The largest New Jersey Wine Competition ever held took place in early May. With New Jersey now host to 38 bonded wineries including two of the newest wineries, Chestnut Run Farm Winery in Cumberland County and Laurita Winery in Mercer County entering their first offerings, this year’s competition had a total of 257 wines. Competition among wineries is invaluable, especially in states like ours with up and coming wine industries. The constant striving for increased quality is the only avenue to success. Gary C. Pavlis, Ph.D., C.W. J. of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension and dear supporter of the New Jersey Wine industry has been running the New Jersey Wine Competition for 17 years, and says “I have never seen the wine quality better.”

Gold medals were won by 12 different wineries from 7 different counties in the state indicating that great wine is being made throughout New Jersey. There are now wineries in 12 of Jersey’s counties. In addition, consumers should know that the true beauty of the wine industry in this state is the incredible diversity of wines produced. About the competition’s entries, Dr. Pavlis said, “Let’s face it, I love going to Napa as much as the next person, but most wineries there focus on only a couple of wine varieties such a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Almost no sweet wines are produced and fruit wines are a rarity. Some wineries there actually produce only one kind of wine. Not everyone enjoys a Cabernet Sauvignon, which is a big, dry, oaky red wine. Likewise, sweet wines are also not everyone’s preference. New Jersey wineries produce Chardonnay and Cabernet, but they also turn out some great blueberry and raspberry wines, wines made from native American grapes such as Concord and Niagara as well as many others.”

Of course this diversity of wines also requires judges that have a tremendously broad understanding of wine types and quality. A wine competition is only as good as the judges used. To run a competition in New Jersey, where you are as likely to see a ‘Cabernet’ as a ‘Concord’, the judges involved really have to know their stuff. Wines are awarded bronze, silver and gold medals. The number of wines that receive an award is usually in the 60% range though in some vintages, this number can be higher.

Hunterdon County was represented by Alba Vineyard winning golds for a non-vintage Blueberry wine and a 2005 Chambourcin. Chambourcin is a French Hybrid grape that has characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz all in one grape. Unionville Vineyards won a gold for their non-vintage Port. Mercer County’s Hopewell Valley Vineyards won a gold for their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon and Silver Decoy Winery produced a non-vintage Raspberry and a 2005 Cabernet Franc that both won gold. Warren County’s Four Sisters Winery was awarded a gold medal for their 2006 Cayuga. Cayuga is a grape that produces a beautifully fragrant wine with a touch of sweetness. Central Jersey was represented by Monmouth County’s 4JG’s Orchards & Vineyards winning a gold for their 2004 Reserve Chambourcin.

Southern Jersey was also well represented by wineries winning gold medals. Tomasello Winery of Atlantic County won three golds for their non-vintage Raspberry wine, their Raspberry Forte, which is a fortified raspberry wine, and their 2006 Vidal Ice wine. Tomasello Winery is a great example of the wine diversity in this state. They actually produce 34 different kinds of wine. Sylvin Farms Winery, a neighbor of Tomasello Winery, won a gold for their 2005 Cabernet Franc. Valenzano Winery of Burlington County struck gold for the 2006 Pinelands blush that they produced. Cape May County’s Turdo Winery was awarded a gold for their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon and Cape May Winery received a gold medal for both their 2005 Merlot and their Isaac Smith non-vintage Cabernet Sauvignon. And Bellview Winery of Landisville won for their unique Black Current wine.

The truly prestigious awards are the three Best of Show wines. After all wines have been evaluated, the six top scoring grape, fruit, and dessert wines are evaluated once again by all the judges to determine the Best-Of –Show in each of these three categories. In New Jersey, these three Best-Of-Show wines each receive the Governors Cup. In doing so fruit wines are not in competition with grape wines, and dry wines are not in competition with sweet wines, truly an apples and oranges comparison. This year the best fruit wine was produced by Alba Vineyard a non-vintage Blueberry produced from New Jersey blueberries. The best dessert wine was produced by Unionville Vineyards for their non-vintage Port, called Vat 12. Lastly, Alba Vineyard also produced the best dry wine. Their 2005 Chambourcin outscored all other dry table wines.

And of course THE WINERY OF THE YEAR: SLIVER DECOY WINERY! A relatively new award, which was first given in 2005, is the “Winery of The Year Award”. This award is given to the winery that receives the highest number of medals in the competition indicating that this wineries quality is excellent across their entire product line. For 2007, that award goes to Silver Decoy Winery in Robbinsville, Mercer County. This winery is relatively new but has produced outstanding wines from the outset and they put it all together for this year’s competition. Run by 7 partners and childhood friends, these businessmen have passion for wine and a commitment to quality that has been apparent since they opened in several years ago. Winemaker Mark Carduner says of the honor, “We are a partnership, we all have our own stake in this, both professionally and personally. We try to have fun and produce the best possible wine.”

