Many times, I have poured a glass of wine for someone in the wine industry… After a sip, their face lights up and they ask me where the wine is from. I reply, “New Jersey” and their lit-up face goes into puzzlement. “New Jersey? Yes, really New Jersey.” I’ve had this experience with many wine “rock stars” such as Peter Mondavi Jr, Chuck Wagner and Joel Peterson and many others deep in the wine industry. Once the puzzled look leaves their face, they turn to a “well how about that” expression as if they thought about it and it makes sense.
Dave Wolin was first struck by the wine bug during the early 2000’s when he started visiting famous wine regions such as Rioja, Spain, Margaret River, Australia and Mendoza, Argentina. The NYC financial lawyer had visions of retiring on a vineyard and in late 2008, he felt like, “the dog that caught the car” when an opportunity arose to purchase the run down Amwell Valley Vineyards in Ringoes, NJ. With empty buildings and six neglected acres his work was cut out for him. He decided to leave Wall Street and become a New Jersey fruit farmer. This is punctuated in the YouTube Video Spoof, “Old York Acres”. (Check it out on YouTube)
In 2012 - 2013, the world stopped making jokes about NJ wines when a handful of wineries including Old York Cellars put themselves on the map. First, the Judgement of Princeton took place. A blind tasting of international judges pitted NJ wines verse some of the finest that Bordeaux and Burgundy had to offer. The NJ wines held their own and came up with some good reviews when paired against their international counterparts. NJ winegrowers also gained confidence when a NY Times article declared that NJ wines had finally arrived on the international scene!
In 2011, Dave won his first Gold in the NJ Governor’s Cup Wine Competition with his 2009 Riesling and followed up with more medals from various competitions including his 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2019 Pinot Grigio. Nearly fifteen years later, the Old York Cellars sweet Peach wine walked away with the Best in Show award at this year’s Garden State Wine Challenge.
While serendipity may have inspired Dave Wolin and Scott Gares his winemaker, it is going to take grit and determination for New Jersey winemakers to grow their presence outside state lines, as have their New York, Michigan, Texas and Virginia counterparts. For starters, there is the need for action by the state legislature to ramp up the state promotion budget, as well as the quest for a state variety. Despite these and other obstacles, Garden State winemakers are charging ahead, undaunted.
A Storied History and Serious Challenges
With its longtime moniker, NJ is known as the Garden State, indigenous home of the blueberry and its boast of having some of the best tomatoes, cranberries, sweet corn and peaches. What is stopping state winemakers from crafting great wines? After all, there are four AVAs, a similar temperature and climate to Bordeaux and a location right between such advancing AVAs as the New York Finger Lakes and Virginia. A quick look at New Jersey’s wine history sheds light on its complicated story.
New Jersey wine grapes were first planted before the Revolutionary War following the British Royal Society’s 1758 challenge to the colonies to grow quality vinifera. A sum of £200 was finally awarded to each of two New Jersey farmers, one of whom later became a general under George Washington.
By the 19th century, New Jersey grapes had begun to flourish. In 1864, Louis Nicolas Renault emigrated from Reims, France to start his winery. In 1870 Renault released the first “New Jersey Champagne,” and quickly became the largest U.S. distributor. His base, the shore town of Egg Harbor, garnered the nickname “Wine City”.
But the 20th century brought several blows to the burgeoning New Jersey wine industry. First came the devastating pest Phylloxera, an insect that devours grapevine roots. Then, the nationwide Prohibition on alcoholic beverages in 1920. Under the watchful eye of the government, wineries in NJ dumped thousands of gallons of wine into area creeks. Prohibition lasted only 13 years, but its impact was felt for decades. At the start there were over 100 NJ wineries and by the end there was only one left. In addition, following prohibition, a restrictive NJ law was put in place that only allowed one winery license for every one million residents in the Garden State.
It was not until 1981, with the passage of the New Jersey Farm Winery Act, that small growers were permitted to open new wineries. With the door open to developing the modern New Jersey Wine industry, there are still further impediments to success. These include the need to modernize the 43 year old Winery Act to permit New Jersey wineries to compete more effectively with wineries from neighboring states like New York and Virginia and the relatively small state budget for wine promotion.
Accolades and Delicious Wine
Despite these struggles, New Jersey wines were showing especially well when, on a hot sunny day in late July, twenty American Wine Society-certified wine judges from around the U.S., convened at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds to participate in the annual Garden State Wine Challenge. The tasting and judging included both amateur and commercial categories. Eight award winners, including the Old York 100% Peach were selected from almost 200 entrants.
Outside of their home state, New Jersey wine has also begun to win international medals including a Best in Class for Bellview Winery’s 2017 Gruner Veltliner in the 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. In addition, Beneduce Vineyards score of 93 from James Suckling topped all other US Pinot Noirs other than California and Oregon.
According to the most recent numbers, Chardonnay is the number one variety in a state that is also growing a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and the hybrids Chambourcin, Vidal Blanc and Traminette. With over 60 wineries, some are diversifying into Spanish, French and Italian varietals. Vinifera tend to do better down south, while hybrid grapes flourish up north.
It will take continued experimentation and promotion – with a “dosage” of serendipity thrown in – to surface the best grapes to grow in New Jersey soil. Just ask Dave Wolin.
Old York Cellars, just adjacent to the Central Delaware Valley AVA, was not producing any fruit wine in 2015. When, “Wegmans reached out looking for a local NJ winery to provide some sweet and fruit wines that year”. Dave and Scott were up for the challenge, since fruit wines employ “similar techniques as dry wines”. After searching the Garden State, they came across some delicious apples, blueberries, peaches and raspberries. And it was the locally grown Hammonton peaches that took the Best of Show Award in the Garden State Wine Challenge at the New Jersey State Fair in 2024.
One judge claimed, “You can even taste the peach fuzz!”
At $15 a bottle, at the winery or Wegmans, you can’t go wrong with this sweet fruit wine that will enhance any summer salad or grilled dishes. The sweet Blueberry is also delicious!
In 2020, Dave was introduced to Darryl Mc Daniels (better known as legendary hip-hop icon DMC of Run-DMC) through some wine club members. They partnered on a line of wines and DMC stops by regularly with friends. Old York also has a lineup of wines called, “What Exit Wines” that celebrate NJ and you can even customize the labels. Dave says “This is where we go full Jersey and show NJ pride”. The winery also contributes a portion of their sales to various charities in the State.
Over the years, Old York has grown to 10 acres and 7,500-10,000 cases per year but they have morphed from a vineyard into a hospitality & entertainment business now. Roaring back from the knockout punch of Covid -19, they currently host many events at the winery including regular live music, comedy shows, and a special 5 course themed diner that rotates and sells out monthly. Dave’s goal was, “To have good wine, good food, art & music at the winery”. I think he's reached his goal.
Now almost 150 years since Renault’s NJ Sparkling swept across the nation, Old York Cellars takes the Best of Show award in the Garden State Wine Challenge with his 100% Peach wine. Cheers, the future of NJ wine making once again looks bright!
