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.
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Poached lobster is a perfect match
This is a super elegant Meursault from the family-run estate located in the village of Monthelie, between Volnay and Meursault in the heart of Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune. It leads with nutty aromas of brioche, fresh butter and delicate citrus and is extremely well structured, long and stylish with great purity of fruit.
Gold Medal (Best in Show), 2023 Mundus Vini International Tasting
The area has also been isolated from the rest of Spain for generations, which has kept the wine prices far lower than wines of this quality would be anywhere else in the world. That’s why, despite having the Torres family name on the bottle and the consistent huge press (including the Gold Medal & Best in Show at the 2023 Mundus Vini International Wine Awards in Germany), these wines can still be scooped up for under $20/bottle. It’s like the Sancerre pricing of yesteryear.
The newly released 2022 Domaine Laroche Chablis Saint Martin has some big shoes to fill as the last four vintages have earned 92-points or higher, but the early indications are that this is line with previous vintages if not even a little bit ahead at this stage. The problem is – there’s almost none to go around with much smaller yields. Still this is beautiful and crisp, with good focus, energy and depth. I get the signature green fruits on the nose, with some Asian pear, and a hint of jasmine blossom. There’s a beautiful mineral streak that highlights this one. It’s a fantastic White Burg for the price.
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 2022 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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