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From wine sellers to wine growers
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| By: Matt Kirdahy , Staff
Writer |
10/03/2003 |
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Local
family opens first Mercer vineyard.
At
dusk, the sun beamed on a 6-acre crop of grapes planted on a 16-acre
vineyard in Robbinsville. About 1,600 plants, just weeks away from harvest,
lined the property in rows marked by lettered and numbered plates at each
end.
From a large white barn overlooking the field, Cranbury resident Mark
Carduner soaked in the view.
Mr. Carduner's wine roots run deep.
For 25 years, he worked in the distribution and sale end of the wine
business until three years ago when he sold Carduner's Fine Wine and Spirits
on Route 130 in East Windsor and co-founded the Silver Decoy Winery on
Windsor-Perrineville Road.
Since then, he, along with seven co-owners, became the only vintners of
Mercer County and started the 18th vineyard in the state.
Mr. Carduner, 41, said he expects the number of vineyards in the state to
grow over the next several years.
"There are about 20 wineries in the state and I say in about five or six
years that'll be doubled," Mr. Carduner said standing amid the 1,600 plants.
"We're not just in this to make gobs of wine, but to make sure that it's
quality stuff. Our goal is to make the best wine in New Jersey and it takes
a lot of help."
Mr. Carduner said there are only 6 acres planted, but he and his partners
intend to plant more.
He said he sold his Route 130 liquor store to enter what wine enthusiasts
call the purist's role in the wine business.
Since 2000, he along with business partners Todd Abrahams, brother Brian
Carduner, cousin Scott Carduner, Russell Forman, Richard McIntyre, William
Perrine and Jerry Watlington, spend the majority of their free time building
a solid foundation for the winery.
Mr. Forman, 59, of Metuchen said he came up with the name one day while
sitting at his home computer.
He said he was trying to think of an online screen name about the same
time he and the owners were looking for a name for the winery. When Mr.
Forman typed in his nickname "silver fox," the Web server said it was
already taken. Then he thought about names for the winery.
"Then I looked up over my computer and I've got a bunch of fake decoys so
I put the two together and came up with Silver Decoy," Mr. Forman said.
Since the beginning, the young farmers have encountered two obstacles,
the damp rainy weather and deer that make a meal out of the fruit during the
night.
"That's just part of owning a winery in New Jersey," Mr. Carduner said as
he walked along the perimeter of the vineyard.
He pointed out a section of the crop blocked by an electric fence. The
owners installed the fence once they discovered deer tracks and that bunches
of grapes were constantly being picked clean off the vines.
"You do all of this work over three years and in one night you could lose
everything," he said, holding a bunch of grapes still attached to a vine
that was almost bare. "In the long term, we might put up 6- or 7-foot
fencing."
Mr. Carduner said he and his partners are reluctant to do that because it
would ruin the view of surrounding farmland.
While the owners aren't dealing with nature, they're maintaining the
property and, of course, reaping the benefits of their growth, both as a
business and as a winery.
On Sept. 10, the group bottled the winery's first 35 cases of wine with
12 bottles included in each case. The owners bottled Cabernet Sauvignon and
Cabernet Franc. The wine is the product of the Silver Decoy's first harvest
from 2002.
Mr. Carduner said the Silver Decoy won't be able to sell its wine until
it gets approval from the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
to label and sell the bottles. After that, the business will open its doors
on a limited basis to the public. He said the owners haven't set a price for
their wine yet, but it would probably cost between $12 and $15 a bottle.
"The price of the wine is based on the quality," Mr. Carduner said. "I've
seen New Jersey wines as cheap as $8 and I've seen it as high as $30."
He said the grapes in the vineyard are harvested once a year in September
and October depending on variety and weather.
Business partner and cousin Scott Carduner, 45, of Robbinsville said the
amount of wine bottled would increase when the harvests produce more grapes
in the coming years.
"Grapevines yield more fruit as they mature," he said. "Our 2002 harvest
was from 2-year-old vines. Vines don't reach full maturity for three to five
years."
Mark Carduner said they would sell white, red and fruit wines.
"Fruit wines are popular in the state of New Jersey," Mr. Carduner said,
adding that he and the owners also harvest raspberries.
"We'll bottle about 150 gallons of raspberry wine by the end of the
year," he said.
This season, the winery owners will harvest their second crop. Mr.
Carduner explained one of the ways they know the fruit is ready for plucking
off the vine.
"The most important thing to taste is the seed," Mr. Carduner said
sinking his teeth into one of the grapes then nibbling its seeds. "You want
it to be soft and golden in color."
Much like the grapes before a harvest, the Silver Decoy as a business is
still in its infancy, but Mr. Carduner said he and the owners are always
looking to expand and plan for the future.
From the field, he pointed back to the white brick barn where they
operate the business. The bottling and office work happen inside.
He said they plan to expand the building and open a sipping ring, wine
tasting and selling area, but not for at least another year.
Mr. Carduner said that this summer the winery served as a venue for a
wedding.
He said he and the owners would like to turn that into something that
happens on a regular basis once the vineyard is open to the public.
The owners offered this summer's wedding party to a friend.
"There was like 150 people," he said. "So far it's just been people close
to us. In the long term, we'll have a brochure."
Mr. Carduner said ideas like that are secondary, especially when growing
the grapes and selling the wine takes enough work for all eight owners to
handle.
"We want to make wine that we'll actually drink ourselves," he said.
"We're young farmers and there are going to be bumps in the road. We'll get
a handle on it. "
Mr. Carduner said people interested in information about the Silver Decoy
and its founders can visit them on the Web at www.silverdecoywinery.com.
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