The Meritage Association:
Unionville Vineyards Captures Second Double Gold

Written and © Copyright by The Meritage Association

Unionville Vineyards was recently awarded a Double Gold at the International Eastern Wine Competition for their Hunter’s Red Reserve 2002, Meritage. This wine, which is a blend of Cabernet Franc 51%, Cabernet Sauvignon 44% and Merlot 5% is sweeping up additional medals throughout the country, with Gold at the Tasters Guild International Wine Judging, Silver at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition as well as the New Jersey Wine Competition 2004.

New York Times:
Ringoes and Beyond: Wineries of New Jersey

By TINA KELLEY

Published: December 23, 2005

The rural areas of Hunterdon County, N.J., east of the Delaware River and south of Phillipsburg, resemble Amish country, with rolling hills that make a cyclist long for a few free hours. In winter, the landscape is muted into shades of gray and the touring is more likely to be by car, but the narrow roads winding through open fields and past small woodlands still invite exploration. If the path through the chill heads in the right direction, the rewards can be cheerful conversation and a warming glass of wine at a tasting room.

Yes, New Jersey has wineries. Some of the wines have won awards; some are offered at expensive restaurants. The state publishes a brochure describing 12 wine trails. In Hunterdon, a trip to a couple of them also leads naturally to a stop in Lambertville, where the browsing is good not only for wine lovers, but also for lovers of antiques, boutique wares and a good meal.

Start by finding your way to Ringoes, a place not so eccentrically named as it might first seem; it comes from an 18th-century tavern keeper named John Ringo.

The Amwell Valley Vineyard, with 13.5 acres under cultivation, is tucked beneath the mysterious Sourland Mountains, high hills where compasses can reportedly lose their magnetism, and not far from the old Charles A. Lindbergh home in Hopewell. (An annual spring tour offered by the Sourland Planning Council lets visitors drive up to that house, now a home for troubled young people, and see the window of the second-story room where the Lindbergh baby slept before his kidnapping.)

Jeffrey Fisher, the owner and vintner at Amwell Valley, makes his American-oak-aged Landot noirs and crisp seyval blancs with the help of just one other person, plus hired harvesters. "It's all aged and pressed on the property," he said from behind the counter of his tasting room, where some bottles were weighed down with four or five medals, some from an event called the New Jersey Wine Competition. The small, wood-paneled tasting room offers views of the winemaking facilities, in a small building across the driveway.

Mr. Fisher is familiar with the stigma faced by the state's wine. "You just have to keep promoting it," he said. "There's nothing else you can do." A lot of people seem to believe New Jersey is all industrial, he said. But out his window, there was little to be seen but hills and vines. "We're very much like northern France, with the same average temperature variation," he said. "The only difference is we get real extreme winter temperatures."

Three miles away, at the end of a long farm driveway, Unionville Vineyards has given its winery a hunting theme. Its two owners have ridden with the Amwell Valley Hounds, a local fox-hunting club, and the wine labels feature pictures of local hunters and their horses. "The soil is very rich, very good, probably too good," said Roger Dixon, the general manager, who spent 45 years growing grapes in Australia.

Unionville's grapes come from local growers, from Vineland, N.J., and from Long Island as well as from its own 27 acres in Ringoes. The farm was part of the largest peach orchard in the United States back in the mid-1800's, the vineyard's Web site says, before it was divided up as part of a dowry. Nowadays, Unionville's 2003 Chateau Galloway Viognier, at $14.99 a bottle, is hard to resist, with hints of peach and honeydew melon and a self-proclaimed "firm mineral backbone."

From here, it's a short ramble back to Route 202 and south to Lambertville, where Tomasello Winery operates its outlet, offering tastings and toys for oenophiles. The store sells a wine thermometer to place on a bottle, a neoprene bottle tote that keeps two bottles cozy and elaborate enameled wine stems with removable bowls by Edgar Berebi ($200 to $250).

Tomasello, atop the sandy soils of Hammonton, produces the most wine of any winery in the state. The Nevers Oak Chardonnay 2002 had a wild-grape start and a vanilla finish, and a bottle of it went home with Joe and Karen Venutolo, visiting from Sparta, N.J. Mr. Venutolo also enjoyed the 2002 cabernet sauvignon, pronouncing it "very smooth, with no afterbite."

Tomasello's blueberry and cranberry wines are made entirely from New Jersey fruit, and its Web site, www.tomasellowinery.com, recommends pouring a dollop of the deeply sweet blueberry wine, which is made without added sugar, into the bottom of a champagne flute and then filling the glass with Champagne for something akin to a kir royale. After a posttasting ramble among the quaint town's dozen antiques stores, or a walk to Pennsylvania on the bridge over the Delaware River, a good place for restorative nourishment is the Lambertville Station at 11 Bridge Street. It offers a variety of American main dishes, including an applewood bacon-wrapped filet mignon of buffalo topped with chevre ($33.95) or flash-fried jumbo lump Chesapeake Bay crab cakes ($22.95).

