Salvatore Turdo is an electrical contractor and inspector from Northern New Jersey. He was born in Sicily, and grew up on his family's vineyard near the coastal village of Santo Stefano di Camastra before immigrating to the United States at age 14. Sal and his Sicilian-born wife Rosaria (Sara)...
Whether you believe winemaking is an art or a science, Louis Caracciolo of Amalthea Cellars has mastered both. In 1908, his grandfather Emilio immigrated from Naples, Italy to Blue Anchor in the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey. As a teenager Louis worked on his grandfather's farm, and would...
Tomasello Winery is the second-oldest winery in New Jersey, having been founded in 1933. Frank Tomasello mostly grew sweet potatoes and berries, but the family farm had also grown grapes since 1888. Upon the end of Prohibition, Tomasello saw opportunity, and drove to Washington D.C. to obtain a...
Sharrott Winery has always taken a scientific approach to winemaking, which is not a surprise considering the technological background of its owners. A little over a decade ago, Larry Sharrott Jr., a retired hospital computer executive with an unquenchable home winemaking hobby decided to start...
I first visited Plagido's Winery in August 2007, a week after it open to the public. At the time, it was known as Placido's Winery, but would change its name within a year because a winery with the same name exists in Tuscany. The winery is a nondescript, gray building on a quiet street in...
Nearly all of New Jersey's wineries are family-owned. However, DiMatteo's Vineyards is the quintessential family-run business. Each time I visit their tasting room, or taste their wine at a festival, a member of the DiMatteo family is present. Like many families in New Jersey, they have long...
In the last decade, Valenzano Winery has become one of the largest and best known wineries in New Jersey. In 1974, auto mechanic and gas station owner Anthony Tony Valenzano Sr. started a farm in Shamong, which is deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. He raised livestock and grew grains, and as a...
Willow Creek Winery is one of the newest wineries in New Jersey, having opened to the public in the fall of 2012. Barbara Bray Wilde purchased a former produce farm in 1998. Initially, Wilde used the 50-acre property to grow landscaping plants, but in 2005 she began to cultivate wine grapes....
I first heard about Cape May Winery and Vineyard around fifteen years ago. Nobody in Cape May County seemed to know exactly where it was, and when I eventually found the winery, it consisted of a house with a few acres of grapes on the side. At the time, the winery had no tasting hours, no gift...
Jessie Creek Winery is located in Cape May County, a major New Jersey resort area. The vineyard was originally planted in 2002 by Joseph Yuzzi, a Cornell-educated agronomist. He named it Jessie Creek Vineyards, a tribute to his mother whose first name was Jessie, and the town of Dias Creek where...
Cape May County is a major resort area in New Jersey, consisting of a number of popular beach communities including Cape May, Wildwood, and Ocean City. The county is also blessed with six wineries, including Natali Vineyards. Al Natali, a network engineer and college professor, planted a...
Sylvin Farms Winery is one of the most famous wineries in the state of New Jersey. Dr. Franklin Salek is a pioneer in the growing of vinifera grapes. Until the late 1970s, there were only a handful of wineries in the state, and they mostly produced sparkling wines or dessert wines from French...