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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
$49.99
96 Points, Jeb Dunnuck – 95 Pts, Antonio Galloni- Vinous. The highest rated Chardonnay yet!
**This is a super rare bottling. Less than 80 cases were made with most carefully passed out to the Ojai allocation list. I managed to get 54 bottles to offer up today. First come first served.**
One American winemaker that I’ve always admired whose Chardonnays are cut from the French cloth is Adam Tolmach at Ojai. I’ve known Adam and his Assistant Winemaker, Fabien Castel for over a decade and over that time I’ve tried a lot of their wines. The Chardonnays are always impeccably balanced, with tremendous acidity and minerality that I love. He’s a boundary pusher, constantly tinkering, never following rules and experimenting with sugars, acidity, pick dates, barrels and everything else under the sun.
Perhaps their greatest white wine release to date is the uber small batch of Special Bottled Chardonnay from the Puerta del Mar Vineyard. PDM or the “door to the sea” is the perfect vineyard to challenge the classically trained winemaker. It’s the chilliest vineyard in the Ojai fleet and the perfect one for making White Burgundy-esque Chards with piercing minerality and natural acidity. Perched on the very edge of where grapes can actually get ripe, just a ridge away from the Pacific. The vines struggle mightily – which in excellent vintages means a concentration of flavor and depth that is truly absolutely remarkable.
Read Galloni’s rave review below where he calls the wine, “gorgeous” or Jeb Dunnuck’s 96-point review in which he finishes with, “It brings another level of depth and complexity and is a brilliant Chardonnay.”
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96 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
Made in tiny quantities, the 2020 Chardonnay Puerta Del Mar Vineyard Special Bottling is a deeper, richer, more serious Chardonnay that warrants serious attention. Offering classic Chardonnay stone fruits, toasted brioche, and chalky minerality, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a layered, concentrated mouthfeel, high yet integrated acidity, subtle oak, and a great finish. It brings another level of depth and complexity and is a brilliant Chardonnay.
95 Points, Vinous
The 2020 Chardonnay Special Bottling Puerta del Mar is gorgeous. The 2020 offers up hints of lemon confit, white flowers, mint and pear that all take shape in this creamy, layered Chardonnay. The 2020 spent 16 months in barrel, so on the longer side.
Poached lobster is a perfect match
Jean-Claude Janin’s Domaine des Terres de Chatenay estate has 7 hectares of naturally farmed, old-vine Chardonnay with his vines rooted in some of the most mineral soil in all of Burgundy. The resulting wines are electric renditions of white Burgundy, with high-toned, floral aromatics, a deep concentration of green apple and pear fruit and a laser-like finish that is stony, a touch saline and a mile long. The 2021 is an extra notable year – despite a lower than normal yield, the quality across the board in Burgundy is exceptional.
This is about as special as it gets for white wine. My other Leflaive is declassified P-M but this is the real thing from the best White Burgundy producer by far. The Leflaive family’s roots in the region date back to 1717, but the wines rose to prominence under the stewardship of Joseph Leflaive. For decades and decades, they’ve been the top dog in the region – even DRC will tell you who makes the best whites! Their 2020 Puligny-Montrachet is a gorgeous, effortless bottling with a fantastic mineral streak that cuts through the abundant pure citrus fruit.
A textbook Sancerre Blanc from the village of Bué year in year out, this has become a little bit harder to get ever since it got a huge score in its first year of being reviewed. Now, our little secret isn’t such a little secret anymore. Drawn off the highest in elevation in Sancerre with the most calcareous soil, it is a chiseled, tightly wound and incredibly complex Sauvignon Blanc, which I’d argue is one of the best in the world and certainly from one of the best and most consistent winemakers in the Loire Valley.
It’s hard to beat a great value white wine and this one is a at least a cut above the rest. One prominant industry insider called the 2020 edition, “the best white wine by any within $20/cs of this price.” It’s super crisp with a great mineral streak, and was carefully picked by hand when the temperature is coolest and is kept cool all the way into the press. From there, the effect of the mineral soil takes over, providing great finesse and freshness in every bottle. This white blend has great backbone and a lot of juicy fruit coming through behind aromas of flowers and stone fruits. At this price, it’s a no brainer.
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