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
$125.00 $99.00
My most memorable meal in Italy didn’t happen at any Michelin starred restaurant in Alba. It came at the end of a crazy trek from Beaune to Monforte one winter many years ago. That drive was made without a phone and with my Michelin map spread across the dashboard. That is, until the serious snow started falling just outside of Mount Blanc. With my nose pressed close to windshield, my right arm frantically cleared the window of fog because amazingly, the crappy rental’s defroster actually made the visibility worse. Nine harrowing hours later, I stumbled my way to the kitchen of the Grasso household, frozen and starving, where a bowl of fresh pappardelle in a rabbit ragu was set in front of me by Gianluca’s mom and a glass of the most remarkable Barolo was poured into oversized crystal. I’ve never eaten so well.
Gianluca Grasso calls the vineyards Gavarini and Ginestra his “brothers”. Even though these vineyards are within a stones throw of each other, Gianluca’s “brothers” are far from twins. They are incredibly different and every year manage to show off the entire spectrum of complexity and flavors possible in Barolo. In my tasting experience, 2016 is Gianluca’s finest.
The 2016 “Ginestra Casa Mate” compared to its sibling the Gavarini is the one that Galloni says is more of “textural resonance and volume.” It’s a perfect collector’s bottle for a Barolo that will age for decades and isn’t quite ready to be thrust into the limelight just yet. However, armed with two separate rave 97pt reviews, it’s clear the future for this wine is something special– from one of the best producers in all of Italy.
Out of stock
97 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Given the care and reputation of this estate, I’m betting on a very long cellar evolution for this bottle. With fruit from a three-hectare plot in Ginestra, it offers beautiful structure with integrated acidity and tannins. The mouthfeel is gorgeous, but I wish the wine would offer more on the bouquet. Red fruit and wild berry are followed by grilled herb, crushed flower and dried lilac. The aromatic playlist is subtle and hushed.
97 Points, Antonio Galloni- Vinous
Ample and creamy on the palate, with tremendous depth, the 2016 Barolo Ginestra Casa Matè is super impressive, even in the early going. Next to the Gavarini Chiniera, the Ginestra Casa Matè is a Barolo of textural resonance and volume. Black cherry, plum and a range of balsamic notes infuse the 2016 with tons of character. The is one of the real standouts of the year.
96 Points, Vinous
This is a gorgeous Estate Cabernet blend- richly aromatic with currents, plums, hint of violets and savory notes of cedar. At this young age it is showing all the depth of flavor and textural richness that are hallmarks of Diamond Mountain and Dyer Vineyard. It’s a classic vintage, hitting all the notes that you have come to expect from Dyer and Diamond Mountain. The grapes are grown in our 2.3 acre Diamond Mountain Vineyard in the Napa Valley.
96 Points, Wine Enthusiast
The gorgeous and full-bodied Goldridge Vyd Pinot Noir is made with fruit grown from 30+ year old vines and harvested in small lots before aging in 45% new French oak. It’s expertly blended to showcase the harmony of the fruit as well as the bright aromatics and luscious blackberry/red berry fruit that have made it a standard-bearer for the Russian River Valley.
With seemingly infinite access to some of the absolute very best vineyards in the most choice AVAs in the valley, the Wagner’s set out to make Quilt– a Cabernet blend from a patchwork of the top sites in Napa (Oakville, St Helena, Atlas Peak, Coombsville, Calistoga, and Howell Mountain.) The brand new 2019 edition is a beauty – deeply concentrated, rich and a truly show stopping Cabernet. It’s a dark, hedonistic blend that combines elegance with power and pairs the two together effortlessly.
98 Pts, Jeb Dunnuck – 96 Pts, Vinous – 95 Pts, Decanter – 95 Pts, Wine Spectator
“The 2016 Poggio al Granchio Brunello di Montalcino is aromatically expressive of perfectly ripe cherry, sweet herbs, dried flowers, and stony earth. There is generous purity of fruit on the palate, with mineral-rich earth, and it had the most balanced and harmonious structure in the lineup on this tasting, with present but fine-grained tannin. I love this wine for its darker mineral edge in counterpoint with crunchy and ripe fruit. It is a super-pleasurable wine right out of the gate and will continue to be so over the next 20 or more years”
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