Garden State
Wine Growers Association to Host
"Jersey Fresh Food and Wine Festival"
August 11 & 12, 2007 (Noon to 5:00 p.m.)
at Hopewell Valley
Vineyards
Pennington, New Jersey
 
 The weekend of August 11 and 12 is
sure to be a wine and food lover’s haven. The Garden State Winegrowers
Association (GSWGA), a member organization of 28 wineries located across the
state, presents the second wine festival of their five festival season which
runs from May through mid-October and garners more than 20,000 visitors. The
“Jersey Fresh Food and Wine Festival” will feature hundreds of
award-winning New Jersey wines and an array of gourmet, fresh food. The
festival will be held at Hopewell Valley Vineyards in Pennington, a picturesque
winery nestled in the northwest corner of Mercer County. Hopewell Valley
Vineyards has been recognized with dozens of national wine competition awards
and represents three generations of Tuscan winemaking experience with
meticulous vineyards.
The annual "Jersey Fresh
Food and Wine Festival" will showcase the partnership between the
Garden State Wine Growers and Jersey Fresh, a state-wide initiative that
supports the production of food and agricultural products and the state’s
rich farming heritage while helping to encourage the preservation of
agricultural lands and Central New Jersey Slow Food (www.slowfoodusa.org) a chapter of the international
organization that encourages “slow” local cooking traditions and
supports small food and beverage producers, especially those from the Garden
State. Member restaurants of the Slow Foods movement who will be participating
include: Tre Piani of Princeton, The Underground Café of Princeton, The
Brothers Moon of Hopewell, High Street Grill of Mount Holly, The Bent Spoon of
Princeton, Number 9 Restaurant of Lambertville, The Lawrenceville Inn and Nomad
Pizza of Princeton. These restaurants will be selling prepared foods using
locally produced ingredients. A few of the foods from former festivals have
included Cape May Salt Oysters, Heirloom Tomato Salads, Local Organic Pulled
Pork Sandwiches, Organic Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, Grilled Corn on The Cob,
Locally Made Gelati and Sorbet, Kid Friendly foods and much, much more.
In a further complement to the Garden State Wine
Growers and all things New Jersey and fresh, the new magazine,
Edible Jersey (www.ediblejersey.com) is the festival’s media
sponsor. This high-end magazine devoted to celebrating local food and wine of
the garden state will be available to guests of the festival.
Admission to the festival is $20 and includes
tastings of as many as 200 varieties of top–quality wines. The festival
will also feature live music from The Craig Thatcher Band, The Gashouse
Gorillas and The Larry Stevens Band. Artisan vendors and activities for kids
will be available. The festival runs both Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
rain or shine.
New Jersey has been producing
wine since 1864. While perhaps not as well-known as other
wine-producing states, New Jersey is home to many premiere varieties.
Award-winning Chardonnay, Syrah, Marechal Foch, Viognier, Traminette, Merlot,
Cabernet and dozens of others are produced right here. And, particularly unique
to New Jersey wineries are an array of fruit wines such as raspberry, cherry
and blueberry, which are exported by some New Jersey wineries all over the
world. Because of the climate and conditions of the state, New Jersey wines are
most often compared by viticulturists and enologists to the wines of France and
Italy.
Most recently, Southern New Jersey
was recognized as an official American Viticulture Area (AVA),
encompassing 2.25 million acres. This, New Jersey’s largest defined
physiographic region, will be designated as The Outer Coastal Plain. The area
has been producing quality grape and award-winning wines for decades and now
includes 20 commercial vineyards and 16 wineries. Encompassing the majority of
the southern part of the state, the Outer Coastal Plain region includes all of
Cape May, Atlantic, Ocean, Cumberland Counties and portions of Salem,
Gloucester, Camden, Burlington and Monmouth Counties.
Just as diverse as New Jersey's actual vineyards, are
New Jersey’s winemakers. Some have studied under great enologists and have
earned advanced degrees in the intricate art of wine making. Others came to
wine making through generations of European tradition, and others still have
applied careers in chemistry and farming to the nuances of creating excellent
wine. The wineries themselves each present a different physical character and
wine selection for the both the experienced and novice wine lover. From Cape
May County up to the northern most tip of Sussex County, New Jersey wineries
offer more than 200 varieties of wine. Several new wineries will be opening
their doors by the end of 2007, including Laurita Winery a central New Jersey
Outer Coastal Plain Farm Winery and Auburn Road Vineyards, located in Salem
County.
The Garden State Wine
Growers welcome consumers from New Jersey as well as tourists to
attend the “Jersey Fresh Food and Wine Festival”. It’s a great
way to sample and purchase the range of excellent New Jersey wine, enjoy fresh
food and spend the weekend outdoors. For more information about Hopewell Valley
Vineyards please call 800-HVV-WINE. For more information on New Jersey wines,
visit www.newjerseywines.com.
-No pets are
allowed
-Ticket sales end at 4:00 pm each day
- All advanced ticket sales end 11:59 p.m. the night before the festival
Directions to Hopewell Valley Vineyards
From
the North:
Take Route 202 South to Flemington. At the circle, continue
on Rt. 202/31 South for approximately 6 miles. Take the exit to the right for
Route 31 South. Take 31 South for 7.5 miles to Yard Road (Stony Brook Garden
Center is on the corner). Make a right and follow 7/10ths of a mile to the
winery on the left.
From the South:
Take Route 295 to Exit
4, Route 31 North. Take Route 31 North to the Pennington Circle and continue on
Rt. 31 North for approximately 2.5 miles. Make a left onto Yard Road and follow
7/10ths of a mile to the winery on the left.
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