Northern New Jersey Wine Trail

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

SEPTEMBER 5^TH & 6^TH

NEW JERSEY’S “JAZZ IT UP WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL”

Hosted by the Garden State Winegrower’s Association

Allaire Village

Allaire State Park

Farmingdale, NJ

On the grounds of the historic Allaire Village, the Garden State Winegrower’s association is hosting the Jazz It Up Wine and Food Festival over Labor Day weekend.

More than 25 New Jersey wineries will be on hand pouring more than 200 local wines.  Included among the attendees will be Alba Winery, 2009 New Jersey Winery of the Year,  and Governor’s Cup winners Tomasello Winery, Heritage Vineyards, and Pagido Winery.   Featured musical artists include The Gambone Project with Vel Johnson on Saxophone (Saturday) and Jazz in Pastel, a quartet led by Buzz Saylor on drums (Sunday).

Adding to the adventure is the setting, the historic Allaire Village, a 19^th-century Industrial Iron-Producing Community.  While sampling the local wines and food festivalgoers can step back in time as they stroll through the village grounds.

The festival runs from 12-5 both Saturday and Sunday; admission is $20, and there is a $5 car park fee.  Farmingdale is roughly 90 minutes from both New York and Philadelphia; detailed directions can be found on the Allaire Village website.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

To date, Summer ’09 has been a cool and soggy one here in New England.  Despite that, there have been moments of glorious weather, perfect for hitting the Win(e)ding Roads of Connecticut, New Jersey, and as of yesterday, Rhode Island.   But the summer’s not over, and August promises even more great days – so if you haven’t hit the trails yet, come and join us!

All pictures by Marguerite Barrett, July – August 2009

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Believe it or not, I am coming to the end of the Connecticut Wine Trail.  To date, I’ve visited 15 of the 19 wineries listed on the Connecticut Wine Trail website (although there are 25 wineries represented in the Passport).  Christy Sherard, my wine-trail-partner-in-crime, and I are heading out today to visit at least one, and possibly two more.

It’s been a great adventure so far, criss-crossing the state from the foothills of the Berkshires in the far northwest corner to the shoreline of Long Island Sound in the far southeast corner and every place in between.  And while I will definitely finish the trail over the next month or two, it’s time to start thinking about venturing a bit further afield.

Living in north central Connecticut, I have a number of options.  The wineries of Rhode Island and Massachusetts are well within a day trip of home, and the Long Island wineries are just a 90-minute ferry ride across the Sound.  And while I will be heading out to all these places in the not-too-distant future, the first stop is New Jersey.

There were several factors contributing to this decision: New Jersey has a a large and thriving wine culture, with 30 wineries in the Garden State Wine Growers’ Association. I began my New Jersey excursions with a stop at Ventimiglia Vineyards in late May, and those posts as well as a couple posts about the New Jersey Wine Trail and upcoming festivals have generated a lot of interest here on Vino Verve.  It appears we have a lot of readers who are interested in New Jersey wines.  And New Jersey has the added attraction of being the current home base of my friend Maree, an Australian expat, who I hope will soon become my New Jersey wine-partner-in-crime.

So tomorrow morning Maree and I meet up in Jersey City and head straight west to Warren County.  On the agenda?  Alba Vineyard, Milford; Brook Hollow Winery, Columbia; Four Sisters Winery, Belividere; and Villa Milagro Vineyards, Finesville.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Gene Ventimiglia, patriarch and principal winemaker of Ventimiglia Vineyards, is a third-generation winemaker, having learned the craft from his grandfather, who emigrated from Italy in the early part of the 20th century.   In the 1920s, the elder Ventimiglia, a member of a local Italian-American Club, produced wine for the club throughout the Prohibition era.  With the demise of Prohibition in 1933, Ventimiglia continued to produce wine, albeit legally now, and passed the traditional hand-crafted winemaking methods he learned in Italy down to his grandson, Gene, who after growing up in Patterson, New Jersey, opted to continue the family traditions here on the East Coast.

As for the Ventimiglia Reds, Gene has produced a very interesting collection of California and New Jersey table wines:

Rocky Ridge Red 2006 The Rocky Ridge Red is a bland of eight different grapes, all grown locally in New Jersey.  It is cold-fermented and aged in oak, and like all of the Ventimiglia Reds it is unfined and unfiltered.  The nose is bright and fruity, and in the mouth there are lovely notes of dark berries and stone fruits.  The wine has a slight tartness, which gives it a piquancy.

