Blue Cork Winery Winter ’26

First, let me apologize to my subscribers for not receiving the most recent issues of my blog posts. I only recently realized that after I hit the publish button, the posts were not being emailed to subscribers! So after exhausting my limited knowledge of possible technological reasons and solutions, I had to put my faith (and money) into a company I have used many times in the past to fix the issue. They have assured me all issues have been fixed. I won’t know for sure until I hit the “Publish” button when I have finished this post. Of course, if you want to read the posts you missed, you can always click on newjerseyuncorked.com and read them there. Ok, enough venting! Let’s talk about wine! On Friday afternoon, Carol and I decided to stay local and visit Blue Cork Winery in Williamstown.

The Winery

As you may know, Blue Cork Winery uses synthetic blue corks and is located on Blue Bell Road. Thus the name. This is a family-run winery. It is owned by Angelo and Michelle Tantaros. When we arrived, we were greeted by Michelle, who seated us and within a minute or two she served us a tasty hot mulled chocolate wine, made with red wine as its base. It was quite good! During our visit, we got to talk a bit with Angelo, who shared his views about the current status of New Jersey wineries. While, he acknowledged, the industry was going through some growing pains, he is very optimistic about the future of his winery and that of New Jersey wines. He is very enthusiastic about their winemaking, sharing his Greek wine heritage and proudly pointing to their investment in time and money and the goal of making great wine in their winery. I share his optimism in his efforts and enthusiasm for the well documented rise in the quality of our Garden State wines.

The Wine

After finishing our mulled hot chocolate wine, we decided to do three flights: A Dry Red, Dry White, and Reserve Flight. Each flight consisted of three dry wines.

White Flight

• Sauvignon Blanc- A decent unoaked version with notes of grapefruit and citrus.
• 2019 French Oak Chardonnay-A nice oaked version with apple and vanilla notes.
• Cab Franc Rose-A good Rose, based upon Cab Franc, with citrus notes and good acidity.

Red Flight

• 2020 Blue Cork Red-A good, every day table wine that is smooth and easy drinking.
• 2020 Merlot-A smooth version with plum and blackberry notes.
• 2020 Petit Verdot-A good full-bodied version with rich notes of dark berries and smooth tannins.

Reserve Flight

• 2020 Cabernet Franc-A tasty version with raspberry and strawberry notes on the palate.
• 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon-A nice version with cherry and blackberry notes.
• 2019 Williamstown Reserve-A very good blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, with cherries and vanilla on the palate.

Bonus Tasting (Michelle kindly offered us both a taste of this one)

• Coeur d’Est-My favorite in the tasting. This is a wonderful blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, Chambourcin, and Petit Verdot. Coeur d’Est literally means “heart of the east” and was adopted by the Outer Coastal Plains to promote their best grapes grown in their AVA. This one is one of the best versions I’ve tasted.

Our Take Aways

We decided to take home three of these wines, from left to right below: Petit Verdot, Williamstown Reserve, and Coeur d’Est.

Coming Attractions

• Buena Connection Brewing Company & NJ Wine of the Week
• Sharrott Winery March ’26
• Beneduce Vineyards March ’26
• Angelico Winery Spring ’26
• Old York Cellars Spring ’26

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