Located in Pilesgrove, in Southern New Jersey, Chestnut Run Farm has been making wine with pears and apples for many years. Their website states, tongue-in-cheek: “Absolutely no grapes are harmed in the making of these wines.” You can make arrangements by appointment to do tastings on weekends at their roadside tasting area, or you can taste their wines at festivals and wine trail events. Their wines are also sold at a few local liquor stores. If you have not tried a pear wine you are not alone (until writing this book I had not), but you should know Chestnut Run Farm has won a number of awards over the years for their wines. Most recently, they won a Silver Medal for their Semi-Sweet Asian Pear Wine at the 2012 Tasters Guild International Wine Competition and a Double Gold Medal for their Spiced Sweet Asian Pear Wine at the 2012 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. It is also worth noting that Chestnut Run grows all of the fruit used in making their wines.
Chestnut Run makes the following wines: Dry Crisp Asian Pear Wine (as described by its name); Semi-Sweet Asian Pear Wine (a blend of several of their Asian pears); Spiced Sweet Asian Pear Wine (a blend of their Asian Pears with a rich ginger flavor, utilizing ginger root); Fuji Apple Wine (a tart, semi-sweet wine); and Shiro Plum Wine (utilizing their golden-yellow Japanese plum, yielding a subtly sweet wine that is sold in 375 ml bottles).
These wines are really worth trying. They pair (or should I say pear) very well with sushi, Thai food and other spicy Asian fare. The Dry Asian Pear Wine would pair well with many other cuisines or can be enjoyed on its own, served chilled. This was my favorite here, but don’t ignore their other offerings.
Tastings are by appointment only on Saturdays. There is no charge for tastings. This is a good one to check out at a festival or wine trail event. Their wines will surprise you, and hold their own with other dry wines (like dry Rieslings). If you can’t do weekends by appointment, these options are the only way to give their wines a try. For more about these festivals read my previous posts about the Wine and Music Festival Weekend and the Wine and Food Festival.
Tried a New Jersey wine lately? Visited a NJ winery recently? Share your experience here.
Cheers!