Chambourcin 2007 A Gold Medal Winner at the 2009 NJ Wine Competition, this is a very interesting wine.  Chambourcin with a slight blend of Syrah, Merlot and a little Sangiovese, this is a medium-bodied wine with a lovely deep ruby color.  The nose is bright and fruity, and the mouth-feel is lovely and full.  Aged for 16 months in French and Hungarian oak, there are notes of dark berries, particularly blackberry, in the mouth, with a light pepper finish.  95% of the grapes are grown locally in New Jersey, making this one of three of Ventimiglia’s New Jersey Reds.

Syrah 2007 The last of Ventimiglia’s New Jersey Reds, the Syrah is made from grapes grown in vineyards directly across the street from Jon Bon Jovi’s house.  Gene has added just a touch of Grenache to the Syrah and the result is a lovely medium-bodied wine with a delicate, fruity nose, a smooth, soft mouth-feel, and light cherry notes on the palate.  The Syrah will pair well with a wide range of food, and will also cellar nicely.

Carignane 2006 This was my first taste of a Carignane wine, as despite it being one of the most planted grapes in France, it is often used for blending rather than as the primary grape.  Medium-bodied with a soft mouth-feel and notes of stone fruits on the palate, it is designed to be a “companion” or table-wine, and is Gene Ventimiglia’s favorite everyday wine.  It shares many of the characteristics of a good European (French or Italian) table wine – interesting and lightly complex, without being overpowering, it will pair well with a wide variety of foods.

Merlot 2006 Made from California grapes, the Merlot has a bright nose with notes of plum and cherry, and a lovely soft fruitiness in the mouth that is balanced by a slightly acidic finish.   A nice wine, but not as interesting as the Syrah, Carignane, Chambourcin or Cabernet Franc.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 Also made from California grapes, this is a full-bodied wine with a lovely deep garnet color.  The nose is sharp and tangy, and in the mouth the wine is soft with nice notes of plum and a smoky, spicy, slight tobacco finish.  The finish also lingers beautifully, and the wine grows more complex and interesting with each sip.

Cabernet Franc 2006 The afternoon ended with the 2006 Cabernet Franc, one of my favorites of the day.  Aged in French Oak, the wine ages an additional 3 years in the bottle.  Made in the Bordeaux-style,  this is a full-bodied, dry red.  The nose is earthy with a slight mustiness, and in the mouth the wine is rich, full, with notes of grass and berries and a strong earthiness that gives it depth and character.   Very interesting wine.

A smaller winery, tucked in the northwest corner of the State, Ventimiglia is worth a stop.  While I definitely had my favorites from among the selection, none of the wines disappointed.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Ventimiglia Vineyards specializes in dry wines, all hand-crafted and produced in small batches.  Almost all of their wines are barrel-aged, and all are unfined and most unfiltered.  Fining is the process by which agents, such as charcoal, bentonite, gelatin, etc., are introduced to the wine to help clarify it by binding with microscopic particles that could cloud the wine or produce odors or excessive tannins.  Through the binding process, these elements sink to the bottom as sediment and can be removed from the wine through racking  or filtering.  Gene Ventimiglia prefers more traditional, natural methods of winemaking and avoids chemical or mechanical intervention whenever possible, and he’ll rack his wines four or five times to achieve the same result as fining.  The result, he believes, are wines with greater character and depth.

Ventimiglia currently produces 13 wines: 1 blush, 4 whites, and 8 reds; six of the wines are made from grapes grown in New Jersey, the rest from California.

La Sorella 2006 This is Ventimiglia’s Blush wine.   Made from New Jersey grapes, this is a drier Rosé, not overly sweet, but crisp and refreshing.  There are notes of raspberry and citrus on the nose and mouth, and it’s a charming wine to serve chilled on a warm Spring or Summer afternoon.  Fans of sweeter blushes may find this a bit dry, but it’s worth a taste.  According to the Ventimiglia website, the 2006 vintage is sold out, so they may not have it currently available on the tasting menu.  But if you like blushes, and you do stop by, I recommend asking Gene when the 2007 will be available and making a point to come back and give it a try.

Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Made from California grapes, the Sauvignon Blanc is a semi-dry wine with a grassy nose and notes of green pepper on both the nose and palate.  Fermented in very cold conditions for 3-4 months, the wine has a stronger mouth-feel than comparable Sauvignon Blancs.  It would pair nicely with shellfish, particularly with a slightly spicy grilled shrimp or lobster.

Chardonnay 2006 Also made from California grapes, Gene ages his Chardonnay in very old oak barrels.  As a result, there is just the lightest touch of oak to smooth out the flavor and give the wine a soft, velvety mouth-feel.  There are notes of peach and pear on the nose and in the mouth, and the oak provides a hint of vanilla, particularly at the end.  Gene recommends serving the wine “well-chilled,” although I found I preferred it a bit warmer, only slightly chilled – it brought out a depth of flavor that was missing when it was served colder.

