A couple weekends ago, one of my friends from high school, who went to the College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ, piled a bunch of us into her car and drove down to the Hopewell Valley Vineyards in Pennington.
I’d never known that New Jersey had any vineyards, but hey, you learn something new every day. There’s something kind of humorous about it, and while this place definitely delivered on that Jersey charm level, it was also pretty nice.
For five dollars, we got to try 6 different wines. My favorite was the white merlot, personally. The guy helping us out was pretty drunk. His mode of operation seemed to be “one pour for you, two for me.”
Afterwards, though, he gave us a tour of the place. Luckily, it was a gorgeous day, perfect for strolling around the grounds. It was interesting to hear about the fermentation and bottling process and see the machines they use to do it. Apparently, the three “magic words” of running a vineyard are “money, alcohol, and quality.”
For a small facility, they produce a lot of wine. It made me even more excited for this International Nutrition Course I’m hoping to be to take in Italy next year…