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 $24.95
True wine enthusiasts (and tiny truck lovers) have super fond memories of Hess. Donald Hess is one of the true great wine pioneers in California, and for a long time, no winery could outscore or outclass the Hess Collection. Robert Parker Jr. called his wines, “Napa’s greatest bargain.”
As Parker’s Wine Advocate recently noted, “Hess Collection winery up on Mt. Veeder is profiting from a complete makeover and producing better and better wines as well as more special cuvées. This was a winery that burst on the scene in the mid-1980s with some terrific wines and then became moribund. That’s all changing now, as the recent releases strongly evidence.”
With decades of experience in California making quality Cabernet and Chardonnay, the Hess Collection has expanded their holdings of late, allowing them to make wines from Mt. Veeder, Howell Mt, and Allomi vineyard in Napa. But despite all the aforementioned new special cuvees, and top sites to make their Cabs, their most talked about Cabernet doesn’t even come from Napa.
I was recently at a tasting where the Hess Maverick was being poured. People wouldn’t shut up about it, so I went to check it out. With a sleek black label in Hess’ traditional packaging, I assumed this was a Napa Reserve that was going to run me $100/btl. What I discovered was nothing like that at all.
The Maverick Ranch series is an ode to Donald Hess and his pioneering spirit. With the same energy as the Collection’s original founder, the wines are all made in Paso Robles, one of if not California’s top rising Cabernet region. This Cabernet is silly. It’s just about as good as any I’ve had from Hess, and you could lock into about four of them for the price of one Napa Cab (that probably won’t be as good).
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The secret to Philippe’s tightly wound, complex Pinot Noir is a combo of ancient vines, natural farming techniques, and low yields. The wines are built to age, with incredible tension and length. And the secret to me securing his other-wordly 2017 old-vine Gevry-Chambertin can be chalked up to a great relationship and over a decade supporting superior Burgundian winemaking. The wine is scary good. The nose is wild, filled with spiced dark raspberries, red flowers, and baking spices. The palate is elegant and racy, with a dynamic tension that runs right through its minute-long finish. This is a high-toned, wound-up Pinot, that is starting to hit its prime and is really turning out to be a ‘must-have’ for true Burgundy lovers.
In the 2020 vintage in Gevrey-Chambertin, yields were super low and temperatures were hotter than most Burgundian winemakers are accustomed. Many picked too late when the sugars were high and the fruit really ripe, but that was not the play. Still, Ann remained as cool in those hot temps as she did so many years ago in Napa, concentrating more on acid levels than sugars and picking at just the right time. This wine is absolutely singing – it’s an age-worthy beauty that should be even better in 4-7 years.
Winemaker Pascal Sirat consistently puts out some of the best value Bordeaux in the region but he may have outdone himself in what was a stellar 2019 vintage throughout the region. 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.
94 Points, Tasting Panel
This is a really exciting new release in the collection of single-vineyards from the Wagner Family, and arguably the most interesting one of the bunch. This is the only Pinot Noir in the Caymus collection that has the advantage of being from a natural Pinot Noir haven in the Russian River Valley. Dairyman Vineyard’s proximity to the pacific ocean, with its morning fog and afternoon coastal breezes allows for an even and elongated growing season, with super concentrated and expressive grape clusters that help make this Dijon clone Pinot Noir one that you need.
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