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
$22.00 $19.00
Rico Nuevo is a relatively new player in the Spanish wine scene, but they’re already making plenty of waves. The winery is right near Leon in the heralded Gredos Region. I’d call them ‘under the radar’ but all eight wines they submitted to Parker’s Wine Advocate got at least a 90-point score. That’ll help spread the word pretty quickly.
The key to success here is the region of Gredos itself as well as the 77-year old Garnacha vines that the winery taps into. The region is known for making a more savory, higher toned expression of Garnacha, but Rico Nuevo really epitomizes that elegance.
They divide their own property with 40 micro parcels, all along the highest elevations of the north side of the Gredos Mountains. Here everything is organic and biodynamic and they’re very hands off in the vineyard, letting the gnarly old-vines do all the talking. It works so well.
We have their baseline ‘Garnacha’ today, a grenache made from granitic parcels in the Alberche Valley. It’s a big wine with lots of primary fruit but also a minerality from the rocky, granite soil and some floral notes that are unique to this regio
Only 2 left in stock
92 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
Their regional Garnacha 2021 Rico-Nuevo was produced with grapes on granite soils from different vineyards in the villages of Burgohondo and El Barraco. This is subtle and pure, defined and clean, with moderate alcohol and ripeness, vibrant and fresh, with the fine granularity of the granite soils. They had to sort and select the grapes because it was a wet harvest, then fermented with some full clusters (less than in 2020) and kept the wine in stainless steel until bottled. There is a big jump in quality in this cuvée. And it’s a bargain.
#24 Wine of the Year (2022), Wine Spectator
92 Points, Wine Spectator – 91 Points, James Suckling
“This supple red shows a core of cherry and plum fruit allied to olive, juniper and tobacco notes. Delivers well-integrated tannins and acidic structure, lingering nicely on the finish.”
91 Points, Wine Enthusiast
Always the one with the most personality of the bunch, this is what Wine Enthusiast had to say about the 2021 release: “This extremely ripe and bold style of Pinot Noir will please those seeking such lushness. Dark in the glass, it begins with black cherry, toasty caramel and cola milk shake aromas.” The cool, coastal days and abundance of sunshine lines up perfectly for a wine that has a good natural acidic backbone, with bold fruit-forward flavors. In an easy 2021 vintage, Joe Wagner had a field day with this single-vineyard beauty.
The newly released Fiancetto Howell Mt. Cabernet is a dream – a gorgeous, elegant dark-fruited Cabernet Sauvignon that is it picks up time in the glass, unfurls its full signature of cedar laced cassis nose and mid palate of chocolate-covered cherries and savory spices. Only four palates of this (224 cases) were made off a gorgeous, sprawling high elevation spot 1500 feet above sea level. It’s full and plush and finishes fresh and oh so long. The price is crazy for Howell Mountain Cabernet but that’s what Ry Richards and Fiancetto is all about.
WS #4 2019 Wine of the Year, 96 Points, Wine Spectator
2016 was an incredibly special year in Napa Valley. It was essentially the 5th straight vintage of near perfect-conditions and a lot of the big boys produced some of their biggest, most elegant Cabernets to date. Groth’s was still one of the standouts in any group, a deeply concentrated, weighty Cab with sappy, juicy fruit and a carefully intertwined tannic structure. Absolutely gorgeous.