Fox Hollow Vineyards and Winery opened their new tasting room in Holmdel in October, 2016. It is owned and operated by the Casola Family, who have been farming for six generations. They had previously done tastings at the family’s nursery nearby while waiting for the new facility to be completed. They did this for about a year. Their brand new tasting room is an attractive, large, open facility that also houses all of their winemaking equipment, barrels, etc. The stacks of barrels separate the tasting area on one side, while on another views of the stainless steel fermenters and other equipment are observable in the distance. While tasting your wine you can envision the magic of winemaking. Though sharing space within this modern new facility, the tasting area has a few nice, warm touches like a large Oriental-Style rug, with tables and chairs to relax with your wine and an impressive display of their wines and medals they have already won. Outside, the covered patio runs the distance of the entire building. The facility is beautifully landscaped (as you might expect given their other family business) with gorgeous views in all directions.
As noted above, Fox Hollow has already won many awards. In 2016 at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition Fox Hollow took Silver Medals for their Barrel Aged Riesling, Riesling, Traminette and Autumn Harvest Dessert Wine; and they won Bronze Medals for their Barrel Aged Chardonnay, Chambourcin and Cabernet Sauvignon. They also won numerous awards in 2016 and 2015 at the Vineyard and Winery Management Magazine Wine Competition. These rewards are quite remarkable given that their vineyards were only planted in 2010.
All of Fox Hollow’s wines are made with their own estate grown grapes. Fox Hollow offers the following white wines: Traminette, a barrel aged Chardonnay, a dry Riesling (fermented in stainless steel) and a Barrel Aged Riesling (also dry and aged 10 months in French Oak). As with Chardonnay, it is interesting to taste the difference between an oaked and an unoaked version. However, an oaked Riesling is much less common and definitely worth a taste.
Fox Hollow red wines include Chambourcin (aged in French, Russian and American oak for 8-20 months); Cabernet Sauvignon (full-bodied, aged in French and Russian oak for 20 months); Cabernet Franc (aged in premium French and American Oak for 20 months) and their Field Master Blend (a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cab Franc and aged in premium Russian oak for 20 months).
Fox Hollow currently only makes one sweet, dessert wine, their Autumn Harvest. They describe it as a full-bodied wine with caramel and butterscotch aromas, which goes well with buttery pastries, fruit and cream pies.
Tastings are $8 per person for a sampling of five of their wines. Additional samples are $1.00. Fox Hollow’s tasting room is open on weekends. They will be closed for the winter (after the holidays). As they are still very new, they have not yet established an exact date for when they will open in warmer weather or what their hours will be when they do. It is anticipated that they will be open at least on weekends as they are now (10 AM to 5 PM). Check their website for the latest information.
Tried a New Jersey wine lately? Visited a NJ winery recently? Share your experience here.
Cheers!
