Bellview Winery is located in Landisville. My wife and I have visited numerous times over the past several years. I particularly love their festivals (Seafood Festival, Italian Festival, etc.) and have written about these and other events here. This past week, my wife and I stopped in just after they opened to enjoy a charcuterie board and do a tasting. Bellview has one of the best charcuterie boards around- and at a reasonable price. Bellview wines are very good and also very reasonably priced. In a future post I will be doing another New Jersey bargain wines issue. I will be hard pressed not to include at least a couple from Bellview.
The Ambience
My wife and I have struggled a little to get in the Christmas spirit this year, but I must say, this visit helped immensely-the decorations, the relaxing and friendly atmosphere, the food, and of course, the wine. We had the winery to ourselves, with the time of day and the nasty weather outside.
The Food
We chose the Three cheese Charcuterie board which included meats, three different cheeses, pretzels, cookies, chocolate covered pomegranates, and a couple of Bailey’s Irish cream candies. This platter made a delightful lunch and accompaniment to our wines.
Speaking of wines…
The Wines
We chose a white wine flight of four wines, a red wine flight of four wines, and two Christmas wines (a white and a red).
Whites
- Gruner Veltliner 2019-Still one of my favorite New Jersey Gruners.
- Chardonnay 2019-A lightly oaked version with apple, mixed with a slightly buttery taste on the palate.
- Traminette 2020-A lovely floral bouquet with a hint of lime and melon on the palate. Gold Medal winner at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
- Dry Rose-Dry, but refreshing with lively acidity and strawberry on the palate.
- Merry Christmas White-An off-dry white blend of Traminette and Cayuga.
Reds
- Sunset-A first for me. It is a light, dry red blend that is easy drinking.
- Merlot 2019-This tasty, medium-bodied Merlot won a Silver Medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
- Coeur d’Est-This is a very good medium-bodied blend, utilizing Chambourcin, as well as grapes traditionally used in Bordeaux (Merlot, Cabernet Franc, etc.).
- Petit Verdot 2015-This wine won a Silver Medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and could easily cellar for another year or two, due to the ample tannins.
- Merry Christmas Red-A dry red blend made from several different grapes. This would make a nice table red any time of year, but with the big Santa on the label, it’s perfect right now.
We also ordered a bottle of Traminette and Port to sip on with the sweeter portion of our lunch. A couple of sips of the Traminette was not enough. I haven’t had their Port in years, but it is quite good and not cloyingly sweet. It is also twice the size of most Port-style wines (it is 750 ml). This Port took a Silver Medal at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and is only $28 (ABV=19.5%).
Our Takeaways
Besides the remainder of the two bottles we enjoyed with our food, we also purchased a bottle of the Gruner Veltliner, another bottle of the Traminette, and a bottle of Solavita (a very good, dry table red).
New Jersey Uncorked: A Snob-Free Taste of NJ Wine
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Coming Attractions
- My Top 15 NJ Wines of the Year
- My 2022 NJ Winery Highlights
- My Top NJ Wine Bargains
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