My 2021 Highlights

I hope that all of you who celebrate Christmas had a great and healthy one. Besides the celebrations this time of year, it is also a time when many of us look back over the year and begin to look forward to the year ahead. In today’s post I will share some of my favorite wine-related experiences in 2021. These include tastings and events at wineries, trying new wines, connecting with others in the wine business, and great meals with wonderful wines, shared with my wife and close friends. I also want to thank those of you who subscribe or stop by to read my posts. It warms my heart to know that my words are being read and not just landing on deaf ears in the cloud.

It’s impossible to rank these in any order, but I will cherish each of these moments (and many more) well into the New Year and beyond. So, in no particular order, I offer the following:

• Wine Paired Dinner at Autumn Lake-A real treat of wonderful food, wine, and music in their beautiful tasting room overlooking the lake. It doesn’t get much better than this. Read more here: https://wp.me/p74VSa-deN
• Seafood Festival at Bellview Winery-Bellview Winery really knows how to do a festival and their Seafood Festival is amazing! Great food, wine, music, and friends. I wrote about this event here: https://wp.me/p74VSa-das
• Anniversary in Cape May-My wife and I love Cape May-the Victorian architecture, the restaurants, and the wineries. Staying at the Southern Mansion, dining at Sapore Italiano, and enjoying New Jersey wines. I wrote about that experience here: https://wp.me/p74VSa-db1
• Wine Tasting At Unionville-Probably my favorite wine tasting of the year. Not a flight, but a deep, guided tasting of six (or seven) wines. My personal bonus was meeting the inimitable Carlo DeVito, the current interim winemaker at Unionville, author, publisher, and founder and former winery owner at Hudson-Chatham Winery. Read more here: https://wp.me/p74VSa-dfO
• Revisiting the Finger Lakes-OK, so I know the Finger Lakes are in New York, not New Jersey. However, it was a real highlight for my wife and me. Read more here: https://wp.me/p74VSa-dcR

A few great new varietals (new to me) in 2021-My top three:

• San Marco from Bellview Winery-First written about here: https://wp.me/p74VSa-de3                     And then elaborated in my interview with Larry Coia, a key grape grower in Vineland (and instrumental in bringing this varietal to New Jersey).
• Counoise-Unionville Vineyards‘ great single varietal, with medium body and wonderful strawberry notes. While I have enjoyed Counoise as part of their red blend, Mistral Rouge, I hadn’t previously tasted this single varietal version.
• Amur-Ok, this one was offered by Dr. Frank’s Winery in the Finger Lakes, but it was terrific and had to be included here. This is a delicious, dark, full-bodied red that would make any meal featuring grilled meats a winner.

Time to Buy a Gift for Yourself

You can still download a copy of my book, New Jersey Uncorked: A Snob-Free Taste of NJ Wine for only $8.99 at the Apple iBook app. YOU CANNOT GET THE EBOOK AT AMAZON/KINDLE. Use the discount code Winter21 to save $4.00!

Tried a New Jersey wine lately? Visited a NJ winery recently? Please share your experience here. Like what you read and see here? It couldn’t be easier to scroll down and hit the “subscribe” button below and get your weekly pour of NJ wine right in your inbox.