Cedarvale Winery, Logan Township, New Jersey

 

“Wine cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires the young, and makes weariness forget his toll.”

Lord Byron

Driving near Joe’s hometown, Paulsboro, New Jersey, we drove through the small town of Repaupo, a short ten minute drive from his home. If you blink, you may miss this town entirely. While driving that day, we noticed a sign saying Cedarvale Winery and pulled into the parking lot. What a find we had that day. We hit the jackpot.

We parked in front of the white sided building with red shutters and decided to give this place a try. Behind the building were grape vines and gorgeous farm fields. As we walked into the winery, we were greeted by a very nice and handsome young man named Andrew Gaventa. He warmly greeted us. He introduced us to his beautiful three legged dog that he recently adopted from a shelter.  What a sweet pup. 

This charming winery charming with painted with warm tones and adorned with loads of fun and amusing decorations. On one side there is a display where you can buy many wine related gifts. There are tables in the front room and a larger room to the rear where you can sit and relax with friends. The winery has a cozy, and comfortable feel to it that is very welcoming.  We sat down at a table in the front room near the tasting bar. Andrew asked if we wanted to do a tasting. Yes, absolutely.

We were very pleased with the taste of the wines. I loved the Chardonnays and the Concord Wine was delightful. Joe was a huge fan of their red blend wine called Flight of Fancy. They also make wonderful wine slushes. We had great conversations with Andrew and found out his is a fifth generation farmer and the son of Ed and Marsha Gaventa. More about them in a little bit.

Andrew asked if we wanted a tour and was nice enough to take us around showing us the production room where they make the wine. This room was impressive and full of oak barrels and stainless steel tanks for making the wine. Then he showed us the grape vines. The grape vines were bursting with grapes not yet ripe. There is a nice outside seating area with a great view of the grape vines.  He said when the weather is good they sometimes have outside entertainment. What a great area to sit, relax, and listen to a little music.   

He explained they sell many varieties of red wines like Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chambourcin, Concord, and a red blend. They have a nice selection of white wines such as Pino Grigio, and three varieties of chardonnay wines. They also sell fruity wines like Blueberry, cherry table wine, strawberry, apple, and nectarine wine. All are very good we found from our tasting.

Well, we had such a nice time, we ended up coming back a few days later. That time we walked in and we were greeted by Marsha Gaventa, who works as the event manager and works in the tasting room. She is a lovely lady with a wonderful personality, contagious laugh, and gorgeous smile. She made us feel right at home. We told her we met her other son and his new pet. Then in walks her other son, Chris who happened to stop by that day. A little later on, her husband Ed came in. He is a fourth generation farmer and is a enologist, and a viticulturist. His family has owned this farm for over 200 years. We enjoyed speaking with him as well and come to find out, he and Joe went to the same school and were in the band together. They both played the trombone. Joe was first chair in his band till he graduated, and then Ed rook his place as first chair. He is a great guy with a super friendly and easy going personality.

What a small world. He spoke about the winery and told us his parents didn’t even know that he was going to open a winery until the big equipment came in to plant the fields. He also told us the wine they make here comes from the grapes they grow on the eight acres they have allotted for grapes. Ed and Marsha opened the winery on October 8, 2008. They still grow farm produce such as peaches, nectarines, strawberries, watermelons, sweet corn, cantaloupe, pumpkins, and now grapes.

This winery offers many special events through the year from exercise classes, yoga, meditation, crafts, and many music events. They are open to hosting parties up to 50 guest and if you have a group of eight or more, they would be pleased if you make a reservation. They are open Thursday and Friday from 12 – 7, Saturday from 11 – 7. Sunday from 11 – 5, and Monday from 12 – 7.

They are located at 205 Repaupo Station Road, Logan Township, New Jersey. You can reach them at 856-467-3088 or check them out at www.cedarvalewinery.com.  Stop by and visit with them. I’m sure you will have found a new favorite place to visit. We highly recommend this winery. Please put it on you list of must see places.

Till next time. Bye for now.

