I will announce the correct number and the lucky winner on May 22nd.  
Good luck and happy guessing!

Container is 19 in. tall with a 5 in. diameter opening.

Please note:  Travel arrangements are not included.

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A few weeks ago, my wife and I had the pleasure of visiting New Jersey’s first commercial winery and were fortunate enough to receive a tour of the facility with head winemaker, Mr. Marco Bucchi.

Renault Winery was opened in 1864 and is the second oldest continuously-operated winery in the United States.  The founder and original owner of this Egg Harbor Township landmark was French immigrant, Louis Nicholas Renault.  Mr. Renault was the son and grandson of French barrel makers for the Champagne trade.  With his in-depth knowledge of the French Champagne trade, he quickly earned success for making, distributing and selling “American Champagne”, as he called it, in the United States.  While touring the facility with Marco Bucchi, it was interesting to get a glimpse at the hand-driven wine presses, massive wine barrels and other equipment that were once used.  As you might imagine, nearly all of the work years ago was done manually.  A lot of hard labor even went into the packaging, including hand–illustrated and hand-applied labels that once read, “Blueberry Duck”, “Cold Duck” or even “Gourmet American Champagne.”  All of which, by the way, were naturally fermented, bulk processed, and bottled in the state of New Jersey.

Another interesting thing that caught our attention during the tour was one of the safety precautions once used by the workers who rotated the sparkling wine bottles.  Bottle handlers wore a special mask made out of steel mesh that looks a lot like a “fencing” helmet to protect their face when “racking” wine.  Before seeing that, it had never really crossed my mind that you’re actually dealing with a liquid that could decide to blow at anytime.  Another interesting fact that we learned while touring the facility with Marco, was that the winery continued to operate even during Prohibition.  Renault Winery was one of only a few wineries that remained open.  They were marketing geniuses of their time, labeling the contents of their bottles as a “health tonic” rather than wine.  The winery actually repositioned itself during this period as a producer of a “potion” that could make you feel better and live longer.  Distribution of the winery’s “heath tonic” (wine) soon showed up on pharmacy shelves everywhere, touting its many health benefits.

In 1977, the winery was purchased by the Milza family.  Since acquiring the historical site, they’ve added an 18–hole golf course, two gourmet restaurants, banquet / ballroom facilities and a hotel called the Tuscany House.  In addition to this, one of the things that my wife and I absolutely loved seeing during our tour was Renault’s “Glassware Exhibit” room.  It houses one of the most amazing collections of wine related glass pieces that you’ll ever have the opportunity of seeing outside of a museum.

These wine glasses were created for the Dedication of the Eiffel Tower during the Paris Exposition of 1898.

Finally, our tour ended with a private tasting with Mr. Marco Bucchi.  There was a lot to like and many different wines to fit each individual palate from dry to sweet, to sparkling, and even dessert wines.  However, there were a few in this line-up that crushed it for their uniqueness, “localness”, and downright tasty goodness.

The first wine that perked our interest was the “Fleur De Blanc” – think the fullness of a Chardonnay without the wood.  The element that really makes this white wine so interesting is the 8% splash of cream sherry that Marco decided to put in it.  You can actually taste the nutty-sweet flavors in the wine.  Overall, just a really unique white wine.

Our other favorites, were two fantastic red wines.

The first was the 2007 Merlot.  If you’re of the mindset that a great Merlot for less than $20 is a complete oxymoron, then you, my friend, need to make contact with a glass of this New Jersey produced and bottled Merlot.  It’s an outstanding effort and I still can’t believe that it came from my backyard.

The second was a 2007 Cynthiana.  Prior to this visit, I had never heard, seen or tasted a grape called Cynthiana, which is also referred to as Norton.  Marco shared with us that it’s a grape that grows very well along the east coast in states like New Jersey and also in the Midwest.  All I can tell you about Marco’s 2007 Cynthiana creation is that it’s local and lip-smacking good!  If you wanna try something that will dispel any preconceived notions that you might have about wines made in New Jersey; this red wine will lay those thoughts to rest – I promise you that!  This red has the “Wow” factor!

If you’d like to learn more about the Renault Winery or plan to visit, checkout their website.

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Here are just a few of the highlights for this year’s event:

• Over 100 fine wines hand-selected by the folks at the Wine Library.
• An Exquisitely prepared array of  hors d’oeuvres by the award-winning culinary staff at the Hilton Short Hills hotel.
• Great live smooth jazz provided by Capital Jazz Fest Challenge winner, Marcus Anderson.  Marcus is a multi-talented saxophonist, flautist and vocalist from Durham, NC.  He recently released his second solo CD, titled, “From the Heart”.

Sound good…wanna go?

Well guess what?  I’ve got 2 passes to give away, compliments of the promoters for this event, and all you have to do to win the tickets is make a guess on the total number of wine closures that I’ve got stashed in my WineLife365 “Estimation Station” shown below.  That’s it!

To Enter:   

1. The contest starts now and is only open to WineLife365 Facebook Fans.  So, if you want to play, you’ve gotta be a fan!
2. Place your guess in the Comment area of this post on the Fan Page.  Please limit to 2 guesses.
3. This contest will close at 11:59pm ET on March 31^st.

The first person in the comment stream (on the Fan Page) that guesses the right number will win the 2 tickets to the 3rd Annual Spring Wine Tasting on Friday, April 23 at The Hilton Short Hills Hotel.*  If nobody guesses the exact number, the person with the closest guess, without going over, wins the tickets. 

