Federal Twist Vineyard

The newest winery in New Jersey is Federal Twist Vineyard (FTV). It opened in October. The photo above is courtesy of FTV. The vineyard is located in Stockton, not far from Lambertville and Ringoes. It is a small boutique family-owned-and-operated winery, with a little over five acres “under vine.” I got a chance to meet the family and taste their wines at a recent weekend “pop up” tasting. My point person in setting up my visit and answering preliminary questions, was Libbey, daughter of the owners, Paul and Hattie Dorko. I also got a chance to talk with their son, Ian about the wines. Winemaking is a collaborative effort by family members. The family shared their appreciation for the help they have received from other wineries nearby in starting their winery.

While upbeat and enthusiastic about their recently opened winery, Paul Dorko shared that they experienced some difficulties with a pest you may have seen about in the news-the Spotted Lanternfly. These insects attack many agricultural crops. Their effects on a vineyard can be devastating. Paul showed me the residue of where they had laid eggs on a post at the end of a row. While you can step on them and kill them should you see one, once they arrive in numbers they can be very problematic. With consultation from a scientist from Cornell and diligent monitoring of the vineyard, the damage was minimized at FTV. The Spotted Lanternflies came from Bucks County, where they have been quite a problem. Hopefully, other wineries and farms in the state are taking measures to fight this threat.

On a more positive note, the Dorko family had a successful harvest. They produced Chambourcin and Vidal Blanc grapes this year, with plans to add Traminette and Blaufrankisch. Future plans also include the construction of a tasting room, expanding their market via sales to BYO restaurants and farm markets. They presently are selling their wines at the Stockton Market.

Federal Twist Vineyard currently offers three wines: Vidal Blanc, Rose and Fed Red (Chambourcin). Let me say a little more about each of these wines.

First, their Vidal Blanc is a very nice version of this popular grape. A white hybrid grape, it’s parents are Ugni Blanc and Rayon d’Or. Vidal Blanc has become a sort of unofficial Garden State signature white wine. A generous pour of the Federal Twist Vineyard Vidal Blanc reinforced my feeling that this is an under-appreciated grape. Further, FTV’s version is a good, balanced, medium-bodied example of this wine.

Next I tried their Rose Wine. It is a dry Rose, made by deftly blending their Vidal Blanc and their Fed Red. This method of making a Rose may be a less common method of making a Rose than others,* but the end result is a good dry Rose.

*Note: The most common method is the Limited Skin Maceration method (limiting the amount of time the skins are left to soak). The other methods include direct pressing (similar to the limited skin maceration method) and the Saigne method (“bleeding” some of the juice early in the maceration process). Blending seems to work just fine here.

Finally, I got to taste their Fed Red, a wonderful Chambourcin. This was a fantastic wine with aroma and tasting notes typical of this varietal (cherries with a high acidity and light tannins). However, it possesses more body and intensity of flavor than many Chambourcins I have tasted. In my discussion with Ian, I found one possible reason for the body and intensity of the flavor profile. They used an “appassimento”** method to produce some of their Chambourcin and included some of these grapes in their Fed Red. In short, this is one of the best Chambourcins I have tasted.

** Note: The appassimento method is used most notably in making the unique and popular Italian wine, Amarone. It involves allowing the grapes to ripen to the fullest extent and drying them prior to fermentation. The result is grapes that are more like raisins, generally with higher levels of alcohol.

Federal Twist Vineyard’s current menu of wines are shown below (Photo is courtesy of Federal Twist Vineyard):

The Dorka family is a creative one. They have some creative ideas in their winemaking and in planning games for families with children. The day I visited there were several games located between the rows of Vines (e.g. beanbag). Great for the young and the “young-at-heart.”

Incidentally, the name, “Federal Twist” was derived from the name of the road that borders the vineyard. According to Paul Dorko, the name itself may have come from a tobacco company that used to be in the area, though a short drive up or down this road will certainly hint at the origin of “twist.” It seemed to me, one of the more elevated and twisting roads in the state.

I want to thank Libbey, Paul, Ian and the entire Dorka family for their time and assistance. I must say that I was quite impressed with my first visit. The wines are very good and reasonably priced ($18-$19 per bottle). I look forward to visiting again in the near future.

Cheers!

Speaking of the near future…

Coming Attractions

• Popular NJ Hybrid Grapes
• On the Sweeter Side (While I prefer dry wines, I do believe there is a place for sweeter wines). A few of the readers of my posts have periodically asked if there are any sweet wines I could recommend and what wineries make them. I will share some of my favorites on this post.

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