Garden State Goods

I thought I would kick off the Memorial Day long weekend by honoring my new 'home' state.  I went through the mental catalogue of all of the towns in which I have lived and I can say that I have lived in Maplewood, New Jersey longer (13 years) than I have lived in any other town in my childhood or my adulthood (the runner up is Brooklyn at 11 years). While Virginia was where I grew up, I have lived in the Tri-state area for more than half of my life.  I never would have thought it, but I have become fiercely proud of my newly adopted home state of New Jersey, much maligned as it is (and unfairly so, I might add).

Today I traveled out to Natirar Park, in the verdant rolling hills of Somerset County.  The park is a 404 acre property shared by the communities of Peapack/Gladstone, Far Hills and Bedminster, which was once the estate of Walter Graeme Ladd.  If I was blindfolded and brought here and was asked to make a guess of where I was, I would wager Virginia horse country, near my alma mater in Charlottesville. If you think New Jersey is that just a ribbon of 95 that takes you to other points north and south, venture to this part of New Jersey.  It is beautiful.  

But I digress. The park is the host to the Garden State Wine Growers Association Blues & Wine Festival, a three day celebration of the wine made right here in New Jersey.  Over 20 wineries from across the state set up tasting tents to share their products with the public.  A few interesting facts about the Garden State and wine: There are 48 licensed operating wineries in the state, and New Jersey is ranked seventh in the nation in total wine production in the US. The most popular varietals being grown are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin (Red), and Chardonnay and Vidal Blanc (White).  More and more high quality dry style wines are being produced, though a considerable portion of NJ wine sales are non-grape fruit wines made from crops that thrive in the richer vegetable-worthy soils (hence the name Garden State) -- apple, blueberry, raspberry and cranberry wines still hold court.  More and more high quality dry wines are being produced in the Outer Coastal Plain AVA.  This area of Southern New Jersey has the majority of the wineries in the state due to the sandy, well drained soils and warmer temperatures.  There is another formal AVA, The Warren Hills, AVA.  Finally there are wineries that are not in the NJ AVAs, namely a few terrific wineries clustered in the Hunterdon County area. 

New Jersey wines received some world press in 2012 with the Judgment of Princeton.  On June 8th of that year, a blind tasting was conducted comparing red and white wines from New Jersey and Bordeaux and Burgundy wines from France at Princeton University as part of the American Association of Wine Economists. The tasting was modeled after the Judgment of Paris in 1976, a famous tasting in which California wines beat French wines.  Of the judges in Princeton, five were American, three were French and one was Belgian and they represented international critics, journalists and vineyard owners (top notch folks in the wine world). Each of the judges tasted ten wines of which six were from New Jersey.  New Jersey took three of the top four spots in the white wine category and ranked third highest in the red.  The Judgment of Princeton was considered a 'statistical' tie.

Although a few of my favorite wineries, Unionville Vineyards (Ringoes, NJ) and Hawk Haven Vineyards (Cape May) did not appear to have a tent at the festival, I was happy to see a few of my other personal top choices represented, namely Working Dog Winery (formerly Silver Decoy, in Hightstown) and Heritage Vineyards (Mullica Hill). In fact, it was Heritage's BDX 2010 Bordeaux style blend that took third place in the Judgement of Princeton.

The atmosphere at the festival was more relaxed summer party than wine tasting - light on discussion and heavy on the pouring.  I tasted a great deal of not so memorable wines (cranberry moscato, anyone?) but I had a few highlight tastes.  I really enjoyed the Heritage Vineyards Estate Chardonnay a lightly oaked (6 months on French Oak) Chardonnay with aromas of peach and vanilla, and pear and a bit of hazelnut on the palette with an elegant finish. I could imagine this Chardonnay with a nice chicken dish, maybe slightly sweet, peach/apricot glaze?) and some grilled peaches.   I also enjoyed Hopewell Valley's Barbera, a Northern Italian varietal.  This wine is a medium bodied red, with aromas of cherries and raspberries, and a balance of fruit and good tannins to give the wine nice structure.  This would be terrific with a grilled burger -- I'm thinking a lamb burger actually, served with homemade balsamic and herb Ketchup.  Easy drinking summer red, for sure. 

It was a enjoyable amble around the field tents, and the rolling hills framed an interesting sky, moving from blue with soft white pillows of clouds, to the deep gray blues of moments just before rain.  The music played even as the sky opened up for about twenty minutes or so, and festival goers, including this one, ran under wine tents - a perfect excuse to try just a few more samples.  

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