The Vino We Grow: The Garden State’s Wineries Have Come a Long Way
Natali Vineyards
There is nothing like a glass of good wine. More and more, New Jersey wine drinkers are finding good reasons to choose their vino from their very own state’s backyard. And it all starts with the vines.
According to Tom Cosentino, executive director of the nonprofit Garden State Wine Growers Association (GSWGA), there are more than 1,800 acres of grapes growing in New Jersey.
“New Jersey wines are consistently receiving major medals and awards in various wine competitions in the country, all usually done in the blind,” says Cosentino. “Our wines are winning Best of Show when going head-to-head with California wines. Fifteen years ago, that wasn’t the case. But now, yes.”
Today, Cosentino says there are 53 wineries in New Jersey, and 90% are members of the GSWGA, which oversees and lobbies for the state’s wine growers, and helps promote their events. “We are a repository of information,” he says, “including licensing issues with the state. If wineries have legal questions, they have a voice. We are their voice.”
In addition, Cosentino says that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the State of New Jersey contacted the association to see if it could offer residents who get the vaccine a free glass of wine. And so, Uncork the Vaccination was implemented to encourage everyone to get the vaccination.
The GSWGA has also been helping its members with all important information related to the pandemic.
“During the crisis, we facilitated to all of the wineries in New Jersey, not just our members, information on such things as payroll protection, and information on grants,” Cosentino says. “I’d listen to webinars, and send information to all of the winery growers.”
And that resource has been invaluable to people like Todd and Kenna Wuerker, the owners and operators of Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery in Rio Grande. The property has been in Todd’s family for three generations, with Todd being the one to first person to plant grapes on the family’s farm. Hawk Haven winery opened in 1998.
“Over the past year-and-a-half or so, the association has kept us up to date with COVID restrictions, and how that translates to the winery business,” says Kenna Wuerker, adding that another benefit of being a member is the opportunity for marketing via the GSWGA’s website.
Another winery part of the association is Amalthea Cellars in Atco. Lou Caracciolo, owner and winemaker of Amalthea, served as president of the association when it was founded in 1987. Today, he is the association’s chair. As he explains it, the wine industry in New Jersey has come a long way.
“Back then I don’t think there were more than 10 or 11 wineries in New Jersey,” Caracciolo says. “Now, we have over 50.”
Caracciolo says that when the association began, it was really to let people know that the wineries existed. He says that today, the wine industry in New Jersey is competitive with the rest of the world because of Vinifera grapes.
“The real breakthrough came when we could start growing Vinifera grapes on the East Coast,” he says, explaining that Vinifera is any name you might recognize like Cabernet, Merlot, Riesling, and Chardonnay. “Once we figured out how we could grow the Vinifera grape, then we started to show we could make wine as fine as any in the world.”
He adds that the GSWGA recently received several grants, including the NJ Fine Wine Drinkers to New Jersey Fine Wine.
New Jersey’s success can also be attributed to a major event that occurred in France. As Caracciolo explains it, “In 1976, I planted my first grape. That’s the same year that George Taber did the Judgment of Paris that changed the world of wine forever.”
Cosentino says the Judgment of Paris would eventually have important bearing on New Jersey wines.
“What happened in that event [the Judgment of Paris] is that wines from California defeated the leading French varietals in a blind taste test with all French judges,” he says. “It became an international sensation and international news when Taber wrote a blurb about it for the New York Times.”
Cosentino adds that in 2012, Taber, a member of the American Association of Wine Economists, helped to organize a recreation of the 1976 event. This time, New Jersey wines went up against French wines, for the Judgment of Princeton, held at Princeton University. It was not the same French vintages from 1976, but it was the same types of wines.
“It turned out to be a statistical tie,” Cosentino says. “The Judgement of Princeton got nationwide attention and helped put New Jersey wines on a national stage.”
Locally, New Jersey wineries are getting a lot of support from Rutgers’ New Jersey Center for Wine Research and Education. According to Cosentino, Rutgers is currently conducting a survey of the association members’ wineries to get a good read on how many grape varietals there are, how many acres are being grown for each varietal, or in the state, based on the past year’s figures.
“Rutgers works closely with us, and they assist the entire industry,” he says. “They are not an arm of the Wine Growers Association, or part of it. But they are a resource.”
In fact, when Cosentino meets someone looking to break into the industry, he turns them over to the people at Rutgers, because they are a great starting point to educate on what’s needed, and what research is there. “It’s a great ally to have,” he says.
The state’s wine industry dates back to 1758, when the Royal Society of Arts offered 200 pounds to any New Jersey farmer who would produce an “acceptable quality” of red or white wine. That distinction went to two New Jerseyans: William Alexander, who according to Cosentino served as a general under George Washington, and Edward Antill, whose paper on wine growing became a standard on the East Coast.
Today, much of the current success of New Jersey’s wineries can be attributed to the New Jersey Farm Winery Act, which helped permit new wineries in the state.
Cosentino explains that the passage of the 1981 legislation revised a previous law going back to the time of Prohibition that allowed for only one winery license in New Jersey for every 1 million residents.
As a result of opening up opportunities, today, smaller vineyards are offering their wines to eager consumers.
Today, the GSWGA offers its Passport App to New Jersey Wine Country. The app allows you to electronically check into each winery you visit. If you finish visiting one, or multiple regions, you will win a prize, such as a gift card. And if you visit all of the New Jersey wineries in the passport app, then you will be eligible for a drawing to win an exotic wine-country vacation for two. And the best part is, there is no time limit in how long it takes you to visit the wineries to enter a drawing.
Presently the GSWGA is still accepting the paper version of the passport, in which visitors to member wineries can have their passports stamped, but in two years time, the electronic passport app will have replaced it.
The app also lists different restaurants located in the area of the wineries and also lodging information. “We just launched the Passport App in June of this year,” says Cosentino, “And we are looking to grow partners to be listed in our eatery and lodging partners to be listed in the app for each region.”
Jessie Creek Winery, which opened in Cape May Court House in 2012, and is owned by Bruce Morrison, has their Airbnb, The Inn at Jessie Creek Winery, also listed on the association’s Passport App. Morrison says the association helps to drive and improve business for member wineries. “They [GSWGA] get your scheduled events and put it on their website,” says Morrison.
Natali Vineyards, on Delsea Drive in Cape May Court House, is also a member of the association. Manager David Urquahart at Natali says the GSWGA has helped to pass a lot of legislation, which in turn is helping the wineries. He hopes to see more people use the Passport App.
“It’s a very useful tool for the consumer, because now they can use the app and it will tell them when they’re in an area of a winery, and it will pop up when there is an event coming up at a winery nearby,” says Urquahart.
And so, the next time you are sipping a glass of wine made locally, be comforted in the knowledge that as the sun sets, it will rise again tomorrow, and glow upon the fruit, those lovely, lush grapes in our state of New Jersey, to become the liquid of the gods that’s just so darn good.