The restaurant, a converted train station where diners can sit along the enclosed platform, also offers an alligator chili appetizer ($8.95) and, in January through March a wild-game schedule featuring, on various weeks, elk, wild boar, antelope, emu and kangaroo, among other temptations.

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WineLine No. 54:
Wine Rising in the East

Written and © Copyright by Dave McIntyre
Published: July 2005

Dear Friends:

Wine is now produced in all 50 U.S. states, at least in some form or another. California may not be running scared, but the quality elsewhere is improving, and many states can offer wines that would impress open-minded wine lovers. (Though in my experience, those are distressingly few.)
For many of us, "local" wine is a novelty to be endured once a year at a regional festival or foisted on unsuspecting relatives as holiday presents. We enjoy the occasional winery visit and make a "mercy purchase," then hurry home to our favorite California Cabs and Chardonnays.
Well, the times, they are a-changing, folks.

If you haven't discovered the dedicated winemaker near you who is producing a top-notch Cabernet, Viognier, or dessert wine, then you aren't looking hard enough. They're there - not only in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, where you might have heard of successful wines, but also in New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina and Georgia.

We used to have to live near these wineries to discover them, or else rely on blind luck to guide us off the beaten path on road trips. But with the recent Supreme Court decision on direct shipping tipping the balance in some states in favor of consumers, we may find new opportunities to explore wines from unusual places that don't typically reach our retail shelves.

That's why I cheered when the Vinifera Wine Growers Association, a winery trade group based in Virginia, announced plans to hold an inaugural Atlantic Seaboard Vinifera Wine Competition. For many years, the VWGA has held a competition dedicated to Virginia wines, but decided this year to expand its scope to include the entire East Coast. (In the interest of disclosure, I have been a judge in several of their earlier competitions and in January of this year joined the VWGA's board of directors.) Until this year, there was no competition highlighting the progress in quality winemaking along the East Coast. It is a worthy effort, and one that I hope will continue.

Wineries from 17 states were eligible to enter this year's competition; there were 319 wines entered from 10 states. New York wineries did not participate in great numbers, for some reason, though a New York entrant did win a best-of-category award. (Surprise - it was a Riesling!) In all, only 13 gold medals were awarded, along with 56 silvers and 132 bronzes. This may sound disappointing, but it demonstrates the rigorous standards enforced by the 20 judges, who were not giving charity points because these were "local" wines. The large number of medals awarded (more than 50 percent) demonstrates that the overall quality of winemaking in this region is high. Only occasionally were judges shaking their heads and wondering, "What were they thinking?"

For the record, "Best of Show" honors went to Rockbridge Vineyard of Virginia for its 2002 Heritage, which also won Best-of-Category for Bordeaux-style red blends. Other Best-of-Category wines were the Horizon Cellars 2003 Viognier from North Carolina; Unionville Vineyards 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon from New Jersey; Wintergreen Winery 2003 Black Rock Chardonnay and its 2002 Cabernet Franc, from Virginia; Barboursville 2003 Barbera Reserve from Virginia; and Dr. Konstantin Frank 2004 Semi-Dry Riesling from New York. Virginia's strong showing in the winner's circle is a factor of the quality of winemaking in the Old Dominion as well as the state industry's support of the VWGA.

Some personal observations as a judge, from quick glances at labels after the contest and from looking at my own score sheets (these do not reflect medal awards or the consensus of my judging panel!):

My two surprises were that Unionville Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon from New Jersey and several wines from Frogtown Cellars in Georgia, primarily because I'd never heard of them. I will be seeking them out from now on.
Virginia has potential with wild yeast Chardonnay. I was particularly impressed with entries from Piedmont and Rappahannock Cellars.
Cabernet Franc continues to do well along the East Coast, showing complexity and elegance even in wet vintages when ripening can be difficult.
Touriga and Tannat have definite potential as the foundation for high-quality wines. Some Virginia wineries have been championing these varietals for a few years, and my strong flight in "All Other Red Varietals" included Keswick Cellars 2004 Touriga and Horton - Spottswood Trail 2000 Tannat. Equally impressive were North Carolina's Silver Coast Winery 2002 Cape Fear Blood Wine (OK, OK, but the wine is good) and two from Georgia - Frogtown Cellars 2002 Tannat and Tiger Mountain Vineyards 2002 Tannat.

For a list of the medal winning wines from the first Atlantic Seaboard Vinifera Wine Competition, see my Web site at http://dmwineline.com/, on the Archives page along with this article.
PS - For those of you in the Washington, D.C., or Northern Virginia region, the VWGA will host its 30th annual Virginia Wine Festival August 20-21 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Historic Long Branch Farm in Millwood, Virginia. Tickets are $20 in advance or $22 at the gate, with special rates available for designated drivers, children and groups. More information is available at http://www.showsinc.com/.
Cheers!

