Happy New Year! I want to thank everyone for your support over the past year. In the coming months I will be posting about some interesting aspects of New Jersey wines, from unique grapes used in the winemaking to interviews with winemakers and owners. I hope to engage a greater number of readers with their feedback and comments and I will also be reaching out to other wine bloggers and writers to share posts, links and perhaps even trade posts with my colleagues who are open to this idea.
Today’s post will discuss the most recent trend in New Jersey wineries-the growth of satellite tasting rooms. They have existed for years, to some degree. Large wineries like Balic and Tomasello actually have multiple satellite tasting rooms. For example, in addition to their main tasting room in Mays Landing, Balic Winery has over a dozen other tasting rooms. For instance, they have a small, but greatly placed tasting room in the Cape May Mini-Mall. If you’ve never been there, imagine walking into many cool shops and a young employee from the Fudge Kitchen offers you a free sample of fudge and a few steps later, sipping several Balic wines for a free tasting. You can check their website to find out about other satellite sites. The Washington Street Mall in Cape May is a great location. Check it out.
Like Balic, Tomasello Winery has had multiple satellite tasting rooms for quite a while. They presently host 11 total tasting rooms. For example, you can shop for antiques and dine in Lambertville, or nearby New Hope and to take a break, you can stop in and do a tasting of their wines at 1 North Union Street, Lambertville. Check Tomasello’s website for information about their other satellite locations. The great thing about these satellite tasting rooms is introducing the wines to those new to the winery, while offering familiar wines in a different (often unique and unexpected) locale.
More recently, other wineries have started opening up satellite tasting rooms.
Old York Cellars has taken advantage of the location of two shopping malls with a lot of foot traffic: The Bridgewater Mall and their latest at the Quaker Bridge Mall. These are both beautiful spots to taste, sip, or enjoy a glass of wine (and even take home a bottle or two). I recently did a book signing at the Old York Cellars tasting room at the Quaker Bridge Mall (pictured above). Take a break from your shopping and stop in.
Last February, my wife and I discovered Coda Rossa Winery’s satellite tasting room in Pitman, next door to the Pitman Theatre, where we had tickets to see a show. We were able to enjoy a glass of wine prior to the show. This was an unexpected and very cool treat. They have limited hours usually revolving around the shows at the theatre. Though Coda Rossa’s vineyard and tasting room is nearby in Franklinville, it was a great find where we would not expect to discover a wine bar. Pitman was a “dry town” until less than two years ago, when a brewery opened (Kelly Green), to be followed by another brewery (Human Village Brewery) a few doors down, months later.
Villari Vineyards is a winery without a home tasting room (as of now). However, they have made good use of other spaces to serve that purpose. Their most recent satellite tasting room is located in Haddon Heights (133 Atlantic Avenue). This is a beautiful setting. They also offer tastings of their wines (and sell them to patrons) at Holy Tomato Too in Mullica Hill (48 N. Main St.). They have very good thin crust pizza there.
Recently, Unionville Vineyards opened a satellite tasting room at Ferry Market in New Hope (just on the other side of the river from Lambertville, NJ). You should make it a point to visit and taste at their home in Ringoes, NJ. However, the Ferry Market is a delightful area to walk, shop, eat, and drink. I will definitely be checking this one out in the spring (if not before).
Monroeville Vineyard & Winery also recently opened a new tasting room in Hammonton (205 Bellview Avenue) in September. Hammonton has become a South Jersey hub of wineries, breweries and even distilleries. It seems like a good business move: take advantage of this hub to highlight your product for those who may not have visited the main tasting room in Monroeville.
While I may have missed one or two, these are the wineries in New Jersey that I know of that have one or more satellite tasting rooms (dedicated to tasting and selling only wines from their winery). If you are aware of others, please send me a comment. I will share this information in a future post, or in the comment section of my blog.
Cheers!
Tried a New Jersey wine lately? Visited a NJ winery recently? Share your experience here. Like what you read and see here? Consider subscribing and getting your weekly pour of NJ wine right in your inbox. No spills, no mess.
