Anniversary Celebration Part 1

 

My wife and I have always had a love affair with Cape May (and 49 years with each other). If you don’t like the shore, history, Victorian architecture, wineries, breweries, distilleries, or world class BYOB restaurants and B & Bs, you may not like Cape May. We are fans of all of the above. So it’s not surprising that we celebrated another important date in this fabulous historic landmark. Speaking of landmarks, there are few more recognizable icons than the twin buildings joined to make Angels of the Sea. It is situated right behind that other Cape May icon, Peter Shields Inn (across the street from the ocean on Beach Avenue-more about that landmark in my next post). We stayed at Angel of the Sea for two fabulous nights for our anniversary.

Turdo Vineyards 25th Anniversary

Speaking of anniversaries…

Before heading to the beach on Wednesday, my wife and I paid a visit to Turdo Vineyards. The winery is celebrating its 25th anniversary! You may have already received an email from Sara sharing additional news- Sal and Sara are retiring and they have sold their winery. We are very happy for them, while admittedly selfishly sad for ourselves and other wine lovers. I’ll have more to say at a later date, but for now the future of the winery will be in the hands of an investment group sometime in October. We will be back at least once more before the move is complete. In the meantime, check their website for any updates and if you haven’t picked up your favorites, I know they are going to sell out of many of their wines soon. We stocked up on ours.

Lunch

Sea Salt Ocean Club Hotel

Across the street from the beach is a great little tiki bar, with good food and drinks. It is so good and conveniently located, we were amazed that around 1:00 or so, there were only a couple of other patrons, leaving unobstructed views of the ocean and a vigilant bartender. My wife and I enjoyed our Baja Mahi Mahi Tacos and shared an order of fries. I enjoyed a Tangueray and Tonic, while my wife had a glass of Chardonnay. We enjoyed our lunch so much we returned on Thursday for our lunch before beach time.

                                                                 

 Dinner at Cape May Winery (Grill Night)

My wife and I try to attend at least one Grill Night every year. There are several rotating menus and they are all wonderful so you can pick the date that works best for you and let them handle the food. You just need to pick out your wines.

Appetizer

We were served a large charcuterie board shortly after we were seated. It consisted of cheeses, meats, olives, and more.

Entrees

Grilled Mahi Mahi with grilled pineapple salsa

Marinated Flank Steak with red wine demi-glace

5 cheese Mac and cheese

French green beans with bacon and garlic

The entrees and sides were delicious and more than either of us could eat. But, we knew that still to come was dessert.

Dessert

Blueberry cobbler with whipped cream

Wine

Since we were having two entrees, with  both beckoning for a wee bit different wine accompaniment, I chose the following:

• Cape May Winery 2022 Unoaked Chardonnay-We were initially disappointed that their Barrel Fermented Chardonnay was sold out. However, that did not last long. The Unoaked Chardonnay was terrific. It offered a hint of apple aroma, with citrus (especially lime) on the palate. It was crisp and dry, with a little more body than I expected. It was perfect with the Mahi Mahi.
• Cape May Winery 2019 Red Reserve-A delicious blend of Cab (40%); Syrah (40%); Cab Franc (10%); and Petite Sirah (10%). It is a full-bodied red with chocolate and blueberry notes. Perfect with our Flank steak!

Music

Live music was provided by a talented guitarist and vocalist. Unfortunately, I could find no reference to his name online on their website or social media. I’d love to give him a shout-out, as we really enjoyed his eclectic sets of cover songs. If someone sends me his name (he played on 8/16/23), I will modify this post with that information.

Coming Attractions

• Anniversary Celebration Part 2
• An Interview with Orley Ashenfelter & Larry Coia (two key growers for New Jersey)
• Turdo Vineyards-A tribute to our favorite winery

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