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
$30.00
The best way to get a real sense of the magnificent Grand Cru vineyards of Elio Grasso is to lace up your hiking boots. It’s a million dollar view from the top of Gavarini. The medieval castle of Castiglione Falletto to the left. Conterno’s Cascina Francia to the right and the ever present Alps always in the distance. One handful of Gavarini’s chalky sand speaks volumes about the incredible tension and crackling minerality in the finished wine. Of course, we tried to make it up there in the middle of winter– that didn’t go as well.
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 Langhe Nebbiolo was poured into oversized crystal. I’ve never eaten so well.
A quick walk through Ginestra loads your boots with the calcareous clay that imparts its infamous power & length. For the past 35 years, Elio and his son Gianluca have produced world-class Barolo from these incredible sites, culminating in this year’s releases: the 98-point Gavarini, 97 Ginestra and the now legendary, 100-Point Rüncot Riserva.
As you can imagine, Grasso is a helluva lot more famous now than when I first tasted his brilliant Langhe Nebbiolo. The Nebbiolo combines grapes from all three famous vineyards, each imparting their distinctive personalities into a bottle that is greater than the sum of its parts. The Langhe is made in tank, with warmer, shorter fermentation than the Baroli, allowing for the more Burgundian side of Nebbiolo to emerge.
The 2019 Grasso Langhe Nebbiolo is a budding classic from a warm but long and even growing season, sure to go down as one of the greats. It explodes from the glass with complex aromatics of crushed black raspberry, violets and anise. A rich mouthfeel of sweet floral and red berries flavors leads to a stony, firm finish that goes on forever.
Out of stock
Soon to be Rated
With Herve and Fabre Montmayou wracking up NYT features, huge scores, gold medals and lifetime achievement awards, I’m left with one choice: get in now or be left in the cold. Waiting for the scores to roll in is a luxury that we know longer have with Fabre Montmayou. Good for the winery, but not so good for us. Rest assured though, the 2020 Cabernet Franc Herve sent me is fantastic, and will surely be minted with the same kind of high-flying praise as the vintage before it. But by that time, you’ll only have a bottle or two left in the cellar.
98 Points, James Suckling #36 Top US Wine of the Year – 97 Points, Decanter
In 2015, the last of four consecutive drought years and one of Napa’s great vintages over the past few decades, it’sno surprise that one of Napa’s all-time great wineries turned in a flawless bottling from the legendary Martha’s Vineyard. Decanter absolutely gushed, giving it 97 points and declaring, “no Cabernet has the aromatic profile of Martha’s. They would even go so far to say, “There isn’t a more definitive Cabernet Sauvignon in the world, at any price.” James Suckling would go a step further in the points department giving the wine a 98, but if Wine Enthusiast had got their hands on it, this would be a 100-point wine yet again. Just 30 bottles of Napa winemaking history up for grabs today.
95 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“Once again, Fabio Motta knocks it out of the ballpark. The 2016 Bolgheri Superiore Le Gonnare is another super rich and densely concentrated Tuscan blended wine from this classic vintage. This blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Syrah is soft and velvety. In fact, the wine plays its best cards in terms of the supple and soft nature of the mouthfeel and tannins. The wine is partially aged (only 20%) in new oak. Only 6,600 bottles were made total.”
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.
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