This announcement just talks about our GOLD WINNERS; please see below a complete list of all winners including SILVER AND BRONZE winners. Consumers should explore New Jersey’s wine industry and seek out these award-winning wines. Directions to individual wineries can be found at www.newjerseywines.com as well as a full list of medal winners in this year’s New Jersey Wine Competition. One of the best ways to taste award-winners and others are at one of our 5 Wine Festivals. So join us and TOAST NEW JERSEY!

Over the next year, member winemakers Darren Hesington of Cape May Winery and Cameron Stark of Unionville Winery heading a Quality and Research Committee to act in tandem with Dr. Gary Pavlis to ensure quality standards are met and that member wineries have the support they need to make the best wines. If you have any questions about the competition, please email Jennifer Rignani, Executive Director of the Garden State Winegrowers Association at executivedirector@ newjerseywines.com and she will direct you to the appropriate person to assist you.



2007 NEW JERSEY WINE COMPETITION AWARDS

ATLANTIC COUNTY
» Bellview Winery
Jim & Nancy Quarella, 150 Atlantic Street, Landisville, (856) 697-7172
1 Gold Medal
1 Silver Medal
5 Bronze Medals

» DiMatteo Vineyards
Frank DiMatteo Jr, Frank DiMatteo III, 779 11th Street, Hammonton, NJ
1 Silver Medal
1 Bronze Medal

» Renault Winery
Joe Milza, 72 N. Breman Avenue, Egg Harbor/Galloway, NJ, (609) 965-2111
3 Silver Medals
6 Bronze Medals

» Sylvin Farms Winery
Frank Salek, 24 No. Vienna Avenue, Germania, 609-965-1548
1 Gold Medal
1 Silver Medal
3 Bronze Medals

» Tomasello Winery
Charles & Jack Tomasello, 225 White Horse Pike, Hammonton, NJ 08037, 800-MMM-WINE
4 Gold Medals
2 Silver Medals
9 Bronze Medals


BURLINGTON COUNTY
» Valenzano Winery
Anthony Valenzano Sr, Anthony Valenzano, Jr., Mark Valenzano, 1320 Old Indian Mills Road, Shamong, 609-268-6731
1 Gold Medal
1 Silver Medal
7 Bronze Medals


CAPE MAY COUNTY
» Cape May Winery & Vineyard
Toby Craig, 709 Townbank Road, Cape May 609-884-1169
2 Gold Medals
2 Silver Medals
6 Bronze Medals

» Natali Vineyards
North Cape May
Best Vinifera and Best Estate Wine: 2003 Merlot
1 Bronze Medals

» Turdo Vineyards & Winery
Salvatore Turdo, 3911 Bayshore Road, North Cape May, 609-884-5591
1 Gold Medal
1 Silver Medal
2 Bronze Medals


GLOUCESTER COUNTY
» Heritage Vineyards of Richwood
Bill & Penni Heritage, 480 Mullica Hill Road (Rt. 322), Richwood, NJ, 856-589-4474
4 Bronze Medals


HUNTERDON COUNTY
» Unionville Vineyards
Kris Nielsen and Patricia Galloway, Proprietors, 9 Rocktown Road, Ringoes, 908-788-0400
1 Gold Medal
8 Bronze Medals


MERCER COUNTY
» Hopewell Valley Vineyards
Sergio and Barbara Neri, 46 Yard Road, Pennington, 609-737-4465
1 Gold Medal
2 Silver Medals
2 Bronze Medals

» Silver Decoy Winery
Mark Carduner, Brian Carduner, Russel Forman, William Perrine, Russel Forman, Richard McIntyre, Jerry Watlington, Todd Abrahams, 610 Windsor-Perrineville Road, Robbinsville, NJ 08691, 609-371-6000
2 Gold Medals
1 Silver Medal
4 Bronze Medals


MONMOUTH COUNTY
» 4 JG’s Winery
John & Janet Giunco, 127 Hillsdale Road, Colts Neck, 732-817-WINE
1 Gold Medal
2 Bronze Medals

» Cream Ridge Winery
Tom & Joan Amabile, Route 539, Cream Ridge, 609-259-9797
2 Silver Medals
8 Bronze Medals


SUSSEX COUNTY
» Westfall Winery
Georgene and Loren Mortimer, 141 Clove Road, Montague, 973-293-3277
5 Silver Medals
10 Bronze Medals


WARREN COUNTY
» Alba Vineyards
Tom Sharko, Proprietor, John Altmaier, Winemaker, 269 Route 627, Milford, 908-995-7800
Governor's Cup: Chambourcin, Blueberry
2 Gold Medals: Blueberry, Chambourcin
6 Silver Medals: Dolcina, Mainsail White, Chardonnay, Apple, Vintage Port, Red Raspberry
8 Bronze Medals: Apple, Delaware Dolce, Riesling, Vidal Blanc, Alba Rosa, Barnegat Blush, Old Mill Red, Dry Riesling

» Four Sisters Winery at Matarazzo Farms
Robert Matarazzo, 10 Doe Hollow Lane/Route 519, Belvidere 908-475-3671
1 Gold Medal
7 Silver Medals
7 Bronze Medals