It has been awhile since my last visit to Tomasello Winery and even longer since I wrote about their winery. I decided to visit, renew my membership and do a tasting. If you plan on doing a tasting for two and purchase at least a bottle or two of wine over the course of a year, it’s foolish not to buy the membership for $15 (Gold Membership).
Tomasello Winery is located in Hammonton. It is our second oldest winery in the state, but they are not resting on their past laurels. In fact, their newest label, Palmaris (written about here: https://wp.me/p74VSa-iY) continues to grow. The label now includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot and Chardonnay. All of these wines have won awards and/or high scores from wine critics. Their other wines should not be ignored, either. Many of them have also won awards and received critical acclaim. Their offerings include about 50 different wines, ranging in style, degree of sweetness and aging.
I tasted the following wines (with some sharing with my wife, thanks to the generous pours):
- Chardonnay – the unoaked version
- Dry Riesling – dry, crisp, with a little bit of spice
- Syrah – Very dry with 17 months in oak
- Petit Verdot 2013 – a great dark, bold red with 28 months in oak
- Petit Verdot 2014 – the slightly younger version; I think just as good and at an attractive price point
- Sangiovese – a tasty light-bodied red
- Merlot – a decent Merlot, though the Palmaris version is super!
- Blaufrankisch – dark, bold fruit with a little smokiness
Since I could only taste five wines and only one of them could be from the Palmaris label, I chose the Petit Verdot. My wife and I tried two different vintages available and shared and compared. We liked both of them a lot.
While we did not taste the Cabernet or Chardonnay, we have had them in the past and with the 25% off with the sale going on we took both of them home with us. Our membership gave us 20% off the Petit Verdot, so we decided to add the 2014 Petit Verdot, as well. All three are pictured above. Just as an aside, the weight of the reds (especially the Cabernet Sauvignon) are the heaviest bottles I have come across anywhere.
Tomasello makes good use of their large banquet facilities, offering good food, music and a great venue for weddings. My wife and I have attended a Pasta Dinner with live acoustic music. It was very enjoyable. We would love to attend one of their Gala Opera Events in the near future. These events sell out. You read that right – opera in South Jersey!
Tomasello is one of the wineries that has long had a number of “satellite tasting rooms (in and around the state). I will be writing a future post about this trend. Another trend is selling a New Jersey wine at BYOB restaurants around the state (especially in South Jersey). Increasingly I am also seeing more New Jersey wines represented on the shelves of liquor stores and recently had an even more encouraging experience ordering wine online via Wine.com. With only the filters “Chardonnay rated 90 or above” and “under $30” one of the wines that came up on my search was Alba Vineyards Chardonnay. Very cool! I did not even have to ask for a New Jersey wine. While I always prefer getting my New Jersey wines from the wineries, it is great to see them winning over the hearts and minds of the critics and the public.
Cheers!
Coming Attractions
- New Jersey Syrah
- NJ Winery Satellite Tasting Rooms
- My 2018 NJ Wine Highlights
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