The Heritage Wine Festival, held this past weekend, was one of the best I have attended. While only seven wineries were represented, they all produce high quality wines across a wide range of varietals and something to please every palate. I was disappointed to find out that Hopewell Valley Vineyard was missing, but pleased that in its place was a new, but already terrific South Jersey winery, Autumn Lake Winery. The other six wineries represented were: Auburn Road Winery; Cape May Winery & Vineyard; Heritage (host); Hawk Haven Vineyard; Unionville Vineyards; and Working Dog Winery. There was also a tent offering craft beers from around the state (supplied by ShopRite Liquors), several food trucks and a large array of crafters and artisans selling their products. All of the above were available for consumption on a weekend that was unseasonably warm (but pleasantly sunny and thankfully dry). These festivals are held rain or shine so we were quite lucky. I should also add that there was live music on two stages for the entire afternoon. We enjoyed Mike Dugan and his band (nearest the wine tents on the main stage). The property is large enough that you only knew there was another band if you did a lot of walking and wandering around. Greg Jones Project provided the music on the second stage.
We were told that Saturday was much more crowded than Sunday, the day I attended. This was undoubtedly due to the Eagles-Giants game being played on Sunday in the overlapping hours of 1:00-4:00. While I regret missing the game, smartphones, spontaneous cheers in the crowd and taped highlights had to suffice. But let me get to the reason why I gave up a Sunday afternoon of football and cheering on the Birds. The wines!
It is very difficult, if not impossible to pick favorites from this group of wineries and wines, but I’ll try to highlight some that I thought stood out. I literally did not taste a bad wine all afternoon. Of course, having visited all of the state’s wineries, I had already tried many of the wines that were served on Sunday. I also know what I like (dry whites and dry reds, with a slight nod to the reds). I did taste a few more whites than usual (with the summer-like temperatures bending my predilections).
Of the wines I tasted, the following are among my favorites on this day:
- Autumn Lake’s Traminette (a unique and wonderful white) and Albarino (a little darker than some, with a hint of sweetness).
- Auburn Road’s Sole (a great, versatile Vidal Blanc) and Classico (a nice Sangiovese-based red, blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chambourcin). We enjoyed these with some crackers, cheese and other munchies.
- Cape May Albarino and Syrah from Cape May Winery & Vineyard. Nice to see the Albarino is now available in the bottle, as it was recently only available of tap or by the growler (yes, I did say tap and growler – check them out).
- Unoaked Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio from Hawk Haven (though I am enjoying a glass of their Flying Press Red as I write this post with my tacos).
- Syrah and Chambourcin from Heritage; though their Pumpkin Hill Chardonnay is also very good.
- Unionville’s Chards were both very good (2015 Chard and 2013 Pheasant Hill Vineyard); as was the Pinot Noir Reserve and The Big O.
- Working Dog’s Merlot, Cab Franc and Retriever were all very good. The Retriever is a Bordeaux-style blend and quite good.
I only tasted two of the beers, as I did not want to tempt the fates, even with a designated driver. Both were excellent IPA’s (many of the other brews offered were Pumpkin Ales of some type or other-not in my wheelhouse). The two I tasted were from Kane Brewing from Monmouth County and Tonewood from Camden County. I would have enjoyed a nice draught of either or both on another day (not devoted to wine).
The Heritage Wine Festival was a real success. Kudos to Heritage and their staff for putting on a great festival. I will plan on going again next year and hopefully getting to some of the vendors who were selling their nonalcoholic items. We meant to at least stop by the JD Gourmet Tent to stock up on some of their great olive oil and truffle oil, but somehow that never happened. However, doing my part, putting my money where my mouth is (at least when it comes to buying local, eating local, and drinking local) many of the bottles highlighted above found their way to my cellar…:-)
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I hope to put the final touches on my book within the next couple of weeks, then apply for copyright registration, followed by picking a cover and publication of the paperback and e-book! Can’t wait!
Cheers!
