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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Gold Medal (Best in Show), 2023 Mundus Vini International Tasting
The area has also been isolated from the rest of Spain for generations, which has kept the wine prices far lower than wines of this quality would be anywhere else in the world. That’s why, despite having the Torres family name on the bottle and the consistent huge press (including the Gold Medal & Best in Show at the 2023 Mundus Vini International Wine Awards in Germany), these wines can still be scooped up for under $20/bottle. It’s like the Sancerre pricing of yesteryear.
Every year, Pierre Sparr’s Alsacian Riesling is one of the top scoring wines in the under $20 category. There’s a consistency there and consumers know they can count on a Riesling that is aromatic, fruity, elegant, clean and vibrant. Pierre Sparr wines are extremely food-friendly especially in the widely praised 2021 vintage where quality rose to an all-time high. It’s a bone-dry beauty with layers of citrus fruits, framed by wet stone and mineral character that adds dimension.
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.”
From just west of Sancerre, Vincent’s vines are tended organically in flint-laden, calcareous soil which lends a great brightness to the wine. The wine is crisp and aromatic Sauvignon, and is a superb choice for a “cocktail” wine, as an aperitif or to accompany just about anything from sea.
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