Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery is a great winery to visit any time of year. I have written about their great Rootstock Concerts and Wine & Music Festivals on these pages. The vineyards are a beautiful venue and lovely place to enjoy your wine and the great outdoors. When the weather nudges you indoors, I encourage you to visit around Christmas. The large Santa greets you near the front door and the mood is festive. The staff at Hawk Haven is always friendly and well-versed about the wines offered. Another inducement was getting 30% off a case purchase (with your Gold Memberships).
It had been awhile since my last tasting at Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery in Rio Grande. I also wanted to take advantage of a few of the membership benefits and perhaps pick up a Christmas gift or two. Time to focus on Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery’s wines.
Tastings are free for members and include a taste of all eight wines currently on the tasting menu:
- 2017 S.S. Sauvignon Blanc (their Signature Series of limited production premium estate-grown wines; this is an excellent Sauvignon Blanc)
- 2017 Riesling (their off dry Riesling)
- 2017 Pinot Grigio (a good Pinot Grigio, though not as dry as their S.S. Pinot Grigio)
- 2017 Naked Chardonnay (unoaked Chard with nice acidity, making it very food-friendly)
- Flying Press Red (a great every-day-red; super with a burger or pizza)
- 2016 Proprietor’s Red Blend (a delicious, reasonably priced dry red)
- 2016 Quill (a serious, Bordeaux-style blend)
- Flying Press Rose (semi-sweet)
The above tasting menu is a very nice cross-section of their offerings, though you really must try more of their Signature Series wines, not on the tasting menu. I brought home a few of these, having previously tried the S.S. Cab Franc and S.S. Tempranillo. I hadn’t tried their S.S. Syrah, but as I reported last week, this was an excellent Syrah that I was glad I included in my take home case. I was disappointed that they were out of their Barrel Fermented Chardonnay (it’s one of my favorites).
After our tasting we used our free glass of wine coupons (part of our Gold Membership) to enjoy with a very nice cheese and meat plate to help stave off the not so subtle signs that we were getting hungry. Hawk Haven’s Barrel Room Kitchen offerings have expanded and the quality is quite good. We chose the Vineyard Picnic (two selections of artisan cheese served with fig jam, grapes, Marcona Almonds and two selections of charcuterie served with dried cherries and flatbreads. What a great indoor picnic it was!
Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery recently joined the Winemakers Co-Op. Along with Unionville Vineyards, Working Dog Winery, Beneduce Vineyards and William Heritage Winery, this is a group of New Jersey winemakers who are dedicated to promoting the fine wine movement in New Jersey. Their goal is to “highlight and encourage premium New Jersey wine production with exclusive events, press outreach and industry investment.” They have two Portfolio Tasting Events a year, where their wines are highlighted, along with discussion panels, guest speakers and live music. The venue rotates among its members and the next one will take place at Hawk Haven in the spring of 2019. Looking forward to that one.
Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery
600 South Railroad Avenue
Rio Grande, NJ 08242
(609) 846-7347
Until my next visit, Cheers!
Last minute gifts for the wine lover on your list:
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Coming Attractions
- My 2018 NJ Wine Highlights
- NJ Winery Satellite Tasting Rooms
- A Few Super Premium NJ Wines
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