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
$17.50
You may remember the family from earlier in the year. In January, we offered the Viñedos de Páganos El Puntido Gran Reserva 2007, the #1 ranked Gran Reserva of the vintage with 97 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. The few bottles we were able to procure were understandably gobbled up quickly.
And while Viñedos de Páganos is another one of Master of Wine Tim Atkin’s first growth Rioja wineries, it’s not even the family’s flagship winery. That distinction belongs to another first growth, Sierra Cantabria, whose entire fleet of wines is as formidable and imposing as the Spanish Armada. This past year, eight of their ten wines were given 94 points or more by Decanter. It’s a yearly affair atop the rankings. But in special years? Their wines are something else.
The 2016 vintage in Rioja was the best vintage since 2010 and one of a handful of elite vintages in the last half century, their wines need a Uhaul truck for all their awards. Their 2016 Magico was awarded 99 points and chosen as Rioja’s Red Wine of the Year. Their Señorío de San Vicente and Amancio Tempranillo bottlings also got 97 points, but all 3 of those will run you at least $75. But if you’re looking to get a piece of the 2016 action with arguably Rioja’s best winery, then you’re still in luck.
Out of stock
92 Points, James Suckling
Lots of fresh and linear fruit in this crianza with crushed berries and licorice. Medium to full body. Lightly chewy yet polished tannins. Flavorful finish. Drink now.
91 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
The 2016 Crianza is pure Tempranillo from a year they consider spectacular because of the health and ripeness that the grapes achieved very slowly. The destemmed grapes fermented in stainless steel, and the wine matured in French and American oak barrels for 14 months. It is still quite toasty and has a classical profile despite the new-ish oak, a little creamy, with that soft, voluptuous mouthfeel but with the fresh profile of the 2016 vintage, with red rather than black fruit. It’s a year of good yields, and the fruit and the wines have very good balance and freshness, less concentrated and more drinkable. It’s a year of balance and freshness, with good yields and healthy grapes. It has to be one of the finest vintages for this wine.
Now some of the best Pinot Noir in the world comes from the Yamhill-Carlton District (this small neck of the woods has earned its own AVA) and specifically from Shea Vineyards. Big name wineries clamor for fruit: Antica Terra, Beaux Freres, Bergstrom, Penner-Ash, & Sine Qua Non, to name a few. This Pinot is lights out and even given the pedigree, drinks several echelons higher. Blueberry, Blackberry, Blue Cheese (?!?), chanterelle mushrooms, lavender, mint – I could go on. It’s literally got it all, but I won’t spoil it for you.
100 Points, Decanter
“Finely textured, with a nuanced perfume that fills the glass and takes you to the intense underbrush of Tuscany. Succulent and yet savory, this has a lilting freshness that is overlaid with ripe berry fruits, sage and white pepper spice, and clear minerality in terms of its scraping texture that makes your mouth water on the finish. Feels light and sculpted and yet has an intensity that skewers you to the spot. This is a great wine, with scope and imagination that doesn’t want to let you go. Genuinely stands out among the wines of this tasting, and these are a fine array of wines. As with Colore, Bibi Graetz selects only old vines, the youngest 50 years old from five different vineyard sites across Tuscany, all farmed organically.”
99 Points, James Suckling – 98 Points, Wine Enthusiast – 97 Points, Parker’s Wine Advocate
“This is an exceptional vintage of this exceptional wine, its foundation built around 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, with dustings of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Beautiful in berry fruit, textured and refined tannin and hints of lavender, licorice and sage, it has complexity and energy in equal measure, lengthy and beautifully focused, a truly impressive achievement of site, vintage and winemaker.” -Wine Enthusiast
96 Points, Wine Enthusiast
The gorgeous and full-bodied Goldridge Vyd Pinot Noir is made with fruit grown from 30+ year old vines and harvested in small lots before aging in 45% new French oak. It’s expertly blended to showcase the harmony of the fruit as well as the bright aromatics and luscious blackberry/red berry fruit that have made it a standard-bearer for the Russian River Valley.
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