, currants, walnuts and mint chocolate. Medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins. Pretty walnut notes on the polished finish. Fantastic length. Driven acidity and focus.
96 Points, Vinous
The 2019 La Gaffelière is just as impressive as it was en primeur. Bright and tightly wound, La Gaffelière sizzles with energy. Dark red fruit, mocha, blood orange, mint and dried flowers lend striking aromatic presence. There is some youthful austerity here, but nothing time in bottle won’t take care of.
95 Points, Decanter
An estate with a gathering sense of excitement around it, and once again proves why with the 2019. Sleek and flavourful, with the insistent tug of limestone slowing things down and allowing the juice and the tension to really inform the palate. Creamy texture also, with blueberry and raspberry fruit played gently against tobacco and crushed stone minerality. Highly successful.
95 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship 2019 Château La Gaffeliere is mostly Merlot, yet the cuvée always includes around 15% Cabernet Franc. It offers a complex array of spiced red and black fruits, cedary herbs, lead pencil, and a kiss of tobacco to go with a medium-bodied, elegant, impressively balanced style on the palate. It shows the more classic style of the vintage, has no hard edges, and is going to be relatively accessible in its youth yet also age gracefully.
95 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
The 2019 La Gaffelière wafts from the glass with a rich bouquet of blackberries and cherries mingled with subtle hints of burning embers and loamy soil that’s framed by a deft application of creamy new oak. Medium to full-bodied, deep and seamless, it’s a concentrated, vibrant wine built around bright acids and fine, powdery tannins. Its vivid fruit tones and classical balance make this Cabernet Franc-rich blend a promising candidate for sustained bottle age. Anyone who has tasted the great wines this estate produced in the 1950’s and 1960’s knows how great this site can be; and with stricter selection as well as the elimination of fruit from vines growing on the plain from the blend, that potential appears to be being unleashed at last.
100 Points, Jeb Dunnuck – 99-100 Points, James Suckling – 98-100 Points, Parker’s Wine Advocate
“Absolutely pure gold and reminding me of the 2009 (or is it the 2010?), the 2020 Château Smith Haut Lafitte sports a dense purple hue to go with incredible aromatics of blackberries, blueberries, scorched earth, wood smoke, and acacia flowers. One of the most concentrated, rich, and sexy wines in the vintage, this massive and extraordinarily opulent 2020 shows the vintage’s pure, elegant profile yet backs it up with sensational levels of fruit and texture. Based on 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it already offers pleasure given its wealth of fruit, but it deserves 7-8 years of bottle age and will evolve for 40-50 years. Not enough can be said about the quality of these wines.”
-Jeb Dunnuck
The Adaptation Cabernet allows superstar winemaker Jeff Owens to make a Cabernet with other Bordeaux varietals from a collection of the top vineyards from across the valley. This is PlumpJack’s “Quilt” so to speak. It features Cabernet along the Silverado Trail in Stag’s Leap from their own Odette Vineyards as well as Heitz’s Trailside Vineyard, to go with fruit from St. Helena, Chaix’s vineyard in Rutherford, Merlot form mountainous terrain of Howell Mountain, along with fruit from Oak Knoll, and Carneros. Together, this blend comes together effortlessly Owens, who has woven a particularly juicy, dark-fruited Cab that will knock peoples’ socks off.
92 Points, Vinous – 92 Points, James Suckling – 91 Points, Wine & Spirits
“The 2021 Malbec Reserva, from Vistalba, Lujan de Cuyo, was 60% aged in barrels for 12 months. Purple in color. The nose presents notes of fresh plum and violets, white pepper, strawberry, hints of spice and aromas from the aging process. It’s initially indulgent in the mouth, with good fat, and volume and a velvety texture. The flavors are bold and full-bodied. This 2021 overdelivers at the price.” -Vinous
Winemaker Kian Tavakoli (Opus One, Clos du Val) continues to excel even while others struggle. In 2017, he still managed to deliver a beautiful and opulent Napa Valley Cabernet that’s both dark and juicy. The wine hails from both Coombsville and Rutherford, giving it distinct characteristics and a lot of drive. Deep ruby to the rim with excellent concentration, notes of Bing cherries, raspberry pie and hints of vanilla. On the palate, big wonderfully jammy fruit with young but impressive tannins and great length. The finish leaves notes of black cherry, and baked blueberry pie. Fantastic Napa value.
