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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
$28.00 $25.00
This past week, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate covered Spanish wines. This is what expert, Luis Gutierrez had to say: “Let me start with a bang: I haven’t been so excited about Rioja in many, many years! And what has happened?
Why is their Spanish wine expert so excited? Because of all the new blood and new boutique projects that are launching.
He then highlighted Exopto, the newish project from Frenchman Tom Puyaubert and his group of friends who have been transforming the entire region with their use of biodynamics – even teaching their neighbors how to transform their vineyards.
Exopto has become a force throughout Spain in a short amount of time. Pyaubert has several vineyards that he’s been improving in the region focused on Tempranillo and Garnacha. Each year it seems like he adds a new element to his winemaking, consistently tinkering to find the freshest, purest version of Rioja he can, expertly slicing and dicing the vineyards for his blends.
His ‘Horizonte de Expoto’ is probably the most exciting in the lineup in terms of both exceptional quality and price. The wine is a combination of grapes from Abalos and San Vicente de la Sonsierra and is a traditional blend of 80% Tempranillo with 10% each of Garnacha and Graciano. The wine is made in concrete vats with indeigenous yeasts and then matured in 600-liter demi-muids and 225-liter barriques for a year. Needless to say, when the wine comes out, it is rich with nuance and incredible depth.
Out of stock
93 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
A traditional red blend of 80% Tempranillo with 10% each Garnacha and Graciano, the 2020 Horizonte de Exopto combines grapes from Ábalos and, since 2016, also San Vicente de la Sonsierra, as he cannot produce village wines from there as his winery is in Laguardia! This year he also added the new plots from Baños de Ebro that represent 15% of the blend and which he feels add fresh red fruit notes and silky tannins. It showcases the Sonsierra zone with fresher Tempranillo with balance, length and the chalky sensation from the limestone soils. It fermented in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts and matured 50/50 in 600-liter demi-muids and 225-liter barriques for 12 months. It follows the path of 2019 but with a little more freshness.
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”
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.
The second year of this elegant, silky smooth Willamette Valley Pinot Noir crafted by Bertrand de Villane of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti fame. Again it comes from the gorgeous Winter’s Hill Estate about 700 feet above sea level in the Dundee Hills. All indications are that the 2019 is going to be one of the best for Pinot Noir since 1991. A flawless summer that benefited from very little rain mixed with cool, breezy summer nights. With a round, supple mouthfeel and a sturdy backbone this will age gracefully for a decade plus. Bertrand’s wines just have a signature stamp that is unmistakably his. This is phenomenal.
Winemaker Pascal Sirat consistently puts out some of the best value Bordeaux in the region but he may have outdone himself in the 2018 vintage. Just south of Pomerol, the vines at Panchille borrow deep in the soil. The resulting wines are ripe but fresh, with an aromatic complexity and stony finish usually reserved for wine twice the price. Daniel Boulud tells me it’s been the hottest bottle of wine at Bar Boulud for over a month, so I figured I’d better hurry up and secure my allocation! Don’t miss it.
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