Sunday Lunch

Lunch in East Hampton

On a perfect Fall afternoon, we sat on the back deck with a view of the garden at the home of friends in East Hampton.

For a starter to our lunch, our friend had made her mother’s classic recipe for chicken livers, cooked with onions and mashed with hard cooked eggs,  which we ate on toast.

For my birthday in August, our hosts had given me a bottle of Dom Perignon.  I brought it along so that we could enjoy it together.  It went great with the chicken liver toasts.

Champagne the DP 2008 made from equal amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The grapes come from five Grand Cru villages and one Premier Cru village. This is very impressive champagne with great balance, elegance and complex aromas and flavors. 

The day was cool and we decided to move indoors for the rest of our meal.

We started with a salad  of  fresh  spinach  with  pine  nuts,  apples  and  flakes  of  Parmesan.

There were roasted potatoes  with  rosemary.

Our host, ready to carve the crisp Roast Chicken from a local Long Island farm.

The chicken was roasted with thyme and garlic, and there were green beans and crusty roast potatoes.  With it, we drank

Gigondas 2003 Domaine Les Pallieres made from 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah, Mourvédre, Cinsault and Clairette. The vineyard is 25 ha and the vines are 65 years old on average. The soil is red sandy clay, limestone and scree. Fermentation is in tank and then the wine is aged in foudres for 20 months. This is a full bodied wine with hints of black fruit, licorice and a touch of raspberry and cherry. It has along finish and pleasing aftertaste.

Dessert was the always delicious and very famous Original Plum Torte from the New York Times.

We had it with vanilla ice cream.

BBQ on a Summer Afternoon

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.

A Touch of Provence in NYC

Friends who live nearby invited us for an al fresco lunch the other day.  It was a beautiful day and we sat properly social distanced at two separate tables.  Ours was set up under a pergola.  With the dappled sunlight shining through, the setting was magical and reminded us of our travels  in Provence.

The appetizers

We started with an appetizer of endive leaves filled with a creamy tuna tonnato sauce.

There were crunchy French breakfast radishes to dip in butter and salt, too.

Nuts

TrentoDOC Ferrari Perlé Method Classico 2011 made from 100% organic Chardonnay from vineyards at 300 to 700 meters with a southeast or southwesterly exposure. The soil is loose not too deep made of volcanic and glacial deposits. There are 4,500 to 5,500 plants per hectare. Harvest is by hand from in the middle of September..Fermentation and aging is in stainless steel and the wine remains on the lees for 60 months. This is an elegant well-balanced wine with hints of apple, almonds, and a touch of brioche. I was very impressed by this wine. Residual sugar 6g/l.

Breads  Bakery  provided  the  delicious  sourdough  bread.

The soup was served in a beautiful hand painted terrine.

It was a  cold  pea  soup  finished  with  a drizzle  of  cream.

Rosè Massoferraro 2018 Azienda Agricola Massoferrato made from 100% Sangiovese, picked early from vineyards located in Impruneta, on a south facing slope just south of Florence. The grapes are picked and are in contact with the skins for a few hours. The wine remains in stainless steel for a few months before release.  This is a fruity wine with good acidity, hints of cherry and a touch of spice.The Marzovilla Family owns the winery. Nicola Marzovilla is the owner of i-Trulli in NYC.

 

Potato salad  with red  onions,  green  beans  and  herbs.

Grilled  steak  with  sauteed  peppers  and  onions.

On the plate

 

Gigondas 2008 “La Reserve” Domaine Du Pourra made from 80% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, 5% Syrah and 5% Cinsault. From 20 /40 year old vines. The clay and limestone soil is planted with vines that are more then 40 years old. There are organic practices in the vineyard and minimal intervention in the vineyard. Older vintages were aged in Foudres ( old wooden vats), more recent ones in concrete. This is a complex wine with hints of blackberries, cherries, pepper, a touch of spice, undertone of lavender, a long finish and very pleasing aftertaste. It was perfect with the grilled steak.

 

Michele made and orange yogurt cake which she served with local strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

With the cake and in keeping with the Provencal theme, we had a delicious Beaumes  de  Venise.

 

Muscat Beaumes de Venise 2918 La Petite Grain D’Antonin Vignoble Alain Ignace. Made from 75% Muscat à petit blanc and 25% Muscat rouge.  The grapes are destemmed and pressed followed by a cool decantation for 18 hours. Vinification is in steel vats for 15/20 days on the lees before the mutage (adding alcohol to the must) This is a dessert wine with hints of rose water, violets. lychee nuts and unstated red fruit.

