My apologies for missing my post last week. But I have a good excuse. On August 17th, my wife and I will be married 50 years. We have already started celebrating our milestone. This past week we’ve been celebrating with our son and his family in Cape May and later this week my wife and I will be celebrating in Cape Cod. Consequently, my posts are about a week late. They are also not exclusively about New Jersey and New Jersey wine. But I promise I won’t exclude NJ restaurants or wine this week. In today’s post, I will be highlighting a few of our favorite meals and wines we enjoyed in Cape May. We stayed at a lovely three bedroom, three bath condo across from the beach, with ocean views from nearly every room. Getting to spend time with our son and his family really made this pre-anniversary vacation special. More about this in my next post.
Saturday
Since we could not check in to our rental unit until 3:oo and the weather was not very promising for the beach, once unpacked I uncorked a bottle of Barboursville Octagon. This is a great Bordeaux style red blend that has received a number of awards over the years.
Dinner at Sea Salt on Beach Avenue
We had eaten at their Tiki Bar before, but this was our first dinner at the restaurant. This deck has a great view, as it is across the street from the ocean.
I won’t describe everyone’s meals, nor did I take any pictures of them. However, the highlights for me were our appetizers: a grilled octopus with a wonderful roasted red pepper coulis sauce and entrees for my son and me: Barramundi served over quinoa-excellent! we chose to have cocktails, rather than wine, since they have a liquor license and we had lots of wine at our place.
A very nice first dinner together on the deck of this restaurant!
Sunday
Dinner at The Blue Pig (at Congress Hall)
Congress Hall has a rich history, with several Presidents (from Abe Lincoln on) staying there. While we have eaten here numerous times in the past, we had not previously eaten on the covered veranda that runs along the back of the building (which overlooks the ocean across the street).
I had the Bucatini with scallops and crabmeat. Amazing! This was also not a BYOB restaurant, so we went with cocktails-very good ones. I had a Beach Plumb Margarita and my wife had their Back Porch Bourbon-based drink. Both were excellent. The only negative was the seagulls, who actually took a bite of my wife’s crab cakes on their way to the table. However, the staff handled this in admirable fashion-quickly and competently. Everything (including the ambiance) was fantastic!
Monday
Dinner at Sapore Italiano in West Cape May
Sapore is a terrific Italian restaurant that we have enjoyed several times in the past. We chose the outdoor seating option. My wife selected the pappardelle in a bolognese sauce, while I had the Spaghetti Barrese. The latter was sautéed with mild Italian sausage, cherry tomatoes, broccoli rabe and marscapone cheese in a white wine sauce. Both were awesome!
The Wine
From left to right above: Tommasi Amarone-A wonderful Amarone, bold and full-bodied, ripe dark fruit, and lively acidity. I love this wine!
Turdo Vineyards 2022 Sangiovese-My all-time favorite New Jersey Sangiovese and as good as (or better than) most Chianti Classico Riserva from Italy. As you may know, Turdo Vineyard is open for the 2024 season. The sale of their property did not happen yet so they are here, at least for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Tunello Pinot Grigio-Perhaps my present favorite Pinot Grigio-fruity and fragrant, with ripe tropical fruit, and more body than most Pinot Grigios.
Coming Attractions
- Wine & Celebration in Cape May Part 2
- Wine & Celebration in Cape Cod Part 1
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