HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP - Cheers! Wine lovers in Mercer County have cause for celebration.

Hopewell Valley Vineyards is now open for business, and another vineyard, Silver Decoy Winery in Robbinsville, is scheduled to open this fall.

The two establishments, the county's first vineyards, are part of a growing agricultural trend across the state.

"I think it's a great addition to our county," said Mercer County Executive Robert D. Prunetti. "It gives a great diversity to our crops. I often said there were areas in this county that would lend themselves well to wineries. Grape growing is an industry that has real potential here."

Italian businessman Sergio Neri had the same vision when he set about planting acres of grapes on his Yard Road vineyard last summer. As he waits for his crop to grow, Neri has been busy making wine with grapes imported from California and Pennsylvania.

With bottling of his first batch completed last week, Neri and his girlfriend, Barbara Radzki, have opened their old-world style wine tasting room to the public.

"We are very excited," Neri said. "A lot of people have come in and we've had a very good reaction. Everybody who came in bought wine. Nobody went out without at least a bottle or two. Some have bought cases."

Neri's wines have already garnered praise in area wine circles. This spring, his Merlot, Stony Brook Blush and Rosso Della Valle, a Cabernet blend he created, took home bronze medals at the New Jersey Wine Competition.

At the Hopewell Valley Vineyard, Neri's guests can sample his award-winning wines in surroundings that harken back to his Italian homeland. Antique furniture and gleaming copper accents give his newly built wine-tasting room an old European feel.

"Right now we just have the wine, but we're ordering wine accessories like corkscrews and thermometers and glassware," Neri said. "We're bringing in good stuff, not cheap things. We want to sell things that are good for people who really like wine."--

Across the county in Robbinsville, eight friends who founded the Silver Decoy Winery are waiting for the government's OK to bottle and sell the wine made from their own first harvest last fall.

"We're waiting on licenses, that's it," said Scott Carduner, one of Silver Decoy's owners. "It's a long process, as I'm sure Sergio can tell you. We expect to begin bottling in the next couple weeks. Right now our wine is sitting here in barrels. It's just getting better with time."

Carduner said the winery will be open to the public in the fall. "Things are coming together well," he said.

The Silver Decoy gang is an eclectic group of tradesmen and businessmen with a shared love of wine and an appreciation for nature and the land.

Two landscapers, two wine sellers, a teacher, a contractor, an electrician and a commercial real estate appraiser pooled their resources, knowledge and enthusiasm to found Silver Decoy.

What started as a hobby grew into a business when the group realized there was a demand for high-quality, locally grown wines in New Jersey.

"With only 18 wineries in New Jersey, we felt that need was not being met," Carduner said. "There's definitely room for growth, and that's why we decided to get into the business."

The Garden State Wine Growers Association (GSWGA) is thrilled with its two newest members.

"We're excited that these guys are coming on board," said Jack Tomasello, a GSWGA member and owner of Tomasello's Winery, one of the state's oldest vineyards. "The more wineries and vineyards that we get in New Jersey, the stronger our industry grows."

Wine making has been a tradition in New Jersey for more than 200 years, according to GSWGA literature. New Jersey wines have been winning awards since 1767 when London's Royal Society of the Arts recognized two New Jersey vintners for their success in producing the first bottles of quality wine derived from colonial agriculture.

Today, close to two dozen wineries can be found in nine of New Jersey's counties. They produce 40 different varieties of wines, ranging from dry to semidry table wines to sparkling, fruit and dessert wines.

The wines represent three major wine grape categories grown in New Jersey - Vinifera, better known as "Old World" European grapes; French-American hybrids; and Native American.-- -- -- Tomasello said the industry has been on an upswing in recent years as more farmers realize the potential of grapes as a cash crop.

"The reality is there is more profit to be made growing grapes than there could ever be in any other fruit in New Jersey, with the possible exception of blueberries," Tomasello said. "The tons per acre of fruit that can be yielded and the quality of fruit that can be grown can definitely bring farmers $10,000 to $12,000 an acre."

Tomasello said that's more than most farmers are getting per acre for other fruits.

"I don't see why more farmers aren't growing grapes," he said. "It's more expensive to start a vineyard, but once you've got one established, it's much more economical to maintain than most other crops."

While some farmers worry that New Jersey's harsh winters may be too tough for grape growing, Tomasello said all kinds of grapes are thriving in the Garden State.

"We've got varieties from France, Germany, Russia, Italy and even Australia - all the major countries that contribute to the wine industry," he said.

Further, he said, work is underway at Rutgers and Cornell universities to cultivate grapes that are heartier and better equipped to stand up to East Coast winters.

"The industry is really moving along," he said. "In the 25 years I've been growing grapes, I've never been as excited to be in this business as I am now. There are more technologies available to us and more players out there to help promote what we're doing."

Neri and Carduner said other established vintners have been just as supportive of their ventures.

"There's no competition in New Jersey's wine industry because the demand for wine is high and New Jersey wineries are able to fill only 1 or 2 percent of that demand," said Neri. "There's plenty of room to grow for everyone. There's no competition unless someone builds a winery across the street from you."

Tomasello said expanding the number of wineries in New Jersey makes it easier to market the state as a destination for wine enthusiasts. He said the opening of two vineyards in Mercer County will have a direct impact on one GSWGA marketing venture - the state wine trail.

"We publish routes for people to follow if they want to visit our vineyards," Tomasello said. "We had a lot in the north and south, but we needed more in Central Jersey. Now we've got them."