Crabbing at Turkey Point, New Jersey

 

“Crabs remind us that sometimes the best way to handle a situation is to sidestep it peacefully.”

One past time that Joe and I used to do was to spend time crabbing when we were dating and first married. We really enjoyed the sport of it and well as dining on the delicious sweet crab meat after the day was through. Since we had some extra time in New Jersey this summer, we decided to check our luck and try again.

We drove through rural south Jersey. Yes, New Jersey has beautiful rural areas featuring gorgeous farmland, quaint towns, and huge salt marshy areas. No, it is not like the Newark area throughout the state. There are still plenty of farms that grow corn, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, squash, zucchini, and much more. Farmers market are located all over south Jersey selling the farm produce. There are also many apple orchards and farm markets that sell lovely apples and homemade apple cider.

We drove down country roads that lead us through of some of New Jerseys finest fertile farmlands and scenery. We headed for a crabbing area that day which was on the 7,500 acre Glades Wildlife Refuge which is owned by the Natural Lands Trust. This area is a haven for wildlife and is a great area for bird watching as well as a home for coyote, deer, fox, muskrat, and otters. Turkey Point was our destination for the day.

This area is a beautiful area in any weather. You can see marshlands for miles and the bright green sea grasses that blow in the wind making a whooshing noise. Standing there looking out over the vastness of this beautiful spot brings a kind of peace and tranquility to your soul. This area is managed by the NJDEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife.

We picked a day in the middle of the week that rain was threatening which we hoped would keep a lot of people away. We were correct as when we pulled up to a lone wooden bridge, there was only one man crabbing. He was a very nice man and gave us many pointers of what to do and where we would be most likely to catch crabs. There is also an observation deck where you can climb up to get a better view of the marshes and even see the town of Fortescue off in the distance.

We set up our crab nets with some chicken we had just bought from the store and sat down and waited to see if we’d catch any. Sure enough, we started catching crabs slowly but surely. Just sitting and waiting for the crabs to come in was a joy. The crabbing slowed way down near low tide but then as the tide came in, it picked up.  It was fun watching the fiddler crabs running around in the mud flats.  At times it seemed as if someone signaled them to all move at once.  All in all, we got about a dozen crabs which was enough to make a great meal. As they day wore on, the sun came out and gave us a show beaming off all the bright green colored grasses and slow moving marshy streams. It was just stunning.

We went back another day to try again. Today there was a young couple and their daughter there crabbing. They had done pretty well all ready and were nice to talk with. We set up our nets and waited. Today we got about 10 crabs, all on the small size but legal. Good thing as a game warden showed up and wanted to see what we had and the young couple. We were all good. Before he left, he jokingly told the other couple to share. We laughed but when the young couple left, they gave us a bunch of crabs. We would have a feast today. We stopped at one more place to try for a little more but we didn't get crabs.  Instead we caught a fish and a good size turtle which were both released.  

Before we left that day we saw two men with nets get into the water to catch Minnies also know as minnows. They walked down the stream a ways when it was low tide and then dropped their nets and headed back. They did this twice and they caught a huge amount of these small bait fish. It was fascinating watching their process and their success.

New Jersey has Blue Crabs which are smaller than most other types of crabs but are even sweeter. The rules of this state is as long as you are catching them for you and not reselling them, you are fine. Otherwise you need to get a commercial crab pot license. If you catch a female crab with eggs, you must put them back in the water since they can produce between 750,000 and 3.2 million eggs. But you can keep a female crab. The minimum size for a hard shell crab from tip to tip is 4.5 inches. You can keep up to a bushel of crabs. That is quite a feast.

Even if you are not into crabbing, go visit this area as it is gorgeous and so picturesque. Just beware, of the green head flies. If there is no wind, they will bite you up. We were lucky on the days we were there as we had a good wind both days. Bring good bug spray. New Jersey is full of surprises and this area was one for me as I had never seen it before and it was stunning. The crab dinner that night made the day even more special. Now to go home and heat up the butter. Yum.

Till next time. Bye for now.