New Jersey Wine

[Rosie x]

Are you still laughing? Well, the NY Times has an article today about NJ wines and although they don't get any respect there are now 17 wineries in NJ. To quote..."some of which produce award winning vintages that can proudly stand up to Sonoma Valley's finest. Have you tasted NJ wines? I did once years ago and thought they were awful. BTW--I was not sure if I should put this post on NJ, Media or Wines.

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Rosie

eGullet.com Community Coordinator, New Jersey

[JosephLuce x]

I visited the Sand Castle Winery in Erwinna a few years ago and got a really good dessert wine. I think that may be in PA though. It was near New Hope/Lambertville but I forget on which side of the river.

[Tommy x]

i was hoping someone would start this thread.  i've been getting into NY state wines recently, and have found some great values and interesting wines.   overall, i'd put them up against CA wines in the same price range.  

however, my experience with NJ wines has been minimal, and unpleasant as i recall.  any good values out there from NJ?  i'd love to give some a shot, but the stores i buy wine from don't carry any.

one wine writer was quoted in the article as saying "these days, if you go into a wine shop and blindly grab a California wine, your chances of getting something mildly unpleasant are greater than if you pick a wine from NJ."  interesting, i thought.

[Fat Guy]

We have a few wines in our collection from NJ.  A friend dragged us to a wine festival at the Alba Vinyards last summer.  We picked up a few frivilous fruit flavored wines, some rose for my brother and dad who are addicted to white zin, and even a port, but the one I'd recommend is Alba's Reisling, which was surprisingly good.  It's the only one we are actually out of and I'd like to buy again.  Unfortunately it is impossible to find in a wine store, they don't mail order, and I don't feel like driving an hour and a half to get to the vineyard.

[Preet Baba x]

Here's a link to the article Rosie mentioned.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/30/nyregion/30WINE.html

[Rosie x]

Thanks Preet. I knew I could count on you to link for me. ;}

You are officially the "linker" from now on!

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Rosie

eGullet.com Community Coordinator, New Jersey

[Tommy x]

remember the good ole days rosie, when that was *my* job!  :)

[Jason Perlow]

http://njsun.com/wine.htm

This has a list of wineries and links to their homepages.

BTW the Alba wines, although not easily findable in NJ, can be ordered directly from them but they only ship in NJ. Their 1999 Reisling is exceptional enough that I would order a case.

Wine and Spirit World in Fort Lee carries Alba if you want to make the trip up to Bergen County and pick up a few bottles out of curiosity.

Alba has also won awards for its red raspberry dessert wine, but I find it personally to be more of a novelty than a serious wine. Their moscato and port are better I think.

[tommy]

Quote: from Jason Perlow on 10:16 am on Aug. 7, 2001

Wine and Spirit World in Fort Lee carries Alba if you want to make the trip up to Bergen County and pick up a few bottles out of curiosity.

are you referring to Carlo Russo's?  if so, i shop there frequently and will remember to ask for some Jersey wine.  

thanks!

[Rosie]

Quote: from Tommy x on 6:35 am on Aug. 5, 2001

remember the good ole days rosie, when that was *my* job!  :)

Tommy--you can have that job again. No problem. Two linkers are better than one.

I also remember you reporting in where you had dinner or what you cooked. Soooooooooooooooo...........let's hear from you. And I also remember a Mrs. Tommy!

[Jason Perlow]

Yep, Carlo Russo's.

are you referring to Carlo Russo's?  if so, i shop there frequently and will remember to ask for some Jersey wine.