Buon Giorno 2007 A New Jersey White, this is a dry Cayuga.  The nose is very light.  On the palate, the wine is crisp with notes of green apple and citrus.  An interesting wine, but not one of my favorites – I found it a bit tart for my taste.  The Buon Giorno won a Bronze Medal at the 2008 NJ Wine Competition, but unfortunately, like the La Sorella, the Buon Giorno is currently sold out.

Vidal Blanc 2007 Also a New Jersey wine, this is a dry full-bodied white that would be great on its own or paired with food.  Like the Buon Giorno, the Vidal Blanc also has a light nose, with subtle floral notes.  There are interesting notes of grapefruit and apricot in the mouth that give the wine a touch of sweetness, providing a depth that I didn’t necessarily find in the other whites.  The wine finishes with just a touch of acid which balances the fruit very nicely.  A Bronze Medal Winner at the 2009 NJ Wine Competition, this was my pick of the day among the Ventimiglia Whites.

Also – congratulations to Ventimiglia Vineyards, who celebrated their one-year anniversary of being open to the public this past Saturday, July 5th!

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

On the last Sunday in May, I headed down to northeastern New Jersey to join my cousin and his family in celebrating his son Geoff’s Induction into the Eagle Scout Court of Honor – a tremendous accomplishment!

The event wasn’t scheduled to start until 4:00 pm, so I decided to take a slight detour off the Connecticut Wine Trail, and head down early in order to check out a winery or two before the ceremony.  This plan also saved me from the dreaded New Jersey traffic curse, which can be summed up as: if you have to be anywhere in New Jersey at a specific time, then it’s a dead certainty that there will be at least one accident on the Tappan Zee, a backup heading into the George Washington Bridge, and the tunnels will have collapsed, resulting in a 2 – 2.5 hour trip taking at least 4!  On the flip side, if you have no set plans, traffic will be blessedly clear on whatever route you take, and you’ll sail into New Jersey with lots of time to spare!

Having learned the hard way never to tempt the traffic curse ~ and interested in discovering new wineries ~ I hit the road early and headed over to Ventimiglia Vineyard in the northwest corner of the state.

Ventimiglia is a family-owned winery founded and still run by the family patriarch, Gene Ventimiglia.  Gene is, himself, a third-generation winemaker, having learned the craft from his grandfather, Eugenio Ventimiglia.   All of the Ventimiglia wines are handcrafted and are aged in oak with “minimal chemical or mechanical intervention.”  The wines are all aged in oak, and Gene and his sons carefully blend all the wines themselves.

The winery is set back from the main road, with the vineyards starting almost at the back door and extending up the hill behind the winery.  In addition to the vineyards surrounding the winery, Ventimiglia also has acreage under cultivation throughout the surrounding area, including a vineyard directly across the street from Jon Bon Jovi’s house.  Unfortunately, a tour of the winery doesn’t include a side-trip to view the other vineyards or their neighboring celebrities.

The winery is built into the side of the hill, so the wine pressing and storage rooms reap the benefits of lower temperatures and humidity from being underground.   The Tasting Room, which sits at ground level directly above the wine pressing and storage rooms is charming ~ wood paneled with a long Tasting Bar across the back of the room.  Along the walls are sketches of ballet costumes, drawn by Gene’s sister-in-law for the NY ballet companies.

After I finished the tasting, Gene very kindly offered to give me a tour of the wine rooms and took me downstairs to the “workshop.”   There’s a large concrete pad outside the main door where the grapes are brought after harvesting.  The pressing and fermentation is then done on site, in what is a surprisingly small space.   While downstairs I was treated to a few barrel tastings, and a blending session.  Gene regularly hosts blending classes, bringing people together to experiment with wine – discovering the difference that just adding a few drops of a different wine to an existing glass (or barrel) can make.  It was a fascinating experience.

While the Ventimiglia wines were very good (and I will be talking about them in the next few posts), the absolute highlight of a visit to Ventimiglia is Gene.  He has an absolute passion for wine which comes across in the stories he tells, his enthusiasm, and the joy he so obviously gets from talking to the people who stop by.   He’s as interested in hearing your stories as he is in telling you his, and is extremely knowledgeable about the regional wines.  When I mentioned I was from Connecticut, he asked me if I had visited Jerram Winery, as he is friends with Jim Jerram.  From there, we talked about Connecticut wine vs. New Jersey wine vs. Long Island wine. It was an absolutely delightful afternoon, and if you’re interested in exploring New Jersey wines, Ventimiglia should definitely be a stop on your list.

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