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Brothers of the Vine
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By: Susan Van Dongen, TimeOFF |
08/10/2005 |
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It
began with seven guys, old friends who love central New Jersey and their
hometowns as much as they love each other. Seven guys who were sitting
around one evening daydreaming out loud. What would be a really cool
hobby? What would be something they could all do together, that would be
challenging but fun?
The conversation circled around a lot of ideas but eventually settled
on grapes, vineyards and winemaking.
Four years later, the seven friends have a farm, part of which is
preserved, where they create a product that delights customers and helps
spread the good word about New Jersey's wines.
Silver Decoy Winery of Robbinsville, which began making wine only about
20 months ago, is already getting critical notice, especially for its 2003
Cabernet Franc, which recently won a silver medal at the annual Garden
State Wine Grower's New Jersey Wine Competition. And just a few weeks ago,
New York Times food and wine critic David Corcoran dropped in and gave the
thumbs up to a 2004 Chardonnay.
"It has a bright mineral edge that
keeps it refreshing with no loss of fruitiness," he wrote.
Silver Decoy will be participating in the Jersey Fresh Wine and Food
Festival at Mercer County Community College Aug. 13-14, one of 20 wineries
representing the Garden State. The festivities will include gourmet food
tastings from more than a dozen of the state's finest restaurants, a
farmers' market, cooking demos, craft vendors, kid activities and live
music.
On a recent sunny afternoon, Mark Carduner, speaking for the hands-on
crew of brothers, cousins and friends, recounted how they've known each
other for about 30 years. Russell Forman — "the silver in the Silver
Decoy" — is the son of their former baseball coach.
"One evening, three of us stopped over to see our friends who lived
here, who owned this original parcel of land," says Mr. Carduner. "We were
sitting out back, watching the sun go down, and said 'Why don't we grow some
grapes here, make a couple barrels of wine, just as a hobby.' Within a few
weeks, we planted about three acres and the grapes grew really well. By
mid-summer, we knew this wasn't going to be a hobby. We knew we'd either
have to plow the plants under or get more serious. So we got more serious."
With contractors, landscapers and builders among them, they already had
some heavy equipment, but invested in more. By the third year, they realized
the fruit was really high quality, better than anticipated.
Tucked away on 111 acres on Windsor-Perrineville Road, Silver Decoy
Winery is just greenery as far as the eye can see —grapevines and raspberry
bushes that bear the fruit for Silver Decoy's wonderful Red Raspberry Wine.
Dragonflies and honeybees soar and buzz around the property. In the morning,
you can also see wild turkeys, which come around to nibble on the grapes.
The real beauty is in the bottles. Mr. Carduner pours samples of two 2004
Black Feather Chardonnays — one has been aged in French and American oak,
one has been fermented and aged in stainless steel.
The straw-colored wine is light and refreshing, perfect for a warm summer
day. But it also has a complex aftertaste, with hints of citrus. Its sister
beverage is equally delightful, but perhaps because of the oak aging
process, it's warmer, with buttery undertones. The Cabernet Franc has a
gorgeous light plum color, a dark cherry bouquet and subtle taste. With the
Red Raspberry Wine, there's none of the sugary, cloying, headache-inducing
elements of most fruit wines, just the pure taste of fresh raspberries from
the backyard.
 Silver
Decoy is proud of its fruit wines, but is focused on grapes and cultivates
only the highest quality plants — vinifera. These are European grapes that
produce such wines as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
"Historically it's been hard to get vinifera to be productive in New
Jersey," Mr. Carduner says. "But now, almost every winery in the state is
growing vinifera. We also grow Merlot, Pinot Gris and Sangiovese which is
normally found in Tuscany, Italy."
That's quite a change from just 20 years ago, an indication that New
Jersey winegrowers are serious about, well, being taken seriously.
In New Jersey's wine-growing past, vintners stuck with heartier, native
grapes such as Concord, Catawba and Niagara. Mr. Carduner says those
varieties are more resistant to North American diseases and cold winters.
"Those are the things vinifera struggle with," he says. "There's been a
huge change in the quality of the grapes (vintners) are trying to grow in
the last 20 years. The average vineyard is much more ambitious, much more
willing to risk these high-quality plants."
Mr. Carduner has 25 years experience in wine retailing, having grown up
in the family that owned Carduner's wines and spirits in East Windsor.
"They sold the business right around the time we decided to make wine
here," Mr. Carduner says. "So my brother Brian and I had been around wine.
One of our other partners, Todd Abrahams, was also an integral part of our
family business."
The other partners are Richard McIntyre, Will Perrine and Jerry
Watlington, each of whom brought their expertise and special skills to the
winery.
Silver Decoy and fellow New Jersey winegrowers have an advantage to other
states with our temperate climate, which Mr. Carduner says is similar to
Oregon's wine country, as well as certain parts of France. And right in the
southeastern corner of Mercer County, the soil is almost ideal. A little
farther east and it's too acidic, farther west it's too dense.
"We're in a little band of pretty good soil here," Mr. Carduner says.
"You can grow good grapes in other locations nearby but it takes some
technical (finesse). There's a lot of experimentation happening all over the
state. That's the biggest reason we grow so many varieties. I anticipate
that our 10 commercial varieties will end up being whittled down to our best
five. There's really no way to know, until you grow them and keep watching
the acidity and sugar levels develop from our soil.
"They're doing the same thing all over the state, planting 200-300
plants, trying to figure out what's going to grow best," he continues. "Some
won't do as well. Only time will tell."
The Jersey Fresh Wine and Food Festival will take place at Mercer County
Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, Aug. 13-14, noon —5
p.m. Admission costs $20. For information, call (609) 588-0085. On the Web:
www.newjerseywines.com. Silver Decoy Winery, 610
Windsor-Perrineville Road, Robbinsville, will participate in the festival.
Tasting room hours: Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. For
information, call (609) 371-6000. On the Web:
www.silverdecoywinery.com |
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