A Delightful Lunch in Provence

Once in a while, if you are lucky, you try a restaurant for the first time and it turns out to be an unforgettable dining experience. This was the case with restaurant Les Florets (which is also a hotel) just outside of Gigondas in the Provence region of France.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice breeze and some diners were sitting on the charming outdoor terrace when we arrived. We decided to sit inside (it was a little to breezy) in the comfortable and well-appointed dining room. The service was attentive but not intrusive. The food and wine may have been the best I had in my 3 weeks in the area. They have an exceptional wine list with older vintages and very good prices.

After lunch, the breeze died down somewhat and we had coffee and cognac on the terrace.

Chateauneuf du Pape Chateau De Vaudieu Blanc 2012 made from 75% Grenache and 25% Roussanne. The winery is located in the heart of the Chateauneuf du Pape appellation. The name comes from Val de Dieu (Valley of God). The vineyard is 10 hectares in the southern part of the estate and the soil is red clay, gray silex limestone and pebbles. Manual harvest in boxes of 15 kg with double sorting of the grapes in the vineyard takes place. Grapes are vinified and aged separately until blending.There is soft pressing with whole bunches. Static cold settling and alcohol fermentation is between 18 and 22 degrees. The wine is aged for 6 months. Most of the wine is aged in stainless steel and a small portion in barriques.

The wine has hints of white fruit, grapefruit, refreshing citrus notes with nice minerality and good acidity.

A small amuse bouche of salmon mousse with avocado was a nice starter.

My first course was sautéed foie gras with a red grape sauce that I really enjoyed.

Vacqueyras Domaine La Garrigue 2001   Made from 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 5% Mourvedre and 5% Cinsault The domaine is in the heart of the Vacqueyras appellation area (southern Cotes du Rhone, in the Vaucluse department, located on a plateau called Les Garrigues.) The vines are planted in 3 different types of soil: stony limestone-clay 40%, slopes and terraces 40%, and sandy 20%. The Syrah and Mourvedre vines are 40 to 50 years old and some of the Grenache vines are between 80 and 100 years old. Harvest is by hand and it takes 30 pickers about one month to harvest all the grapes. Before being vatted the grape bunches are lightly crushed without being de-stalked. During fermentation the run off juice is pumped over the cap twice a day. The grapes are pressed using two vertical hydraulic presses, and for the last two years also a pneumatic press. The wine is aged for a minimum of 18 months. The wine is not fined or filtered. It has hints of black fruit, spice and a touch of liquorice with a long finish and pleasant aftertaste.

This wine is at its peak and was a great combination with my main course of roast veal covered with black summer truffles in a rich truffle sauce.

I really enjoyed this wine and on another day, we went to visit the winery. The Brechet family owns the restaurant and the winery.

Dessert was a warm apricot tart with vanilla ice cream. Michele declared it perfection and promises to try to duplicate it for me soon. I can’t wait!

Two Traditional Restaurants in Provence

These are two of my favorite restaurants in Provence,one is perfect for lunch the other for dinner.

Restaurant Auberge de la Clue– Deep in the country east of Vaison la Romaine, this family owned restaurant serves traditional Provencal cooking at a very reasonable price.

Gizzard Salade

I could not resist ordering the gizzard salad with smoked duck breast and walnuts.  I was not disappointed.  The salad was excellent. For he second course I had duck confit one of my favorites and it was perfect. Then there was the dessert – prune ice cream with Armagnac – it was so good I forgot to take a picture of it.

We drank a Château d’Aqueria Tavel 2012.  It is made from seven different grapes, the principal one being Grenache 52%.  The vines are 35 years old.  The grapes are completely destemmed before being put into the maceration vats for 24 to 48 hours. The grape varieties are then blended two by two. After fully “bleeding” the vats (drawing off the juice), fermentation takes place at regulated temperatures (18 to 20°C). The different grape varieties are then all blended together and age for several months before being bottled at the estate. This is a fruity wine with aromas and flavors of red berries and more than a hint of strawberries and raspberries. About $20 in the US.

Restaurant Mas des Vignes –

This restaurant is on the road that goes up to Mt Ventoux. There are exquisite views across the Rhone Valley to the Cevennes Mountains. The sunsets are spectacular but do not get there too early as the sun can be blinding.

Pork Cheeks

I began with foie gras, which was perfect followed by very tender pork cheeks with mushrooms and polenta. The dessert was 3 scoops of sorbet with very intense flavors of blueberry, basil and melon. This was one of the best meals I had in Provence.

