Our story starts early in 2001 with a group of friends relaxing after work one day.  The conversation rambled from topic to topic until it landed upon an idea . . . "wouldn't it be great if we could plant some grapes and try making our own wine?"  One thing led to another, and before they knew it, these friends were digging holes and planting vinifera, on what is now Silver Decoy's vineyard. 

The vineyard is located in the rolling terrain of eastern Mercer County in Central New Jersey.  We started with 3 acres of Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay, as well as an acre of raspberries for dessert wines.  In Spring of 2002, we added another 3 acres of Merlot, Chambourcin, Marechal Foch and Traminette vines.  In 2003, we added to the Chambourcin and planted small test plots of Pinot Blanc, Viognier and Syrah.  In 2004, we expanded into Italian grapes, planting Pinot Gris and Sangiovese.

The more we planted, and the more wine we made, the more we came to realize that our terrior . . . that combination of soil, climate, topography . . . is capable of producing outstanding fruit.  And our idea about making our own wines has taken on a life of its own, quickly changing from hobby to passion to obsession.  Oh yeah, and somewhere along the line, it became a business.

Our vineyard now contains 15 acres of vines, and is growing every year.  Much of what we've planted in the past 3 years consists of grape varieties that have proven their ability to perform and produce outstanding fruit in our location, such as Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Traminette.  We’ve also added more golden raspberry plants, Viognier and Cabernet Sauvignon vines.

Our production room was built in the summer of 2003.  The facility was first used for the 2003 harvest, which produced over 1,000 gallons of wine!  Not bad, considering we lost most of our Marechal Foch and Traminette crops to an aggressive herd of deer that August.  Late in 2003, we received our official winery license, and opened our doors for business.  We are now selling from a temporary tasting room while plans for a permanent space get underway.  

In 2004, we made an important purchase of the adjacent 95 acre farm which was auctioned through the State Agricultural Development Committee.  This land will eventually house our new tasting room and provides additional high quality acreage that will be dedicated to vinifera.  Our production continues to grow, with over 4,000 gallons of wine produced in 2004. 

Toward ever-increasing quality, we continue to implement new farming practices that will produce superior fruit.  Late in 2004, we installed a drip irrigation system that allows us to water when and where needed, without the threat of introducing disease to the vineyard.  We also purchased a multivator, which helps us keep the weeds down and the top soil light.  It has resulted in less manual labor for us, and more crisply defined rows.  With the vines neatly pruned to direct their vigorous spring growth, the vineyard looks better than ever!

We're still young, and the varietals in our vineyard will continue to gain in complexity and character as the vines mature.  This year, we're excited to unveil our first production of Sangiovese, which will be bottled in the fall of 2007.  It was great from the moment it left the press, and its only getting better with age.

Our greatest honor came in 2007, when we were awarded New Jersey's Winery of the Year.  Two of our wines won gold medals in the competition, and just about all of our wines came home with a medal!

Summer is a great time to visit Silver Decoy.  On a nice day, you can enjoy a tour of the vineyard or relax on the patio while you sample our estate-grown wines and learn more about our production process.  We continue to operate our tasting room in our production facility, which gives visitors a chance to see what we’re up to, whether bottling, racking or coming up with a new blend. 

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