The Wuerker family has farmed in Rio Grande, New Jersey since 1940. Originally they were lima bean and dairy farmers, but in 1997 they planted Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Twelve years later Todd and Kenna Wuerker opened Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery. The name refers to the large number of hawks...
Coda Rossa Winery came into being as a result of a hobby entirely out of control as described by Kenton and Kathy Nice, an accountant and school psychologist respectively. The South Jersey couple first made wine in 1997, and in 2004 opened the Wine Room of Cherry Hill, an instructional...
Jim Quarella of Bellview Winery has long been at the forefront of farming innovation. In order to compete with global competition in the produce market, he planted specialty Asian vegetables in the early 1990s. Jim's great-grandfather Angelo Quarella emigrated from Italy and, in 1914, started a...
Driving near Atlantic City, you'll see a billboard different than the rest. Instead of trumpeting casinos or night clubs, the black and gold signs advertise Balic Winery. Balic is in Mays Landing which is only a half-hour west of the gambling mecca but seems like it's a different country....
Southwind Vineyard and Winery is one of the newest wineries in New Jersey, having opened to the public in 2012. Since 1978 the Allen family has owned a horse farm in the town of Deerfield, deep in Southern New Jersey's farm belt. The Allens were originally from Arkansas, and the farm's name...
Winemaking is in Sergio and Violetta Neri's blood. Sergio's family owned vineyards in Tuscany where they made Brunello di Montalcino wines, and Violetta's grandmother was a winemaker from the Macedonia region of Greece who made white wine. In 1996, the couple bought a 75-acre farm in the quaint...
In 1975, after returning from a stint as Peace Corps agricultural agents in the South Pacific, Gary and Pam Mount bought a 55-acre farm from the Terhune family. Over time, the Mounts more than tripled the size of the property, located in the town of Lawrence in central New Jersey. For many...
More than a decade ago, I visited a small quaint winery in the rolling hills of western New Jersey named Amwell Valley Vineyard, which is known today as Old York Cellars. In 1978 Dr. Michael Fisher, a prominent scientist, planted French-American hybrid grapes on a farm in the town of Ringoes and...
Unionville Vineyards, located in the bucolic, rolling hills of western New Jersey, is one of the most renowned wineries in the state. Originally part of the largest peach orchard in the United States, the land was first planted with grapes in 1988, and the winery opened to the public in 1993. In...
Beneduce Vineyards bubbles with youth. The winery is run by Michael Beneduce Jr. and Justen Beneduce Hiles, a 20-something brother-sister combination whose family has been farming for four generations. Mike Jr., a graduate of Cornell University's Viticulture & Enology program, is the winemaker...
Specializing in premium wines made from Austrian and Northern Italian grapes, Mount Salem Vineyards is rather unique among New Jersey wineries. Peter Leitner, a former investment banker and occasional author, planted a vineyard in 2005 on historic farmland that had formerly been used as a...
Renault is the oldest and best-known winery in New Jersey. The winery has a long and colorful history, and in recent years has blossomed into a full-fledged resort with two restaurants, a 50-room hotel, and an 18-hole golf course. In 1864, Louis Nicholas Renault planted a vineyard in Egg Harbor...