For the wine, I ordered a Gigondas Domaine du Grand Bourjassot “Cuveé Cécile” 2009.  They have 7.5 acres in Gigondas. The wine is made from 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah. This is a full-bodied wine with black fruit aromas and flavors, a hint of blueberries and a touch of lavender. About $35 in the US.

 

In Provence

When we arrived in Provence the weather was very hot, just perfect for enjoying the Rosé wines from this enchanting part of France.  Of course we would drink some white wine and if the weather cooled off, a red wine or two. We had rented a house in Abignon near Carpentras. It is very near to great wine areas such as Gigondas, Beaumes de Venise, Cotes du Rhone, and Vaqueyras, so wine would not be a problem.

Buying Shrimp at the Market in Isle Sur La Sorgue

We decided to go out for one meal a day, usually lunch, and have one meal at the house. There is a large organic garden where we can pick our vegetables and there are a number of towns nearby with great farmers markets.

Veal and Langoustine

 For lunch one afternoon we went to Restaurant L’ Oustalet in Gigondas. This restaurant has a very interesting menu different from the typical ones in the area.  One of the courses I ordered was a carpaccio of veal and langoustine mixed together covered with foam. It was not what I expected but it was very good. They also have a very good wine list from which I ordered a bottle of white wine:

Coudoulet de Beaucastle 2011 Cotes- Du-Rhone made from 30% Bourboulemc, 10% Clairette, 30% Marsanna and 30% Viognier. The vines grow in a 3 acre vineyard between Orange and Avignon. There is manual harvesting, sorting of the grapes, pneumatic pressing, racking and fermentation partly in oak barrels and stainless steel tanks for 8 months. The wines are assembled and bottled without passage at low temperatures. This white wine with a mineral  and savory character, subtle citrus fruit, good acidity, a very pleasing dry finish and long aftertaste.

The Pizza

The house has a pizza oven on the property and one afternoon we decided to make pizza. Michele made the dough and I tended the fire and baked the pizzas.  With the pizza we drank:

Bandol Rosé 2012 AOC Bondol Domaine Tempier made from 50% Mourvédre, 28% Grenache, 20% Cinsault and 2% Carignan. The soil is a mix of clay and limestone; it is tilled mechanically and by hand. The grapes are harvested by hand and carried in small bins of 30 kg and hand selected in the vineyard and cellar. Vinification is by direct pressing or after cold maceration or by saignées between 5 and 10 percent. This is a Rosé with a lot of body and flavor, floral overtones, peaches, a hint of spice and good acidity. The wine worked very well with the pizza with its different toppings.

Les Palliēres “ au petit Bonheur” 2012 Rosé Vin de Table- the winery is located outside the village of Gigondas.  Made from Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Clairette, the blend depending on the vintage. The soil is clay and limestone and the vines are at 250 to 400. The grapes are sourced from younger vines and the juice is obtained from directed pressing.  Fermentation takes place in 650-liter demi-muids. This is a very pleasant wine with nice fruit aromas and flavors and a hint of melon. We enjoyed this wine with the shrimp that we purchased at the market.

Sparibs

We passed a farm stand one day advertising fresh cepes, porcini mushrooms.  They were big and beautiful and Michele bought a few to serve as our appetizer that night for dinner.  She larded the caps with slices of fresh garlic, drizzled  them with olive oil and sprinkled them with fresh thyme from the garden.  After roasting in a hot oven, they were tender and meaty, just the way we have eaten them in Italy.  For a second course, we had rotisserie spareribs that we had gotten at the market in Carpentras.  The wine for the night was a perfect choice: 

Gigondas 2005 Clos du Joncuas made from 80% Grenache, and 20% Mourvedre, Cinsault and Syrah. They use organic methods in the vineyards and traditional vinification. The wine has red and black fruit aromas and flavors, hints of blackberry, blueberry and a touch of spice. It was an excellent combination with the roasted porcini mushrooms we had at the house. I do not believe this wine is imported into the US but I really liked it. The wine cost 14 Euros in the coop store in Gigondas.

Drinking More Red, Rose and White in Provence

’’This year, we spent our vacation in Provence.  We rented a house in the tiny town of St. Romaine en Viennois, just a half hour or less from the villages of Gigondas, Beaumes-De Venise, and Chateauneuf du Pape.  The house overlooks a valley of vines and every morning I enjoyed walking among the vines and watching the farmers at work. We spent 10 days there and drank a lot of rosé, some whites, and a few reds.

Then we went to a friend’s home in Eze Village for two days. Here we drank mostly red wine.