For more information, visit Dave McIntyre's WineLine featured on Wine Lovers Page.

VWGA Press Release:
First Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition Announces Medal Winners and Best of Show

July 18, 2005

Leesburg, Va. – Wines from Virginia, New Jersey, New York and North Carolina took top honors at the premiere Atlantic Seaboard Vinifera Wine Competition, the only competition of its kind showcasing wines from the East Coast.

A total of 319 wines from 10 states were entered in the competition, which was sponsored by the Vinifera Wine Growers Association (VWGA) and held July 16-17 at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg.

“Best of Show” honors went to Rockbridge Vineyard of Virginia for its 2002 Heritage, which also won Best-of-Category for Bordeaux-style red blends. Other Best-of-Category wines were the Horizon Cellars 2003 Viognier from North Carolina; Unionville Vineyards 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon from New Jersey; Wintergreen Winery 2003 Black Rock Chardonnay and its 2002 Cabernet Franc, from Virginia; Barboursville 2003 Barbera Reserve from Virginia; and Dr. Konstantin Frank 2004 Semi-Dry Riesling from New York.

In all, 13 gold medals, 56 silver and 132 bronze were awarded by 20 certified and experienced judges. The objective of the competition was to focus on the increasing quality of wines made from vinifera (European) grapes on the East Coast of the United States, and to gain greater public awareness and consumer appreciation of the wines being produced in the East. The competition was open to wineries from all Atlantic coastal states, plus Vermont and West Virginia.

“The recent Supreme Court decision in favor of open borders for direct shipping of wine to consumers should create new markets for wines from unfamiliar areas,” said Gordon Murchie, president of the VWGA and chief organizer of the competition.

“The results of this competition demonstrate the high quality of wine making throughout the Eastern United States,” Murchie said. “This should be a wake-up call to consumers that great wines are being produced right here at home.”

The official presentation of trophies and medals, including the coveted Jefferson Loving Cup, will take place this fall on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the U.S. Congressional Wine Caucus.

The Vinifera Wine Growers Association (VWGA) is one of the oldest wine organizations located on the East Coast. Established in 1973, it was an early supporter of planting world-class vinifera wine grapes, the production of quality commercial wines, and the building of a wine industry along the Eastern seaboard. Today, the VWGA is a national and international wine trade association that works with state and national legislatures to resolve issues that challenge the U.S. wine industry.

New York Times:
So Crisp, So Complex, So Unexpectedfont>

By David Corcoran

Published: July 17, 2005

RINGOES

TEN years ago, New Jersey had 14 wineries. Today it has 27, and within the next year or so the number is expected to reach 40.

Ten years ago, New Jersey made 873,000 gallons of wine (about 360,000 cases). Now it makes almost twice that much, more than 1.5 million gallons. In 1995, it was eighth in the nation in wine production; now it is fifth, behind only California, New York, Washington and Oregon.

But one thing hasn't changed in that decade of extraordinary growth for New Jersey wine: hardly anyone knows a thing about it. Less than 1 percent of the wine consumed in New Jersey was made in New Jersey - not surprising, considering that few restaurants serve it and few liquor stores carry it. Even experts like John Foy, a consultant who writes a wine column for The Star-Ledger of Newark and assembled the world-class wine list at Restaurant Latour in Hardyston, confess ignorance.

"I haven't bought any since I did an article for New Jersey Monthly in the mid-80's about New Jersey wine," he said. "It was the worst wine-tasting experience I've ever had. It was horrible. I titled the article 'Parkway Red and Turnpike White.' "

Parkway Red and Turnpike White. Even 20 years later, the taunt still stings, and the sheer implausibility of New Jersey as a wine region continues to haunt the industry. But now a small band of dedicated winemakers is out to change all that - to eradicate the stigma and put New Jersey on the nation's wine map for good.

"The owners here are very passionate," said Cameron Stark, the new winemaker at Unionville Vineyards, which occupies a setting in the Amwell Valley here that could have been painted by Andrew Wyeth: red barn, verdant hillside, 20-plus acres of impeccably tended vines. "They want us to be the first 95 on the East Coast."

Mr. Stark, who was recruited from the cult-status pinot noir and merlot caves of Robert Sinskey Vineyards in the Napa Valley of California, was not talking about the expressway. What Unionville's owners, Kris Nielsen and Patricia Galloway, are after is a rating of 95 on the 100-point scale used by influential arbiters like Wine Spectator magazine and the critic Robert M. Parker Jr.

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New York Times:
Up, Down and Sideways: A Wine Tour

By David Corcoran

Published: July 17, 2005

As a wine region, New Jersey is not California and never will be. There are no wine corridors that remotely match the Napa Valley, Sonoma County or the Central Valley of "Sideways" fame.

