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
$35.00
Since 1999, I’ve been making the pilgrimage to Domaine André Bonhomme. But it was on my last visit to the tiny hamlet of Viré that young Aurelien Palthey led Melissa and me to the cellar in which he’d grown up at his grandfather’s side.
Then we proceeded to basically time travel through almost 60 years of vintages drawn off the oldest parcel on the estate – an unassuming bottle simply labeled Vielles Vignes. What was inside the bottle was anything but simple.
After barrel tasting the latest vintages of unfinished wine, he led us back into time, a tasting that lasted three hours, finishing with his grandad’s 1961, a textbook white Burgundy was bright golden in color, perfectly fresh and vibrant, despite its 59 YEARS of bottle age!
These 80 year old Chardonnay vines, rooted in the limestone of southern Burgundy, produce profound white Burgundy. There are very few producers in Meursault and Puligny that can claim their wines can age as long as Bonhomme’s and their wines cost 3-4 times what Aurelien’s do.
The 2019 Domaine André Bonhomme Viré-Clessé Vieilles Vignes, crafted by André’s grandson, Aurelien Palthey, is one for the ages.
Glistening pale yellow-green to the rim, infused with mouth-watering aromas of ripe apple, pear and quince, tinged with anise and bitter honey. Full-bodied and rich in the mid-palate, yet still wonderfully light on its feet, finishing with textbook Meursaultien cut and vibrancy. Drink now if you’re impatient, or lay down for a decade or two. Big dividends will be doled out to the patient!
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The newly released Riesling Feinherb 2021 is a lively, juicy wine with an elegant bouquet of minerals, wet stone and ripe fruit. On the palate, the wine’s slight off-dry component is beautifully balanced by the steely acidity typical of the Mosel. Because this is freshly released, the fruit is vibrant and succulent and it comes in somewhere between off-dry and semi-sweet. It’s a great example of Riesling, especially at the price.
Stephan Steinmetz is a star in the Mosel wine region. His old vines are rooted in Kimmeridgian limestone, the exact same vein of rock that winds its way from Sancerre through Chablis and Champagne to its final out-cropping here in the Obermosel. His Elbling is glorious — both completely unlike anything I’ve ever had and also eerily familiar. The color is almost clear, some might call it silver. A stunning nose of green apples and lemon peel gives way to fresh pear and bright citrus fruits on the palate. It’s a stunningly focused wine with a healthy dose of minerality and acid zip, not unlike great Sancerre/Chablis and bone dry.
2022 was an absolutely perfect vintage in this respect and unfortunately, I think it will be one of the last, if not THE last. As winegrower Jean-Marc Brocard reported to Decanter: “When we taste the wines, we feel that the balance between acidity and ripeness is very good. It’s a classic style of Chablis. In the end, even after such a heat during summertime, we stay in a cool year reference.” He also alluded to the ageability of the vintage, saying “Let’s give them time, we must let nature do its work.”
95 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
“The 2018 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard marks the beginning of winemaker Joe Nielsen’s tenure at the winery. Pouring a medium yellow with a light golden hue, it’s most reserved of the flight aromatically at the moment, with yellow chamomile flowers, ripe peach, beeswax, and white flowers. Full-bodied, it retains excellent tension and focus on the palate, with apricot, orange zest, and a savory finish with a bit of spice. I suspect this will come around and open with time. Drink 2024-2030.” -Jeb Dunnuck
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