 Red Beaumes-De-Venise “Les Trois Amours” 2008 Domaine Beauvalcinte, made from 50% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Carignan, 5% Counoise and 5% Cinsault. The grapes are destemmed and fermentation takes place in concrete tanks with natural yeast under controlled temperatures. Maceration lasts for 24 days. This was a very nice wine with red fruit flavors and aromas with hints of raspberry.

 The soil in Gigondas  is composed of limestone, clay and small stones which seemed to be everywhere. The vineyards are on the hills and the plateau and can be seen from the village above.

 Gigondas 2001 Domaine De La Jaufrette.  The wine is made from 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah.  It stays 2 to 3 years in vats and 6 to18 months in foudres according to the vintage and 6 to 8 months in bottle before release. The wine was showing very well with dark fruit aromas and flavors and a hint of spice and leather. There was some wine left in the bottle and I had it with lunch the next day.  It tasted even better.

 The territory of Chateauneuf-du-Pape is north of Avignon on the left bank of the Rhone. It covers the five communes between Orange and Avignon.  Clay and limestone “galettes,” large round stones, help the vines to withstand the dry Mediterranean climate and the mistral (strong winds).

 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2009 Domaine du Grand Tinel. The wine is made from 60% Grenache Blanc, 20% Clairette and 20% Bourboulance.   90% of the wine is aged  in stainless steel tanks and the rest in new oak barrels. The wine was dry with a mineral character and hints of grapefruit.  It worked very well with tapenade, olives and thumb size sausages that we had as an appetizer.

 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2000 Chateau La Nerthe made from 39% Roussanne, 27% Grenache Blanc,19% Clairette and 15% Bourboulence. I do not think the wines undergo malolatic fermentation and 38% of the wine is aged in wood and 62% in tanks. The wood might be barriques. This was the oldest blanc from here that I have had. The wine was showing its age with ripe fruit and a mineral character but it went very well with the smoked salmon we had with lunch.

  Chateauneuf-du-Pape 1989 Chateau Cabrieres made from 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah 20% Mourvedre and 10 Cinsault. The harvest is by hand and usually takes place in the middle of September.  There is a select sorting of the grapes. Fermentation lasts for 4 weeks and includes pumping over, delestage and later malolatic fermentation. The wines are assembled and undergo a light filtration and are aged in Allier oak for 6-12 months. It was drinking like a good older wine with hints of black fruit, prune and spice. It had a nice finish and aftertaste.

 The wines of Cassis

The fishing village and seashore resort of Cassis is situated in the western part of the Cote d’Azur not far from Marseille. The appelation is restricted to the commune of Cassis which covers only some 80 hectares. Here they produce white, rosé and red wine. They are known first for their whites, somewhat for their rosé, and least of all for their reds. At the house of a friend in Eze Village I was able to taste all three.

 Blanc de Blancs Cassis 2009 Domaine du Paternal made from Ugni Blanc, Clairette, Marsanne and Doucillon. I was very impressed with this wine. It was balanced, with good acidity, aromas and flavors of grapefruit, herbs, a touch of spice, good mineral character and a very nice finish and aftertaste. It was a delight to drink on the terrace looking at the village of Eze.

 Rosé Cassis 2009 Domaine Du Bagnol made from Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Carignan. This is a fruity wine with a dry, full body with hints a strawberry and raspberry.

 Red Cassis 2008 Domaine du Paternal made from the same grapes as the Rosé. I had never had a red wine from Cassis before. The red was interesting but not as good as the white.

 Cornas, scorched earth. The production zone has a south/southwest exposure with a semicircle of hill which protect it from the winds and steep terraced hills. The soil contains granite.   It has a hot and dry Mediterranean climate.  Because of these factors, the grapes are the first to be harvested in the Northern Rhone. The area covers 115 hectares all planted with Syrah.

 Cornas Terre Brulee 2004 100% Syrah Domaine Lionnet, they only use organic farming methods and all of the work is done by hand. The only have 2.2 hectares and the vines are between 40-100 years old. All the farming is done by the lunar calendar when possible. The land is worked by a tractor or a horse. No additives are used in making the wine. Only natural yeast is used to have a real expression of the terroir. Grape bunches are placed in small open tanks and the maceration lasts for three weeks. The grapes are “walked on” several times a day during this time. The pulp and stems are shoveled by hand into a 19 century vertical press where a slow pressing takes place. The wine is temporarily placed in tanks so that malolatic fermentation can take place. After the wine is racked and separated from the lees it remains in barrels for two winters.  There is no filtration and no new oak is used. I was very impressed with this wine. It was a big wine with cooked black fruit aromas and flavors, hints of cassis, spice, licorice and a touch of violets.

The Wines in the House in Eze

The Wines in the House in St. Romaine en Viennois