I have never been good cooking on a bbq grill, but I do enjoy eating foods that have been grilled for me. So I was delighted when friends offered to prepare a bbq grilled lunch. What’s more, all of the meats and produce they would be cooking were sourced from local New Jersey farms. Short of growing it myself, it would be hard to get anything fresher.
Suenen Champagne Oiry Blancs De Blancs Grand Cru Extra Brut made from 100% Chardonnay from the Grand Cru village of Cramant. The soil is chalk. The vins clairs (clear wines) are fermented partially in barrel and spend 9 months on the lees. The dosage is 2g/L. This is a delicate dry wine with floral aromatics, hints of green apple, a note of yellow plums and a touch of lemon with high acidity.
At the grill
Fresh zucchini on the grill
Corn on the grill
Shucking the corn
Super sweet corn grilled in the husk then shucked
Chorey-Les- Beaune 2016 “Les Beaumonts” Domaine Michel Mallard made from 100% Pinot Noir. The cuvee is produced at Les Beaumonts which faces southwest. The soil is heavy with a clayey limestone texture, with moderate stone content and good drainage. The vines are 50 and 55 years old. The grapes are sorted in the winery. Destemmed grapes and whole clusters are stacked in stainless steel vats or wooden casks. After about a week of maceration, fermentation begins. First the punching of the cap to gently extract liquids and later pumping over to adjust the tannin structure of the wine. The wine is then drawn off and some of the pressed grapes are added to the juice. The juice is then placed in French oak barrels. The wine is aged in 228 Burgundian oak turns 30% new from the forests of Allier and Vosges for 12 months. The wine has hints of cherry, raspberry, and blackberry. It was drinking well now but can last for many years.
Hot and sweet pork sausage, and herb marinated chicken on the grill
On the plate
Côtep Rotie 2001 Domaine Jamet made from 100% Syrah from 20 different parcels. Soil consists of various types of schist. Whole bunches are fermented and maceration lasts for about 3 weeks. The wine is aged for 22 months in barrels 15% are new. This is a wine that can age for 25 years. It is a medium bodied wine with hints of red fruit, black olive, kirsch, black pepper a touch of smoke, and a note of camphor. I was very impressed with this wine.
The burgers 
Ready to eat
Sweet Cherry Tomato Salad with Basil and Pine Nuts
Dinner is served. All of the meats were from River Bend Farm in Far Hills, NJ.
The meats were succulent and the vegetables fresh and sweet.
Gigondas 2016 “Confidentiel” La Domaine MonTiriua made from 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre from 10 hectares of 3 different parcels. Average age of vines is 75/85 years. The soil is Garrigues (plain soil) blue clayey sand and sandstone marl and yellow sand and sandstone. Pruning method is goblet or royat and cordon pruning with a maximum of 6 spurs and 2 buds. Harvest is manual. Traditional winemaking takes place, total destemming, light crushing, natural indigenous grape yeast. The wine is aged in cement vats for two winters then in bottle (no oak). This is a big bold wine with hints of black fruit, violets and a touch of licorice. It is an impressive wine but needs another 5 years before it will be ready to drink.
We finished the wine with four excellent New Jersey cheeses from Valley Shepherd Creamery. There was a Crotin Goat, Smokey Shepherd, Crema di Blu and Valley Thunder.
It was quite a feast, but a slice of a lightly spiced and not too sweet zucchini bread was a welcome finale.
Charles Scicolone on Wine 