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.”
With seemingly infinite access to some of the absolute very best vineyards in the most choice AVAs in the valley, the Wagner’s set out to make Quilt– a Cabernet blend from a patchwork of the top sites in Napa (Oakville, St Helena, Atlas Peak, Coombsville, Calistoga, and Howell Mountain.) The brand new 2021 edition is a beauty – deeply concentrated, rich and a truly show stopping Cabernet. It’s a dark, hedonistic blend that combines elegance with power and pairs the two together effortlessly.
It’s no surprise the Wine Advocate has called the Ventoux a “screaming bargain.” Carved off the left bank of the Rhone River, the 2020 Delas Ventoux is a gorgeous medium-bodied wine with wonderful crushed red fruits, a silky mouthfeel, tremendous structure and that signature Rhone spice on the finish. I haven’t had this wine available for a few vintages, but I figure it’s the perfect springtime Red to bring back in the fold!
93 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate – 93 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
“Vignon’s 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape delivers even more than I hoped for based on a previous sample. Hints of garrigue, roses, cherries and raspberries appear on the nose, while the palate is full-bodied, silky and long, with an intense, almost briny finish. The assemblage is 50% Grenache, 10% each Mourvèdre and Syrah, plus smaller proportions of seven other permitted varieties, while the élevage includes foudres, demi-muids, concrete and wooden tanks, plus terracotta amphorae.”