Rootstock Concert

Wine and music are made for each other. Rootstock Concerts at Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery marry these beautifully. Today I want to highlight another facet of our wineries – the entertainment. On Friday, my wife and I spent several hours enjoying music, food and wine at the Hawk Haven Rootstock Concert, featuring the music of Chris Smither and Dale Barth (who opened for Chris on the Crush Pad, a tented area formerly used to crush the grapes). I have enjoyed Chris Smither for over 40 years. I’ve seen him at a great little coffeehouse in Charlottesville, Virginia and in a little town called Elmer, NJ at Appel Farms Folk Festivals. Sipping fine wine from my lawn chair on Friday, I was close enough to appreciate Smither’s amazing guitar chops and warm, bluesy voice. All of this, with the amazing ambience of Hawk Haven Winery in Rio Grande is awfully hard to top. Especially for the $5 early bird ticket price!

My wife and I arrived early, wanting to get a good seat and also take in the warm-up show which started at 4:00. We were more than pleased with the music provided by Dale Barth, whose repertoire was extensive, covering songs from Jimmy Buffet and Zac Brown to Pink Floyd and Pure Prairie League. Dale’s sense of humor adds to his good vocals and strong musicianship. I’ll have to find out where else he plays in Cape May. He’s got a great gig-when he’s not living and playing in Cape May, he’s in Key West. Not too shabby!

Chris Smither arrived early, guitar slung over his shoulder. He travels light, bringing only his Collings guitar, a capo and his thumb pick. He doesn’t even need a flat pick as he fingerpicks his songs. For those of you who are not familiar with Smither’s music, to put it in the lexicon of wine drinkers, his lyrics are blues-forward, with a dry wit finish. His guitar licks are unmistakable, with a steady beat of percussion coming from his tapping foot (often both feet); his fingers deftly picking the melody. Only a small hand brace around his thumb, suggests the arthritis from playing for so many years. Chris has been recording music since 1970 and touring across the country and beyond ever since.

Smither played many crowd favorites (including “No Love Today,” “Leave the Light On,” “Can’t Shake These Blues” and “Origin of Species,” to name a few). Think you can’t rhyme “okra” or “double helix?” Think again: “I got okra, nuf to choke ya” (No Love Today) or “Yeah, you and your cat named Felix, Both wrapped up in that double helix, Is what we call Intelligent design.” (“Origin of Species”)

While Smither joked about forgiving him if he forgets some of his lyrics, especially his newer songs, I only noted one time when he appeared to flawlessly extend the instrumental portion of a song (perhaps while remembering what words came next or perhaps his way of adding fresh notes to songs he has played thousands of times). Either way it was seamless and pleasing to the ear of this closet guitarist.

Chris was generous with his time, giving fans a chance to chat with him, do selfies, etc. before the concert, during his break and after the concert. I was able to talk to him briefly about some of the venues where I have seen him in concert. Again Chris impressed me with his sharp mind. When I mentioned a coffeehouse in Charlottesville, Chris quickly replied, “Yeah a few blocks away from where all that sh_ _ happened and quickly came up with the name of the venue (Gravity Lounge) before I did.

Did I mention the wine? Ok so this is a blog about New Jersey wine. Well, as it happens, my wife and I did a tasting to refresh our memories of wines we might choose to accompany Hawk Haven’s deli snacks and food truck offerings. We sampled the Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Naked Chardonnay, Flying Press White, Flying Press Red, Merlot, Quill and Flying Press Rose. My favorites were the Naked Chardonnay and the Quill. I liked the 2016 Riesling, though it was a little sweeter than I recalled. Then I realized it was probably the Signature Series Dry Riesling that I enjoyed so much (available by the glass during this event). Later, we added some 2015 Signature Series Chardonnay Reserve and 2014 Signature Series Syrah to the mix. Our wine selections accompanied a nice hummus and veggie platter and later some empanadas with rice and beans from the visiting food truck. Don’t worry. We took home a lot of the unfinished wine, to be enjoyed in the very near future. They make some great wines here and almost all of the grapes (including all of those used in their Signature Series wines) are estate-grown at Hawk Haven.

All in all, this was one of the best concerts I’ve attended in a long time. Even the weather cooperated. It was downright gorgeous. I’m also happy for Todd Wuerker (owner and winemaker at Hawk Haven). He told my wife and I that it rained at each of the previous Rootstock concerts this year! I will certainly be back again. Great job to everyone at Hawk Haven for a terrific night of wine and music!

Tried a New Jersey wine lately? Visited a NJ winery recently? Share your experience here. Like what you see and read here? Please consider subscribing. I want to continue to avoid using those annoying drop-down reminders to subscribe… Want some more blogs about music and entertainment? Let me know…I’d love to hear from you!

Cheers!