Auburn Road Vineyards Fall ’26

For those of you who haven’t yet visited Auburn Road Vineyards, I urge you to do so. It is a pleasant rural drive to Pilesgrove, where they are located. Julianne Donnini (winemaker and co-owner and her husband and co-owner Scott Donnini) opened their doors here in 2007 and have been making some wonderful wines during this two decade adventure. They refer to their tasting room as their Enoteca (an Italian word which translates to wine shop or wine bar). But the Italian name seems appropos, especially considering Auburn Road’s (and GSWGA’s) recent cultural collaborations with Italy. The project was developed to shine a light on New Jersey wines in parts of Italy that opened their doors to some of New Jersey wines (Auburn Road and several other NJ wineries). You can read more about this exciting vino adventure on Auburn Road’s website here: auburnroadvineyards.com It is a very attractive, “artsy” and rustic enoteca.

The Food

My wife and I chose one of our favorites here: their Gourmet Tasting Plate (formerly called their Buddha Box). As you can see in the photo below, it is a great combo of cheese, salami, pita-style breads, olives, honey, raspberry jam, and dried apricots. We cleaned our plate! Delicious!

The Wines

We did our usual: a dry white flight and a dry red flight and sharing each of the four pours.

The Whites

• Pinot Grigio-Crisp and refreshing, but with a little more body than many Pinot Grigios.
• blancNU-Their unoaked Chardonnay, it is a light, unoaked version, fermented and aged in stainless steel.
• Featherbed Vineyard Chardonnay-A tasty single vineyard Chardonnay fermented in stainless steel and then sur lie aged in French oak for six months.
• Dry Rose-An attractive light pink in color, produced in the Provencal style, with citrus and strawberry notes.

The Reds

• Good Karma-A light, easy drinking red with cherry notes.
• Peaceful Warrior-An easy drinking dry, but fruit forward blend highlighting Chambourcin.
• Gaia-An excellent blend of Cab Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, with Medium plus body and very smooth tannins.
• Eidolon-Their Coeur d’Est is a delicious red blend with subtle notes of blackberry and currant. It is named after a poem by Walt Whitman and 25 cents from every bottle is donated to the Walt Whitman Association in Camden.

Our Takeaways

We brought home three of our favorites from our flights and added a bottle of their other terrific Chardonnay-their 2023 Barrel Reserve Chardonnay.

One thing is sure, we will be returning again soon!

Coming Attractions

• Freckled Jawn Brewing (South Jersey’s newest brewery-where Eight & Sands used to be)
• NJ Wine(s) of the Week
• Beneduce Vineyards Fall ’26
• Old York Cellars
• Laurita Vineyards Fall ’26
• Plagido’s Winery Fall ’26

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