Looking for a special way to pay tribute to that special woman in your life this Mother’s Day? Take her out to a winery as part of theGarden State Wine Growers Association’s annual “Mother’s Day Wine Trail Weekend” Saturday and Sunday May 13-14 from noon to 5 p.m. at participating wineries throughout the state. Each winery participating will pay tribute to the special women in our lives through special wine tastings and food pairings, live music, and other special treats.
With 50 wineries now open in the state, there are plenty of opportunities to take that special woman and/or women in your life out for an event-filled weekend at one of our wineries located from Sussex County all the way to the tip of Cape May.
Winery events include free tastings for moms at DiBella Winery in Woolwich Township; 4JGs Winery in Colts Neck will be featuring their wines paired with chocolates as Sheri from Chocolate Legends will be giving chocolate rose making demonstrations with recipes that are so easy you can recreate them at home. Beneduce Vineyards in Pittstown will provide a special tasting of their limited production 2015 ‘TUXEDO’ White Pinot Noir and live music and Amalthea Cellars in Atco will be sampling current releases, library wines, as well as wines straight from the barrel along with cheese, crackers, and charcuterie. Iron Plow Vineyards in Columbus will have live musical entertainment.
Cava Winery in Hamburg, Four sisters Winery in Belvidere, Hopewell Valley Vineyards in Pennington, Laurita Winery in New Egypt, Wagonhouse Winery in Swedesboro, Willow Creek Winery in Cape May and Tomasello Winery in Hammonton will all have special Mother’s Day brunch offerings while Old York Cellars in Ringoes will offer a specialty wine tasting in a small group setting, for 16 guests at a sitting, featuring an extended tasting of eight wines paired with hand-made desserts from Greensleeves Village Bake Shop. Old York Cellars will also be providing free musical entertainment, complimentary chocolate shots for mom (on Mother’s Day only) in addition to wine tastings and a souvenir glass.
Valenzano Winery in Shamong has scheduled a Mother’s Day Wine Trail Picnic on Sunday. May 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sharrott Winery in Blue Anchor will feature wine tasting, live music on the patio, plus dinner from Top Shelf Mobile Cuisine (Saturday and Sunday), Mannino’s Cannoli Express (Sunday), and Maninno’s Pizza Express (Sunday) on Mother’s Day Weekend. Summit City Farms in Glassboro will have oldies music on Friday night, May 12 and Country Music on Saturday May 13. Terhune Orchards in Princeton will feature live music and wine tastings in the Wine Barn and courtyard. On Saturday, May 13, Unionville Vineyards in Ringoes will have its 24th annual Spring Wine & Music Festival, a day of fine wine, great local food truck eats, swing & big band music, kid’s activities, winery tours, vineyard walks, and more. Admission includes sampling of eight Unionville wines
At Working Dog Winery in East Windsor, guests can sample estate bottled wines while listening to Cat Moon Daddy. A continental breakfast and other assorted treats will be available from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the Jersey Devil food truck will also be there with a variety of their BBQ from noon to 5 p.m. Villa Milagro Vineyards in Finesville will celebrate “Dia de las Madres” with a delicacy native to Mexico – chocolate! A chocolate gift for your “Mamacita” and tastes of their romantic chocolate infused wine, Beseme (means “Kiss me” in Spanish) will be offered.
Hawk Haven Vineyard in Cape May will offer winery tours and Heritage Vineyards in Mullica Hill will host their annual Spring Wine & Cheese Event featuring local cheese makers Paul Lawler of Cherry Grove Farms in Lawrenceville and Melissa Crandley from Mecha Artisan Chocolate located in Haddon Township.
The Garden State Wine Growers Association’s Mother’s Day Wine Trail Weekend is one of four annual trail weekends that is funded through grants from the N.J. Department of Agriculture which affords guests a terrific opportunity to visit multiple wineries over the course of a day or the entire weekend. The Association produces a passport program, which allows for visitors to collect stamps at each NJ winery. When all winery stamps are collected, the passport can be mailed back to the association and is then entered into a drawing for an annual renowned wine trip giveaway! The trip prize this year is a trip to Texas Hill Country and will be announced on May 26 on Facebook Live. The association also has a mobile app version of the passport available.
From only a dozen wineries open in 2000 to the 50 open today, the New Jersey wine industry is growing across the state with many more wineries due to open in the next couple of years. For a full list of participating wineries and details of the special offerings at each location, visit www.newjerseywines.com.
