The South Jersey Wine and Food Festival was without a doubt one of the best I have ever attended. Don’t let the lack of crowds in the photos lead you to think it was poorly attended. I wanted to capture the beautiful backdrop of the lake setting (and my beautiful wife, Carol) and a rare moment when there wasn’t a crowd of people walking or standing in front of the group playing. Before I discuss the wines, I want to give a shout out to the organizers for the well-run festival. The parking was adequate and close to the grounds. There were sufficient staff to make entry painless. The food choices and quality were great (as were the prices – Chicken Satay and a Shrimp and Avocado Salad for a total of $11). I also wanted to show the picnic tables with table cloths (no we did not bring one – they were provided). No Port-A-Potties – instead large, clean restrooms to accommodate the crowd. All of this, plus two musical groups (Geri Mingori Band and Billy Walton Band) and a one-man steel drum band and 14 wineries!
The wineries represented included: Auburn Road, Balic, Chestnut Run, Coda Rossa, DiBella, DiMatteo, Monroeville, Natali, Plagido’s, Sharrott, Tomasello, Valenzano, Villari and Wagonhouse. Since I have tried wines from all of these wineries before, I felt I could try some wines that are less accessible for tasting (Chestnut Run has limited tasting hours by appointment only and Villari does not have a tasting room) and then try a couple that I have not tried recently. I apologize in advance for only highlighting a few wineries, but many of these wineries already occupy a lot of space in my cellar and are covered in some of my other posts. Besides, with 14 wineries represented, tasting wines from each of them might necessitate a call to Uber.
Thanks to a few local liquor stores, I have been able to enjoy Villari’s Merlot on a couple of occasions and recently found their Chardonnay, Moscato and Chambourcin as well. But I got to taste all of them at the festival. The Chardonnay was very dry, but not bad. I was a little disappointed with the Chambourcin (though also not bad), but maybe that’s because there are so many terrific New Jersey Chambourcins – the bar has been set pretty high. The Moscato was not overly sweet, but very fragrant (actually reminded me of a Viognier) and quite pleasant. I was also able to try their Sangria (a combo of their Red, White, and Blue Wines – all sweet). The Merlot is definitely my favorite Villari wine and I think it is one of the better NJ Merlots.
My biggest surprise was Chestnut Run. If you told me a few years ago that I would enjoy a pear wine – — let alone four of them (actually one was an apple wine) — I would have been very skeptical. I should not have been surprised as I did get to try a couple of their wines before and they were good. The Dry Crisp Asian Pear Wine was as described – dry and crisp. The Semi-Sweet Asian Pear Wine and the Semi-Sweet Fuji Apple were both a little sweet, but no more so than some of the Rieslings that go so well with Sushi and Thai foods. The final taste was their Spiced Sweet Asian Pear which had a very distinct and pleasant aroma and taste of natural ginger (whetting my appetite even more for a spicy Asian meal). All four were quite good and very refreshing. I am convinced that one or two of these wines may go better with Sushi or Thai food than the Rieslings or even Saki that I more typically bring!
So what did I choose to accompany the chicken satay and the shrimp and avocado salad? I chose a bottle of Sole, a delicious Vidal Blanc from Auburn Road. I saved Wagonhouse for last as I recalled that I preferred their sweeter wines to their dry wines and I was ready for my dessert. Their Shore Thing actually rivals my other favorite here (Autumn Goddess).
It is unfortunate, but certainly understandable that some of the wineries did not bring their “heavy hitters” (read most expensive) given that 1. The larger wineries produce up to 50 wines and you can’t lug them all there; and 2. Many wineries do not let you taste all of their wines at their tasting rooms (due to limited production, etc.).
The main point of a wine festival is to introduce yourself to new tasters who may not be familiar with your wines and obviously to sell some wines to enjoy with the food and live music. The wineries will obviously determine whether or not they succeeded after they check their receipts for the two days. From a consumer’s point of view I felt they succeeded. Bottom line: New Jersey wines continue to surprise and impress, though there are fewer consumers who are surprised and more who are impressed.
Visited a New Jersey winery lately? Tried a NJ wine recently? Comments about this festival? Please share here.
Cheers!
