Traveling down the White Horse Pike toward the shore, one would not expect that amidst all of the traffic and commercial growth nearby, spread across a stereotypically flat stretch of land is a fairly large and relatively old vineyard. Sure many people know of the Tomasello Winery, but it’s not your father’s version. Once inside the new, enlarged, upscale tasting room you realize things have changed dramatically in recent years. In addition to the new ambience one is struck by the large number of offerings (almost 50 wines available for tasting). After visiting some of our smaller wineries in New Jersey the sheer number of choices was surprising and made our choices more difficult. Now the true test…Would the quality of the wines match the upgrading of the exterior surroundings? Again we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of several of their wines. My favorite was their 2012 Palmaris Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. It was quite good. My wife and I also enjoyed their Chambourcin, their Pinot Noir, and an interesting white wine called Outer Coastal Plain Rkatsiteli. The latter is a dry, spicy white wine made from a grape originally found in the Caucasus Mountains bordering Armenia and Turkey. It is high in acidity and reminds one of Gewürztraminer. It is very refreshing. Our server was kind enough to inform us that we could actually save on our purchases by obtaining a $10 membership which entitled us to 20% off on current and future purchases this year. Thank you! We had also found out about Tomasello’s occasional “Wine Down Wednesday” Pasta dinners so we checked out the dining room while we were there.
A few days later we purchased four tickets for the pasta dinner, planning on going with another couple. We had to pay for the meals over the phone with a credit card and when our friends cancelled out at the last minute we thought they might not refund their money (we planned on going anyway). When we called to tell them the our friend was sick and could they change the reservation from four to two, they thanked us for letting them know and in short order we were pleasantly surprised that they not only refunded us half of the money, but did so by giving us a check for that amount when they presented us with our bill! As for the meal itself, the food was presented buffet style with a wide variety of pasta and Italian-style dishes (e.g. baked ziti, cavatelli with sausage and broccoli rabe, tri-colored tortellini, etc.) with a salad, garlic bread, and a surprise sweet treat for dessert (three small scoops of ice-cream, each covered with something delicious –especially the chocolate). We chose the 2012 Palmaris Cab to go with dinner, but had to have some of their port with dessert.
We took home the remainder of the port, as well as a bottle of the Palmaris Chard, a bottle, of Chambourcin and a bottle of the Rkasitelli (hard to resist when they offered 25% off their regular prices just for diners that night — even better than our reduced membership prices)! Finally, there was a young woman (whose name escapes me) who played acoustic guitar to accompany her songs, ranging from pop to country in a volume appropriate to the setting – a pleasant and unexpected addition to our evening. Our only complaint was minor – the room a bit too bright for our taste. Dimmer lighting would add significantly to the ambience.