Still, it is possible to put together more than one day trip on the state's country roads and blue highways, driving from vineyard to vineyard and tasting all the way. Some are stunningly pretty, with hillside settings that look down into valleys and up into mountains. Virtually all have tasting rooms; this is where most of the state's best wine is sold.

A good place to start is the first-rate Web site of the Garden State Wine Growers Association, the industry's trade group, at http://www.newjerseywines.com/. It offers a map of 20 of the state's 27 wineries, with links to their Web sites; those sites, in turn, have essential information like hours and driving directions.

Eight wineries were visited for this report, and a few tasting notes follow. What was surprising about these tastings was the consistency. While I can't claim to have encountered anything to make me forget the blockbuster classified growths of Bordeaux, or even the '98 Oregon pinot noir I had the other night, almost every New Jersey wine I sampled was balanced and well made. And some were much better than that.

ALBA VINEYARD Finesville, Warren County. The Mainsl White (just $7.99) is crisp and light. But Alba, in a fine 200-year-old stone barn in the Musconetcong Valley, is best known for its lush, almost syrupy raspberry wine ($11.99).

CREAM RIDGE WINERY Cream Ridge, Monmouth County. A red barn on just six acres, in a farming area threatened by sprawl. It, too, is best known for fruit wines, particularly the Ciliegia Amabile, at $13.95. (Tom Amabile is the owner.) It is unmistakably a cherry wine, but uncandied and uncloying - a wine you could drink with ham or smoked turkey.

HOPEWELL VALLEY VINEYARDS Pennington, Mercer County. A new venture with an airy, inviting tasting room, it will not harvest its first wine grapes until this year. But its Tuscan-born owner, Sergio Neri, has been working with out-of-state grapes since 2001 and is turning out some keepers. The 2003 barbera ($13.95), from California grapes, is tart and sturdy, with a cherry aftertaste. It will age comfortably for two to three years. A white port ($14.95), based on vidal grapes, is sweet but far from cloying.

SILVER DECOY WINERY Robbinsville, Mercer County. New and rough-hewn; the owners clear out a bottling shed on weekends to make room for tasters. But their passion is infectious, and their wines, while clearly works in progress, are winning. I loved a 2004 chardonnay ($13). It has a bright mineral edge that keeps it refreshing with no loss of fruitiness.

SYLVIN FARMS WINERY Germania, Atlantic County. And now for something completely different. The owner, proprietor, vineyard manager, crusher, stemmer, winemaker and chief viticulturalist at this 28-year-old winery are all one man: Franklin Salek, a retired engineering professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Small wonder he has no time for a Web site, and his cluttered tasting room has seen few visitors in recent months. Even so, it is worth calling ahead - (609) 965-1548 - to meet his enthusiasm head-on and to sample such elegant, lovingly made wines as the 2002 sauvignon blanc ($12.95) and 2001 pinot noir ($14.95).

TOMASELLO WINERY Hammonton, Atlantic County. This is the General Motors of New Jersey wineries, turning out nearly three dozen varieties from a headquarters that looks like an Italian coastal villa. But there is nothing mass-produced about the wines, which include some fine French-American hybrids (notably chambourcin), a number of popular berry wines and a fabulously viscous, honeyed late-harvest riesling called Epilogue ($30).

UNIONVILLE VINEYARDS Ringoes, Hunterdon County. Far off the beaten track, Unionville attracts a steady stream of tasters, and it's easy to see why. A 2002 reserve cabernet sauvignon ($28.99) could be mistaken for a Napa Valley rival, with its depths of cherry, oak and tannin; the Vat No. 10 port ($24.99) has powerful currents of raisin, licorice and chocolate. But simpler wines like the 2004 seyval blanc ($14.99) and 2003 Hunter's White Reserve ($15.99) are agreeable.

VALENZANO WINERY Shamong, Burlington County. This 15-year-old winery in the Pine Barrens has hit its stride in recent years, pulling down two consecutive Governor's Cups for its Cynthiana, a little-known American grape that had its start in the lower Midwest in the 1860's. (It is also used, you'll be happy to know, to make an Oklahoma wine called Route 66 Red.) Valenzano's 2002 Cynthiana ($29.95) is quiet and beautifully balanced, with potential for aging. The 2002 Old Indian Mills ($16.75), a red that blends merlot and chambourcin, is soft and very fruity.

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The Meritage Association: Unionville Vineyards Captures Second Double Gold

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WineLine No. 54: Wine Rising in the East

VWGA Press Release: First Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition Announces Medal Winners and Best of Show

New York Times: So Crisp, So Complex, So Unexpectedfont>

An excerpt from the New York Times. To view the complete article click here. You may need to sign in. Registration is free.

New York Times: Up, Down and Sideways: A Wine Tour