Auburn Road Vineyard’s owners, Jules and Scott Donnini, recently returned from Italy, where they spent more than eight days in four Italian cities promoting New Jersey wine. In Milan, Torino, Florence, and Verona, they held tastings of both Auburn Road and Bellview Winery wines, wines that are currently exported and sold in Italy.
Last year, they also traveled to the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel for A Taste of Two Jerseys featuring Auburn Road wine and wine from the only winery on the island – La Mare Wine Estates.
When they aren’t promoting NJ wines overseas, they’re hard at work making terroir-driven and eclectic wines at the winery in Pilesgrove, including six different bottlings of Chardonnay: the flagship Featherbed Vineyard Chardonnay, a Barrel Reserve Chardonnay, the stainless steel fermented and aged BlancNu, Lavender Vermouth (made with distilled Chardonnay and locally-grown lavender), Vintage Gold white port, and the upcoming Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine.
Scott adds, “We also love our 2024 Dry Rose, which is made primarily from sangiovese grapes and – even though it is made from an Italian grape, grown in our vineyard in South Jersey – it is very Provencal in terms of style. And, we’re also very proud of our estate Petit Verdot, Vol 2 – which is vintage 2019.
Petit Verdot, Vol. 3 will be bottled this June and will be multi-vintage, which we think gives the wine great depth and character. We’re hoping to release it in the fall. Vintage 2024 will also see the debut of our new single vineyard Cabernet Franc from our Featherbed Vineyard that we will be calling, predictably, Featherbed Cabernet Franc.”
Auburn’s Recent Awards:
- Decanter: Featherbed Vineyard Chardonnay 2024: 92 points, Dry Rose 2024: 90 points
- San Francisco Chronicle 2025: GOLD: Blanc Nu (stainless chardonnay) 2024, Dry Rose 2024, Pinot Grigio 2024, Eidolon 2023; SILVER Featherbed Vineyard Chardonnay 2024, Gaia 2023
- Terroir NJ Wine Showcase 2025: Showcase Selections: Lavender Vermouth, NV; Vintage Ruby Port 2020; Pinot Grigio 2024, Featherbed Vineyard Chardonnay 2022, Barrel Reserve Chardonnay 2023, Elderberry Vermouth NV, Petit Verdot 2019, Good Karma 2023
Events to keep in mind:
Dinners in the Vineyard:
The winery partners with brilliant chefs at Haddon Culinary to create locally sourced, farm-to-table dinners all year long. Join Jules and Scott as they pair their wines with each course and share stories and experiences of life in the vineyard. In good weather, they sit right in the vineyard rows, and if the weather doesn’t cooperate, they move dinner to Auburn Road’s beautiful Garden House situated right in the middle of the vineyard.
$100 per person with 20% auto-gratuity. Tickets are available through their website.
2026 Schedule
- Friday, March 20 – First Day of Spring
- Friday, April 17
- Wednesday, May 13
- Wednesday, June 10
- Wednesday, July 15
- Wednesday, August 12
- Wednesday, Sept 16 – Start of Harvest – Harvest Moon Celebration
- Friday, October 16
- Friday, November 13 – End of Harvest – Full Autumn Moon Celebration
- Friday, December 11 – Holiday
- Thursday, December 31 – New Year’s Eve
Tours for Public: $45 a person, 20 people: Fridays from 4-6 pm. Tours are also available by appointment by contacting [email protected] at least one week before your visit at $55 per person. Tour of the vineyard, winery, and barrel room with owner, Scott, followed by a premium wine tasting and food pairing in Auburn Road’s beautiful Garden House.
