Alba Winery ~ Finesville (Milford), New Jersey

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

It has become somewhat of a tradition that my summer vacation is deliberately without plans.  Four or five years ago, I found myself thinking frequently – and fondly – of the summers of my childhood: those long, long summers that seemed to last forever…  days, and their wonderful possibilties, stretching endlessly in front of me.  True, I also remember days of endless boredom when it rained, or when friends weren’t home and I was – horrors – forced to spend the entire day with my sisters!

But what I found myself nostalgic for was that sense of time stretching out in front of me.  I suppose as we headed back to school each Fall, we thought to ourselves, “where did the summer go?”  But if we did, it was more with a sense of loss, a letting go of those wonderful few months, and definitely not with the slightly hysterical “Oh My God, it’s September ALREADY?!” which is more often what you hear me saying now.

So in an attempt to slow down life and recapture that long-lost feeling of infinite time, I decided that I would take one week each summer (two, if I could manage it) and make no plans.  That’s not to say I would do nothing, just that I would make no plans other than waking up each day and doing whatever I felt like.

Which brings me to New Jersey.  I knew I wanted to do a couple of day trips during my July vacation week this year, and after my visit to Ventimiglia Vineyard at the end of May, exploring more of New Jersey wine country was at the top of the list.  So Saturday morning of vacation week found me swinging through Jersey City to pick up my friend Maree and heading out to the Musconetcong Valley on the west side of the state.

Our first stop was Alba Winery, New Jersey’s 2009 Winery of the Year.  Founded in 1982, Alba produces 16 wines made from local grapes, and three wines under the label Chelsea Cellars from grapes grown on a Sagmore Valley block they own in Washington state.  The Alba wines have won numerous awards in state and regional competitions, and several wines have won awards in the San Francisco Chronicle and Pacific Rim International competitions.

The winery is housed in an early 19th-century barn that has been painstakingly retrofitted to include modern winemaking facilities as well as lighting, air conditioning, and other amenities without losing the historic character of the building.  Carved into the side of a hill, with the vineyards ranging up the hillside behind the structure, the winery and tasting rooms have a long and rich history.  Built in 1801, the building at one point housed an ironworks which produced cannonballs for the Union Army during the Civil War.  In later years the property reverted to a dairy farm, and was finally converted in the late 1980s from a working dairy barn to the Alba Vineyards winery.  The result is a series of charming brick and timber rooms that meet all the functional requirements of a working winery while retaining the character and history of the original buildings.

Stop in the gift shop just inside the front door to purchase  a tasting and signature glass before proceeding down the few steps into the oldest part of the barn, the tasting room, a long rectangular-shaped room with the tasting bar stretched along the back wall, and oak barrels stacked to the sides and along the walls.  In addition to offering tastings, the winery also conducts tours and barrel tastings.

A tasting includes your choice of six or seven of the 19 wines, including the three Chelsea Cellars wines.  Guests are strongly encouraged to start with the whites and work their way down the list, but the staff will pour the wines in whatever order the guest requests.  Wines are also available by the glass, and the gift shop has a selection of cigars for those who wish to enjoy them with a glass of the Vintage Port.

The winery is open seven days a week; Sunday through Friday, 11 am – 5 pm, and Saturday 11 am – 6 pm.  They also keep a calendar of special events updated on their website.

Tags: Alba Vineyards

This entry was posted on September 15, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under local wines, Maree Prendergast, Marguerite Barrett, New Jersey, Northern New Jersey Wine Trail, Win(e)ding Roads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.