What’s new at Turdo Vineyards & Winery? They recently completed an expansion of their beautiful patio that surrounds the tasting room. Luca shared that this was the first phase of their expansion, that will include building a new tasting room, while maintaining the present tasting area for storage for their barrels and bottles. An unfortunate sacrifice to make room for this expansion is the need to pull up a few rows of their beloved Nero D’Avola (their signature Sicilian-style red). I wish I had thought to take pictures of the gorgeous expansion of their patio, but you can see their lovely pictures on Turdo’s Facebook page.
Fortunately, with all of these changes I can report that the quality of their wines are still of the highest standard, and if anything I enjoyed a few of them even more than in previous tastings. While they are increasing their production a little from previous years, they do sell out. Luckily I have stockpiled some of them and several are pictured below.
My tasting
At my most recent tasting, I decided to focus primarily upon their white wines. I love their reds and don’t always get to sample all of the whites here (especially when also doing tastings at other wineries nearby). Great idea. The Albarino, Grillo and Sauvignon Blanc were exceptional-perhaps their best versions to date. Turis wines are made by Sal Turdo, while DiLuca wines are made by Sal’s son, Luca.
- 2017 DiLuca Albarino – A refreshing white with mouth-watering citrus and waiting to be paired with fresh seafood (or on its own)
- 2017 DiLuca Riesling – Dry – A very dry, crisp and refreshing white (no residual sugar)
- 2017 Turis Grillo – Definitely my favorite vintage to date, with its briny, yet refreshing taste, I could easily imagine this one accompanying a number of Cape May seafood delicacies. I only wish we were staying a couple of days nearby so I could try my envisioned pairings. Like, their Nero D’Avola, Grillo is a Sicilian grape in its origins and Grillo is also difficult to find elsewhere this country.
- 2017 Turis Pinot Grigio – Crisp and refreshing with lots of acidity.
- 2017 Turis Sauvignon Blanc – Another great Sauvignon Blanc. Grapefruit easily identified in aroma and taste, but not over-the-top (characteristic of some Sauvignon Blancs) making it better than most at pairing with food.
- 2017 Turis Nero D’Avola – While I wanted to focus on the whites this time, I couldn’t resist trying this one. While it was recently bottled, to me, this was already one of the best ever). I have tasted a few Nero D’Avolas from Sicily over the past few years and not one of them comes close in quality to the Turdo version. The aroma alone is heavenly and the full-bodied fruit-forward, but dry finish seems to last forever. It’s going to be difficult to lay this one down in the basement for a while! Turdo proudly states on their tasting menu that they are the sole East Coast grower and one of the few producers of Nero D’Avola in the USA. It is their signature red for good reason.
To those of you who have not yet visited Turdo Vineyard and Winery, do yourself a favor and check it out before they close for the season. This is truly one Not To Miss!
Cheers!
Coming Attractions
- My interview with Seferino Cotzojay, Winemaker at White Horse Winery
- Book Launch and signing at Autumn Lake Winery on 9/8/18
In the meantime, you can buy my paperback here: store.bookbaby.com/book/New-Jersey-Uncorked …or my ebook on your Apple iBooks Store App…Just tap on the search icon and type in New Jersey Uncorked. It’s only $12.99 and you get it instantaneously! Boom! Isn’t technology great?
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