Good evening, all! We regret to say that it has been far too long since our last review on this page. We have consistently been posting updates on our Instagram page (@njwineryreviews) every day, but posting formal reviews on this site has been less consistent. For that, we are sorry!
Tonight, we come to you with an experience review from two weekends ago. We ventured up north to Hunterdon County, New Jersey to visit an old favorite, Beneduce Vineyards. Beneduce is in Pittstown, NJ and their first vines were planted in 2009. They are a part of the Winemakers Co-Op in New Jersey and are joined in this Co-Op by four other wineries in the state (we’ll review this during a later post!).
During our visit to Beneduce Vineyards on Saturday, 9/15, we decided to do a tasting with food pairings included (deluxe tasting). We had the opportunity to taste five wines in our tasting with local cheeses, cured meats, and bread included. The price for the deluxe tasting was $15/person (wine tasting alone is a bargain at $5/person).
The five wines that we tasted were (tasting notes included):
Gewürztraminer (2/3 stainless steel and 1/3 oak, would go great with Chinese food. Dry style, not like a Finger Lakes region Gewürztraminer)
Charddonay (Well balanced, not an oak-ey Chardonnay, light citrus notes, would go well with many types of foods)
Row’s End Rose (Made with Blaufrankisch grapes, vines are six years old, dry French style rose, refreshing) (pictured above)
Centerfold (Pinot Noir) (Named after its long legs, silk-like tannins, smooth and bold)
Blue 2 Blaufrankisch (Same grape used for the rose above, smoky aroma, ultimate Autumn wine, goes well with any smoked meats)
We could not recommend Beneduce Vineyards enough! They are one of our favorites in New Jersey and clearly have a great Winemaker. Their staff has always been attentive and friendly when we have been. We have many of their wines and cannot wait to try them all someday.
FYI- When you go to do a tasting, please note that you do not get to pick your tasting options. They have pre-selected the wines that you taste during your time (which may explain the cost-effective tasting price). Not a bad thing, just want to make sure you’re aware if you have never been.
Please see below for our updated experience review sheet. We’ve decided to do away with numbers in an effort to keep our reviews as consistent as possible. Our thought is that a numbered rating may mean something different to us than others, so we felt that ’emojis’ may be a better option. We are open to thoughts!
Wine is calling, we must go!
Nick & Ed