I will announce the correct number and the lucky winner on April 1^st.   

Good luck and happy guessing!

Container is 19 in. tall with a 5 in. diameter opening.

* Please note:  Travel arrangements are not included.  However, discounted accommodations are available from the nice peeps at Hilton Short Hills.

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Most of the states’ wineries are located in the more rural parts of New Jersey where the soil is more conducive to raising the kinds of grapes necessary to make a wide range of varietals and fruit wines.  Nearly all of the states‘ wineries have tasting rooms for you to sample there wines. In most cases, when inside the tasting rooms, you will be chatting with the very people who have grown, picked and crafted the wines that you’ll sample. 

Over the past five years, many New Jersey wineries have been garnering their fair share of medals in both national and international wine competitions. Earlier this year, a New Jersey Riesling won Best of Class and a Double Gold in San Francisco.  Last March, a unoaked Chardonnay won Double Gold as well as a Best of Class in the prestigious International Finger Lakes Wine Competition.  In acknowledgement of this achievement, the New Jersey state legislature last year declared November as New Jersey Wine Month. 

If you do decide to visit New Jersey’s wineries, you may wish to visit more than one. Many of the state’s wineries are literally within minutes of one another.  Yet, despite their proximity, many offer wines that are completely different from their neighbors’.  When visiting, be sure to ask about the Garden State Wine Growers Association Passport.  If you have your passport stamped at each of the New Jersey wineries, you’ll be eligible to win a trip to Bordeaux, France.

To better plan your visit the New Jersey Wine Growers’ Association website.  You can also go to the site for a statewide map of the vineyards.  

Listed below are some regional clusters along with the mileage and times it will take you to get to one another according to MapQuest:

Atlantic County Cluster

Amalthea Cellars to Sharrott Winery – 12 minutes and 7.58 miles

Sharrott Winery to Tomasello Winery – 8 minutes and 4.4 miles

Tomasello Winery to Plagido’s Winery – 5 minutes and 2.07 miles

Plagido’s Winery to DiMatteo’s Winery – 4 minutes and 1.76 miles

DiMatteo’s Winery to Valenzano Winery – 23 minutes and 15.31 miles

Cape May Cluster

Natali Vineyards to Hawk Haven Vineyards – 14 minutes and 9.77 miles

Hawk Haven Vineyards to Cape May Winery & Vineyard – 6 minutes and 3.46 miles

Cape May Winery & Vineyard to Turdo Vineyards & Winery – 2 minutes and 1.23 miles

Cumberland Cluster

Coda Rossa Winery to Bellview Winery – 9 minutes and 5.89 miles

Bellview Winery to Swansea Vineyards – 41 minutes and 29.34 miles

Gloucester Salem Cluster

Wagon house Winery to Heritage Vineyards – 6 minutes and 3.62 miles

Heritage Vineyards to Cedarville Winery – 11 minutes and 6.95 miles

Cedarville Winery to Auburn Road Vineyards – 15 minutes and 8.79 miles

Shore Cluster

Silver Decoy Winery to Cream Ridge Winery – 10 minutes and 6.45 miles

Cream Ridge Winery to Laurita Winery – 12 minutes and 8.79 miles

Laurita Winery to 4JG’s Family Winery – 43 minutes and 26 miles

Sussex Cluster

Cava Winery & Vineyard to Ventimiglia Vineyards – 13 minutes and 7.58 miles

Ventimiglia Vineyards to Westfall Winery – 20 minutes and 14.32 miles

Warren Hunterdon Cluster

Four Sisters Winery to Alba Vineyard – 39 minutes and 19.42 miles

Alba Vineyard to Villa Milagros Vineyard – 1 minute and .80 mile

Villa Milagros Vineyard to Unionville Vineyards – 43 minutes and 29.16 miles

Unionville Vineyards to Hopewell Valley Vineyards – 15 minutes and 10.66 miles

Elsewhere in New Jersey

Other NJ wineries include the Renault Winery in Egg Harbor, which is one of the oldest continually operating wineries in America, and the Brook Hollow Winery in Columbia, right on the border of Pennsylvania in the Delaware Water Gap.

If you’ve never tried a New Jersey produced wine and are looking for an out of the ordinary day trip to take, then mark down a date on your calendar and visit one or several of the fine wineries in New Jersey!

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“Taste of Emeril’s” Audience Participation Cooking Challenge

Caesars Atlantic City is giving everyone the opportunity to step into Emeril Lagasse’s Kitchen.  “Taste of Emeril’s” is a fast-paced, intriguing, and often hilarious food competition and cooking demonstration, where  guests have an opportunity to win great prizes including chances to experience the finest restaurants at Caesars Atlantic City and The Pier Shops.   This culinary action, hosted by Food Network’s Marc Summers of ”Unwrapped”, pits audience members against one another, as they compete for top spots as assistant chefs. Emeril will welcome guests and assist competitors via on-screen video.

“Taste of Emeril’s” debuted at Caesars Circus Maximus Theatre on October 21^st, and will  be running to November 12th.  Just an FYI - Members of the audience will need to pay close attention because you never know… anyone may be called to the stage to see how his or her culinary skills measure up.

You can check it out on Sunday, Tuesday, or Wednesday at 2 p.m. and Thursdays at 7 p.m. There will be additional shows on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at 7 p.m. Tickets for “Taste of Emeril’s Cooking Challenge” are on sale now for $35.  Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster by calling 800-736-1420 or online at TicketMaster.

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