Auburn Road Summer ’25

You know you’re in the rural part of South Jersey when you see the following on the same winding road: large herds of cows greeting you near the fenced in area along a road; two bunnies hopping across the road; a beautiful little fawn standing on the edges of a cornfield; and a red fox (no, not Redd Foxx) prancing across the road. All of these wonderful rural encounters took place on the way to Auburn Road Vineyards. I love that we can still have these brief, but beautiful encounters with nature on the way to a great winery (all in less than an hour drive away).

Though we visited here fairly recently, I wanted to do three specific things this time: try their brownie and gelato, listen to a little live music, and come home with three different Chardonnays. (while they are still available). I got to check off each of these boxes!

The Wine

We already knew the wines we wanted to enjoy while we enjoyed the ambience, the music, and food so we skipped the tasting flights and I ordered the two bottles described below.

Auburn Road Vineyards 2022 Featherbed Chardonnay-A terrific Chardonnay sourced entirely from their Featherbed Vineyard. It has a bright acidity with hints of lemon and vanilla on the palate. It was surly aged in both French and American oak.

Auburn Road Vineyards 2023 Good Karma-A nice easy drinking, light red, consisting mostly of Merlot and offering cherry and raspberry flavors.

The Food

While we considered ordering a pizza (they have one of the best wood burned fresh pizzas around, with lots of choices among them). Instead, we chose one of their Gourmet Tasting Plates for two. It’s perfect with a number of white or red wines. We also were considering some sweeter and more filling options for later. The Gourmet Tasting Plate is pictured below. It consisted of generous portions of two different cheeses, a few slices of sopresso and salami, hummus, pita, olives, jelly, and honey.

Later, my wife and I enjoyed a new treat here. I chose the brownie and chocolate gelato, while my wife chose the mint chocolate chip gelato. Both were fabulous and are also pictured below. I enjoyed a glass of their Vintage Ruby (Port-style wine) with my dessert, while my wife continued to sip on her Chardonnay.

The Music

Genna & Jesse provided the live music. They are an interesting duo with a significant discography and lots of gigs over the years, including international tours. They provide very good vocals and harmony and Jesse provides some excellent keyboard accompaniment. Their songs are mostly original, though they do a few interesting covers. While we arrived a little earlier than we originally planned and the music started a little later than we thought, we were glad we were able to listen to much of their first set.

Our Takeaways

We really enjoyed ourselves and will be back before the summer is over. In the meantime, I picked up three bottles to take home (as well as the two unfinished bottles we had enjoyed during our visit). The three bottles are all Chardonnays. I’ll have a few words to say about each of these beauties in a future post.

• 2023 BlancNU Chardonnay
• 2022 Barrel Reserve Chardonnay
• 2022 Featherbed Vineyard Chardonnay

Coming Attractions

• NJ Wine Potpourri #3
• White Horse Winery Summer ’25
• Rootstock at Hawk Haven Summer ’25
• Grill Night at Cape May Winery ’25
• Unionville Vineyards Summer ’25

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