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
92 Points, Wine Enthusiast
This is a huge favorite of folks in the Red Bank area. It’s a bold, unapologetic Chardonnay with juicy notes of peach, lemon sorbet, baking spice and vanilla with a rich, creamy middle and plenty of natural acidity to balance it out. The lemon vanilla finish is perhaps the wine’s calling card or the sheer drinkability of it all. Either way, it’s a Chard that people adore. It’s no wonder Wine Enthusiast called this, “a big win for fans of this bold style”.
The 2016 vintage in Napa was nearly perfect for winemaker Kian Tavakoli (Opus One, Clos du Val). With ideal weather all throughout harvest, he crafted the Faustini Money Road Chardonnay off the famous vineyard located in the coveted Oakville AVA. The picturesque vineyard off Oakville Crossroad is platinum rated, known for its ideal combination of soil & climate and the big A list names that routinely source fruit. Kian’s Money Road Chard is still youthful despite having a few years of age, probably as a result of its 18 months of slumber in 1/4 new Oak.
92 Points (Best Buy), Wine Enthusiast – 90 Points, James Suckling
The winery could never expected their Tuscan Vermentino would become as integral as it has – even 25 years later, it’s still a key piece of the puzzle for Campo Maccione. It’s an unassuming wine with great viscosity and bright, savory flavors that way overdelivers for the price. James Suckling agreed, as did Wine Enthusiast. Suckling gave it a 90 and deemed it “an interesting take on Tuscan Vermentino.” Wine Enthusiast took it up a few notches, attaching a coveted ‘Best Buy’ designate to the wine along with a 92-point review for the wine “with a sophisticated restraint.”
Glistening pale yellow-green to the rim, infused with mouth-watering aromas of ripe apple, pear and quince, and crushed almonds with honey and rich creamy middle and a fantastic rush of acidity and minerality that are present throughout. A calling card of Bonhomme’s Vire-Clesse, if you closed your eyes and took a sip, it would have you convinced you were drinking Meursault at least a 3x price tag.
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