“You should only make wines you love to drink.”
Motto of Jean Edwards Cellars
Wine lovers Karen and John Troisi have been producing premium Napa Valley wines (cabernet sauvignon, petite sirah and sauvignon blanc) since 2004. On August 11, two of their wines will be poured at the Garden State Bounty dinner at the James Beard House in New York 2015.
How did these New Jersey residents get into the wine business? It seems they always dreamed about becoming winemakers and producing a cabernet sauvignon wine from Napa Valley. Initially, from 1997-2003, they became home winemakers and trucked grapes into a small wine facility in Toms River, where they made wine for personal consumption. Having too much wine to give away and since it would be illegal to sell, in 2004 they created and produced their first commercial Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon wine: Jean Edwards Cellars (Karen and John’s middle names). Kian Tavakoli, previously from Opus One and Clos du Val, was hired as the winemaker and since 2004 has overseen all aspects of production at the winery. A few months after their first production was released the wine was rated 92 points by Wine Spectator Magazine and was sold out within a few days. Later that year, Wine Spectator named them as “one of twenty new cab producers to watch.”
Jersey locations that Jean Edward Cellars wines can be found include: Restaurant Latour (Crystal Springs), Restaurant Serenade (Chatham), Rail’s (Towaco) Scalini Fedeli Restaurant (Chatham), and Highlawn Pavilion (West Orange). The wines are also available at Amanti Vino (Montclair), 56 Degree Wines (Bernardsville), Super Cellars Fine Wines (Ridgewood), Wine Library (Springfield) and other wine stores. The wines can also be purchased directly from the winery. Check their website at for a full list of New Jersey locations.
CHRIS ATAMIAN
Chris Atamian is the executive chef/owner of Porcini Italian Restaurant, 168 Bay Avenue, Highlands (732-291-3080); BYO. Atamian has previously worked at Bay Avenue Trattoria and Fresh, both in the Highlands, and Nicholas in Middletown.
PETER MORRIS
Peter Morris, who will be the executive chef at Woody’s in Tinton Falls when it opens in October, will appear on Beat Bobby Flay on Thursday, July 30 at 10 PM on the Food Network. Chef Morris was previously at Langosta Lounge in Asbury Park and is temporarily at Woody’s Ocean Grille in Sea Bright. He won the Top New Chef Award at the New Jersey Restaurant Association’s 2014 Restaurant Operator’s Conference in April 2014 and was crowned as the “Food Fight” champion at Porta in Asbury Park in spring of last year. Additionally, he was winner of The Food Expo’s Tri-State Culinary Competition at The Meadowlands in Secaucus in October. Morris graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and has cooked for President George W. Bush.
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