How to Optimize Your NJ Winery Experience

I want to thank Mark Hernandez and his daughter, Lauren for their help and support in making yesterday’s book signing event at their lovely winery, Autumn Lake Winery a success. Thank you to friends for supporting my efforts and thanks to the Williamstown community (and far beyond) for coming out on a less than ideal day for an outing. For those of you visiting this winery for the first time, I’m sure you will be back again. 

How to Optimize Your NJ Winery Experience

There are many things that can contribute to the quality of your experience at any winery. Some are difficult (or impossible) to totally control. But the following are some suggestions for maximizing the quality of your New Jersey winery experience.

My suggestions:

1. Start local. Pick wineries that are close to your home first.
2. Do your homework before you hit the road. Check the winery websites, the Garden State Wine Growers Association (GSWGA)Website, and of course a copy of my book, New Jersey Uncorked: A Snob-free Taste of NJ Wine. Look at what the winery offers and if they have won any awards for their wines. If so, for which wines? State-wide competition or regional, national or international? Awards are not everything, but they are one of several “measuring sticks” to utilize. Might be hungry? Do they allow you to bring in food or do they sell food there?
3. Match your palate preferences (dry whites, dry reds, sweet/other fruit wines) with those offered by the winery you are considering. While many of the larger wineries offer a pretty large range of varietals, from bone dry to sweet, some wineries specialize in dry wines or sweet wines or offer more red wines than white wines. If you ask a friend for a recommendation, make sure you know their preferences and that they align with yours.
4. Consider your budget. Check the prices of the wines offered. You might love the wines at a given winery, but not be able to afford many of them. If the prices are not included, call the winery. Better to find out before you leave the home than after you have driven there.
5. The best times to visit wineries are when you do not have to wait in a long line before you can do your tasting. For those lucky enough to visit during the week, by all means try to do this. (Keep in mind that not all of our state’s wineries are open on weekdays-or stay open in the late fall and winter). You may also want to look at the Google feature that lets you know busy times vs less busy times (it’s not full-proof, but it can be helpful).
6. If you have a bad experience (poor service, wines not served at an appropriate temperature, or you are served a wine that is “corked”; etc.) let your server know (tactfully) and be open to revisiting. We all have bad days. In the case of being served a wine that is corked (a defective cork will negatively affect the smell and taste of the wine, but this is not uncommon). The owner and winemaker would want to know the wine was corked so they can dump it and no other customers will drink it and walk away thinking they serve terrible wine.
7. If it is your first time at that winery, let the server know this. A good server will generally guide you, by asking what kinds of wines you like and suggest a few you might want to try.
8. Festivals are a good way to introduce you to new wineries, as are hitting the wine trails. But unless you have a great memory (even with the challenge of wine-induced memory issues) I suggest you either keep your tasting sheets (with some kind of notation for wines you liked) or take a picture of the bottles you liked. Bring this info to future visits. You might want to skip the tasting the next time and order a glass or bottle of your new favorite (usually the shorter line on a busy day).

On another personal note:

I was interviewed on Wednesday by Marilyn Russell, Radio Personality and host at WOGL. In addition to her daily show which airs on 98.1 on weekday mornings from 5:30 – 9:00 AM, she also has been doing an award-winning podcast called Marilyn Russell’s Remarkable Women. Her newest project is a podcast she calls Eat, Drink and Be Marilyn. I was very fortunate and honored to be her guest on this new podcast which can be accessed now by going to her website: wogl.radio.com and clicking on podcasts and then Eat, Drink and Be Marilyn. Enjoy.

Coming Attractions

• What’s New at Alba Vineyards
• My Interview with Seferino Cotzojay, winemaker at White Horse Winery in Hammonton
• Look for coupons for saving a couple of dollars on the purchase of my book at BookBaby (a code will be published only on this site).

Cheers!

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