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.

Nassau Valley Vineyard, Lewes, Delaware

 

“Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”

Benjamin Franklin

On our trip to New Jersey, we found that we had some extra time before going into the town of Lewes and started looking to see if there were any Vineyards in the area. This is one of the things Joe and I love to do while traveling is to stop at local wineries, taste their wines, and enjoy the scenery. We were pleasantly surprised to find there was an award winning vineyard just outside of town called Nassau Valley Vineyard. So off we went to give it a good look over.

We drove down a quiet country road and parked. There in front of our car was a stand of trees that were planted close together. It was a very pretty and unusual looking with the trees so close together. We thought they were Sycamore trees but were still unsure until we talked to Braedan, a worker at the vineyard, who told us we were correct. He said they were planted 40 years ago as a border.

We headed into the main shop where there is a nice gift shop and told Braedan we would like to do a tasting. After we paid our $12 a person for a tasting, he led us into a large building called the Claret Hall. This is a hall that can be rented out for special occasions and can seat 150 people or 200 people cocktail style. He said at one time this building was a carriage house. The brick arches in front of the building were modeled after Carter’s Grove Plantation in Williamsburg, Virginia. We were the only ones there that day as it was a week day and was early. He explained on the weekend it gets busy.

 The tasting room was set up with various tables to sit at and four larger tasting tables. He gave us a sheet with a listing of all their wines and told us we could each pick six different wines to taste. We each picked six wines to taste. We did the usual and I picked the white wines and Joe picked the reds. Braedan was very informative and easy to talk with. He told us he worked here for a few years and loves his job. He told us about each wine as we tasted it and also gave us background on this vineyard.

He told us the owner and founder of the winery was a popular jazz singer, named Peggy Raley. Peg started by buying 8 acres and between 1987 – 1990 planted 7 acres of grapes. Then she went to the local state legislature to get the law changed to allow her and others to be able to open wineries in Delaware. She was approved and became the first commercial vineyard to exist in the “First” state. She opened the vineyard in 1993.

There was a wide selection of wines to choose from and the wines were excellent. Braeden explained they grow Bordeaux variety of grapes. They first grew Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc and later expanded to grow chardonnay, Seyval blanc, and Chambourcin. This was a great stop since it was close to Lewes. After our tasting and revisiting, we choose to buy two bottles of wine. It was a hard decision choosing which ones as they all were very good.

There was a small but very unique museum that shows the history of start of wine making 8,000 years ago to how the grapes are grown in modern days. There were picture displays and some artifacts. It was very interesting.

Their was also an art gallery known as Gallery One that had a display of beautiful paintings done by a local artist displayed on the walls. It was beautiful work. They allow different artists to display their work throughout the year. This area can also be rented out for an intimate party of 35 or less seated or 50 standing. There is a glass window where you can look down to see their wine cellar. There were tables there so we sat down and opened the white Chardonnay.

Afterwards, we walked around the property some and saw there was another large venue area called the Grand Cru Hall. We were told you can either rent the whole building or just part of it, or the patio. We also heard that many people chose to get married in Bacchus Grove where the Sycamore trees are located.

The first Wednesday of every month, True Blue Jazz plays. They also have a farmers market every Sunday between 12 – 3 from the middle of May till the end of October.

What a beautiful vineyard and what a great place to spend part of our day. I only wish that Peggy was there so we could have met her. What a great venue for a special occasion. We plan on visiting again. This is a very special place. It is one of a kind. Check it out. https://www.nassauvalley.com.

Till next time. Bye for now.