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
$55.00 $30.00
As Goethe once said – “To understand Italy, Sicily is the clue to everything.” And perhaps, no region better expresses the passion that the country brings to its wines more so than the island at the tip of Italy’s boot.
And that passion is most pronounced in the small region that is now attracting winemakers world wide to its tiny boundaries – Mt Etna. Where winegrowers literally feel the ground rumble below them and where active massive eruptions are still a distinct reality (there was one just last year).
So why are these winemakers literally taking their life in their hands just to work a few hectares of land? Because there are no vineyards like it in the world.
The soil here is mineral rich, but nutrient poor, composed of ash, decomposed lava and sand. The wines crafted off these soils are complex– deeply concentrated with dark rich fruit, featuring a silky weave of soft tannins and a great backbone for aging. As Jancis Robinson once famously opined “Is Etna the Burgundy of the Mediterranean?”
With super hot and dry summers and cool, mountainous nights along the volcano, the grapes ripen later than almost all others throughout the world, coming into its own in mid-late October when most of the rest of Italy has long since picked.
In their rave 93-point review of the wine, Vinous called it, “Lovely stuff” calling it, “Ripe and expansive but also very pure and clean on the palate.” Of the very few wines that make it stateside from this tiny volcano rim, my favorite by far is from Tenuta di Fessina. If you have time to sit and drink it– it will marvel. It takes time to unwind in the glass, constantly pealing back new layers of intricacy. Red and black currants with smooth tannins and a hint of bramble and baking spice on the finish. This is an impeccably balanced wine.
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93 Points, Vinous Media
Deep red-ruby. Flamboyant aromas of plum, chestnut and violet with high-pitched notes of spicy plum sauce. Sweet, ripe and expansive but also very pure and clean on the palate, this medium-bodied wine is tangy and penetrating today. Closes long and suave with lively acids but avoids coming off as hard. Lovely stuff.
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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.”
The secret to Philippe’s tightly wound, complex Pinot Noir is a combo of ancient vines, natural farming techniques, and low yields. The wines are built to age, with incredible tension and length. And the secret to me securing his other-wordly 2017 old-vine Gevry-Chambertin can be chalked up to a great relationship and over a decade supporting superior Burgundian winemaking. The wine is scary good. The nose is wild, filled with spiced dark raspberries, red flowers, and baking spices. The palate is elegant and racy, with a dynamic tension that runs right through its minute-long finish. This is a high-toned, wound-up Pinot, that is starting to hit its prime and is really turning out to be a ‘must-have’ for true Burgundy lovers.
In the 2020 vintage in Gevrey-Chambertin, yields were super low and temperatures were hotter than most Burgundian winemakers are accustomed. Many picked too late when the sugars were high and the fruit really ripe, but that was not the play. Still, Ann remained as cool in those hot temps as she did so many years ago in Napa, concentrating more on acid levels than sugars and picking at just the right time. This wine is absolutely singing – it’s an age-worthy beauty that should be even better in 4-7 years.
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.
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