Tropicana’s Jersey Shore Wine Festival was held on Saturday, February 24 and Sunday, February 25. I was unable to attend on Saturday, but fortunately, I was able to attend this event on Sunday. 10 New Jersey wineries were represented at this festival, as well as some crafters and food stations. There were also workshops about wine on Saturday and Sunday and live music on both days. I’ll discuss more about the workshops and music later. First, the wines…
The following wineries were represented:
- Cava Winery from Hamburg
- DiMatteo Vineyards from Hammonton
- Plagido’s Winery from Hammonton
- Sharrott Winery from Blue Anchor
- Southwind Vineyard from Millville
- Tomasello Winery from Hammonton
- William Heritage Winery from Mullica Hill
- Valenzano Winery from Shamong
- Villari Vineyards from Sewell
- Wagonhouse Winery from South Harrison Township
My approach to these events has always been three-fold: 1. wineries I don’t often get to often (or wines offered that I haven’t tried); 2.shortest line; 3. Wineries I may love, but are close by and I get to often. I have been to Sharrott and Heritage many times (recently) so, I know how good their wines are (Very) and there were no new ones offered. My favorites among those tasted were: Tomasello’s Palmaris Chardonnay; Tomasello’s Palmaris Merlot (newly released); Villari’s Cabernet Sauvignon; DiMatteo’s Chocolate Raz (tastes like a Tootsie Roll Pop); Southwind’s Cab Franc; and Cava’s VDR Sangiovese..
Unfortunately, I missed the presentation on Saturday by my friend, Paul Tonacci about Wine and Chocolate-two of the basic food groups (the other two being craft beer and spirits). But I was glad I was able to make the Sunday 2:00 presentation My wife and I attended John Mahoney’s and Gary Pavlis’s Presentation entitled, “New Jersey Against the World.” If you have never seen these guys present you owe it to yourself to do so. I told my wife she would enjoy the presentation (even before we learned that we got to taste six more wines (with more generous pours than we had earlier). Dr. John Mahoney is the author of Wine for the Intellectual and Chancellor of the North American Branch of the Dionysian Society International. Dr. Gary Pavlis has been a professor at Rutgers for over 30 years and is a County Agricultural and Resource Management Agent. He conducts research and provides outreach services to wineries around the state, sharing his expertise.
Mahoney and Pavlis conducted a Blind Tasting, pitting three unnamed New Jersey wines and three wines of a similar style from other countries. My wife and I were among the 35 or so participants. After the talk (giving time for the wines to “open up”) we tasted* and then voted for our favorite from each pair of comparative wines. Those wines were as follows:
*Actually we used the well-known Five S’s to evaluate and appreciate the wines (See, Swirl, Sniff, Sip and Savor).
William Heritage Sauvignon Blanc vs Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand)- NJ wins! So I did get to taste the Heritage Sauvignon Blanc. Nice!
Plagido’s Chambourcin vs Chianti (Italy)- Maybe a little unfair, as they are two different varietals, but again NJ is triumphant! …and I did get to taste a very nice Plagido’s wine!
Tomasello Palmaris Cabernet Sauvignon vs an Argentinian Cabernet Sauvignon – NJ wins again! No comparison here. The Palmaris was far better!
I was not surprised by these results and readers of this blog should not be surprised, given the mounting evidence of the rise in New Jersey’s stature in the wine industry.
All three of the New Jersey wines beat their foreign competitors. Since my wife and I were voting participants, I can attest that this tasting and its results were legitimate. Most impressive to me was the Sauvignon Blanc. We drink this often (though not usually with food). However, even without food the Heritage Sauvignon Blanc was better. The Kim Crawford is the largest selling Sauvignon Blanc in the US! Incidentally, my wife nailed the Kim Crawford, naming it as soon as she sipped it (it took me a second sip)!
Did I mention there was music? We missed Beth Tynan, who is very good. I’ve seen her perform before. However, we got to see Stealing Savannah, who we have seen at Harrah’s and they are excellent. Just an excellent acoustic guitarist who does not sing and a bongo player who sings anything and everything, very well. The result is awesome covers of great music. Just to name a few of their covers: Neil Young, Stone Temple Pilots and Gin Blossoms. Diverse sets and well done. I hope they return to the area again soon.
After the seminar, I was hoping to get to those I hadn’t visited earlier, but wasn’t counting on liberal tastes of six wines at the presentation, so I needed to follow my game plan. I did get to taste an excellent sample of Plagido’s Winery (Chambourcin) and William Heritage Winery (Sauvignon Blanc) at the presentation. I plan on revisiting and posting about Valenzano and Wagonhouse soon (probably in April).
All-in-all? A well-run and fun day. I even won enough money gambling to pay for parking and have a few extra bucks in my pocket!
Cheers!
Coming Attractions
- Snob-free approach to wine (as I ready my book for copyright and publication)
- My two year writing and researching journey into the NJ wine industry
- Some tips for anyone interested in writing their first book
- A Review of Adventures with Old Vines: A beginner’s Guide to Being a Wine Connoisseur (written by Richard L. Chilton, Jr., co-owner of Hourglass Winery in Napa Valley)
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