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
$35.00
Xavier Vignon is easily one of the top winemakers in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and arguably the takes the top spot (especially if the full list of wines he ‘consults’ on ever came to light). He’s certainly the Southern Rhone’s most innovative winemaker. The Wine Advocate’s Jeb Dunnuck described Xavier as “one of the leading oenologists in the Southern Rhone – and you only need to taste his own wines to understand why.”
Well, we have. If you’ve had Xavier’s 100% then you know how much bang for the buck the master can pack into an unassuming bottle. If you’ve been lucky enough to land a bottle or two of his high-flying, high-scoring Anonyme – then you know what he’s capable of producing in the Saturday night market.
But Xavier’s best wines are the ones that completely buck convention in their pursuit of perfection – one hundred year old French wine laws be damned. Xavier’s non-vintage blends, when he holds back some of his favorite barrels from each vintage to make something special like his ‘La Reserve’ which picked the most astonishing recent vintages in CDP and blended them all together into a single masterpiece that famously drew a 100pt review in barrel from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.
Today’s wine shows that the Southern Rhone’s preeminent winemaker will accept no bounds on his creativity – especially when it comes to attempting to craft perfection. The Arcane l’Etoile is a blend of three consecutive outstanding vintages (2015, 2016, 2017) from exceptional vineyards perched quite high in elevation (600 meters) on the edge of the Grand Montmirail.
Xavier’s l’Etoile is a traditional Chateauneuf-styled blend dominated by Grenache with 30% provided by Syrah and Mourvedre but with Xavier’s his signature dash of Viognier (ala Cote Rotie) that provides an extra lift and expression of character to an already super expressive wine.
95 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from the higher elevation sites, the NV Beaumes de Venise Arcane Etoile is another elegant, finesse-oriented wine from Xavier that has both richness and freshness. A blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre as well as a small amount of Viognier from 2015, 2016, and 2017, it has something profound in its texture and balance. Notes of black raspberries, currants, dried flowers, lavender, and pepper are followed by a beautiful, full-bodied, elegant wine that might just be one of the greatest red wines to come from Beaumes de Venise.
If you’re a fan hedonistic Howell Mountain Cabernet, then this should be missed. Packed with immense fruit, this is a Napa Valley powerhouse. Ruby-garnet in color this bold wine presents bright cherry flavors with nuanced undertones of chocolate and clove. Beautiful tannins prop up a sophisticated and persistent finish that just goes on for days.
Bourgogne Rouge from the fancy estates of Vosne, Gevrey and Chambolle start at $45 and quickly escalates from there. To find real value, you have to get off the rue nationale. But no estate in Burgundy quite delivers the bang per buck of Lydia Cornu’s fantastic Hautes Côtes de Beaune. Lydia makes old-school red Burgundy; aromatic Pinot Noir, with crunchy, juicy fruit and a sharp vibrancy that makes it just sing with food.
Obviously, I can’t tell you all the details of the vineyard source but I can let you in on a few of the details. Crafted using fruit from 1000-1500 ft in elevation, Chad’s 2019 is cool climate Pinot at its best– especially given the price tag. While similar wines (very similar wines) will fetch a $45 price tag, you can snag it today just less than half off that price on bottle one. There’s no surprise this is the #1 wine of the year in 2020.
95 Points, James Suckling – 93 Points, Robert Parker
Drawn from some the finest parcels on the storied hill of Montosoli, James Suckling says of the tiny Cerbaia estate’s newest release: “Elena Pellegrini’s 2015 Brunello is fragrant, redolent of purple flowers, sage and wild berries. The wine is dark and powerfully concentrated yet finishes fresh and kind stony, making it both fantastic at the table now and a great candidate for long aging”
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