Our Passport Winners

From the perspective of the Garden State Wine Growers Association, everyone who had their New Jersey Wine Passport stamped is a cherished friend to the industry, and an official ambassador of New Jersey Wine Country!

We would like to congratulate our 2023 Grand Prize winner, Theresa Weems! On Thursday, July 27, 2023, New Jersey’s Secretary of State, Tahesha Way, selected Theresa Weems as the winner of the 2023 Garden State Wine Growers Association’s Passport Contest. Theresa visited all the affiliated wineries and vineyards in the Garden State, earning herself a personalized VIP experience at various state wineries and exclusive prizes.


Be among those who are now part of the New Jersey Wine Country adventure! Enjoy a refreshing weekend exploring a vineyard, pick up your passport or download the App, and you’re on your way.

Bring your passport to each participating winery and have it stamped at each winery you visit. Once the book is completed, mail it back to the Garden State Wine Growers Association to win our fabulous Grand Prize, A New Jersey VIP Experience for Two! 

Books are only entered once into the drawing. There is no time limit on finishing the journey.GSWGA Passport 2019

Wineries reserve the right to require a purchase to receive a stamp.

Passport app is Available

passport-homeThe New Jersey Wine Trails app is also available on iPhone and  Droid phones. Our App can be found here in Apple’s App Store or by visiting Google play .  Those completing the passport via the app will have a book filled out with their email and entered into the drawing.

Enjoy the excitement of locating your favorite wineries throughout the state of New Jersey. Our  app allows you all the advantages of our Passport program in addition to locating events at specific locations.

Bookmark your favorite wineries and allow our app to automatically log in your visit on your private Passport Card while receiving text messages for upcoming news and events.

Need directions? Our new app will find your current location and help you locate the nearest  wine trail.

 

Past Passport Winners:

2022

We would like to congratulate our 2022 Grand Prize winner, Jackie M! Jackie won a completely custom New Jersey VIP experience, valued at over $3,000. Her Grand Prize was broken down into 5 chapters that she enjoyed with her husband, Chris.

Would you like to experience New Jersey Wine Country like a VIP too? Below, our team shares ideas for you to book a custom NJ VIP experience! Additionally, we have included highlights from Jackie’s experience woven into the below sample itinerary as well!

Chapter 1: Discovering Magic in Your Own Backyard

Chapter 2: Atlantic City Experience

  • An overnight stay experience at Harrahs in Atlantic City,
  • Two (2) Women’s Conference passes, and complimentary wine tasting featuring Women in Wine of the GSWGA
  • A dinner experience with GSWGA Executive Director at the exclusive Gordon Ramsay Steakhouse in Atlantic City
  • A gift bag with a gift card and other items for a beach escape
  • Handcrafted framed painting with gold leafing by GSWGA artist in residence, Sean Martorana.

Chapter 3: Crystal Springs Resort

This wine lovers’ getaway to Crystal Springs Resort was designed to allow the opportunity to relax at one of NJ’s most luxurious destinations while tasting and experiencing wine.

  • Two-night stay for two at the spectacular Grand Cascades Lodge
  • Dinner (with wine) for two at Crystal Tavern
  • $100 Gift Certificate to The Curator Wine Shop
  • Wine Tasting in The Wine Cellar
  • Guided Tour of The Wine Cellar with Wine Director Susanne Wagner. This architectural marvel is considered one of the premier wine cellars in North America and home to one of the world’s best wine collections.

Chapter 4: Tickets

The fourth chapter of Jackie’s trip, GSWGA offered a package of tickets that includes some of New Jersey’s most sought after wine events thanks to GPS Inc!

  • Two (2) tickets to up to three wine festivals produced by GPS, Inc in 2023
  • For a complete list of events please visit www.newjerseywineevents.com
  • Admission to each event includes wine sampling & souvenir wine glasses

Chapter 5: Cape May experience and overnight stay at Jessie Creek Winery – June 2023

  • Jessie Creek is the home of our winery, 5 acres of vines, a renovated historic inn, and locally supported art gallery. Located between the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean (Cape May Peninsula), our grapes are cultivated in a sandy soil and produced into small batch wines. We strive to provide our customers with an inviting, boutique atmosphere. Come experience everything Jessie Creek has to offer!
  • The Inn at Jessie Creek is a historic farmhouse that sits at the front of the winery property overlooking the vineyard. Originally built in 1846, the Inn has been renovated and features 5 private accommodations (which can be booked individually via Airbnb), as well as shared community spaces. We provide guests with a relaxing adults-only escape within walking distance of the winery doors.
  • Enjoy a two-night stay in Room 2: Nouaison!
  • Plus 2 free spirals at winery – wine tasting the Jessie Creek way!

2021

Congratulations to Lisa Bailey of West Berlin, NJ for winning the 2021 passport drawing. Her book was selected at our drawing at Cream Ridge Winery on Saturday, June 12, 2021.  She won a trip to Virginia Wine Country!

2019

Congratulations to our 2019 winner Barry Horowtiz of Branchburg. He and his wife won a trip to Chile!

2018

Our 2018 Passport Winner, Brigit Teesdale of Philadelphia traveled to Napa Valley, CA.

2016 – Passport Winners Return From Trip to Willamette Valley in Oregon 

Paul and Mary Martin of Cherry Hill, NJ  the 2016 Passport trip winners recently returned from their trip to the wonderful wine region of Willamette Valley in Oregon. Willamette Valley is a 150-mile long valley in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, located entirely within the state of Oregon. Oregon’s leading wine region, it has two-thirds of the state’s wineries and vineyards and is home to more than 500 wineries. It is recognized as one of the premier Pinot Noir producing areas in the world. montinorevineyardssign

According to Mary Martin, the couple experienced typical northwest weather (6 days of clouds and rain)and wound up enjoying wine tastings at 8 wineries over 2 days.  James,our tour guide/ driver was exceptional.  Each afternoon, he returned us to our beautiful resort to enjoy their gardens,sculptures and vineyard.  The staff at the Allison was top notch and we felt very well taken care of.  After the wine tours we took our last day in Newberg , we visited the cheese factory in Tillamook, Cannon Beach, Multnomah Falls and a few other stops along the road.  Our final day in Portland ,we experienced the Saturday street market,the waterfront area and local parks before a safe trip home.

vineyard

The 2015 completed passport trip giveaway was Spain and Melissa Policastro was the winner.

The Grand Prize for 2014 was a trip to Austria & Hungary! The winners were Robert & Susan Lyons! Congratulations to the Lyonses!

The 2013 winners, Karen & Steve Kurtz, enjoyed traveling through the wine country in Portugal. Read about their trip below.

We want to thank you so much for this wonderful prize. As we visited the NeCasteloDeAlmorolw Jersey wineries over the past two years and since, we have enjoyed many pleasures. First we have enjoyed the chance to taste many delicious wines and grow our repertoire of wines we enjoy drinking and sharing. We have visited many parts of our State and gotten to enjoy the diversity of lovely places where the wineries are located. We have also been proud to support local businesses and farmers, something we are passionate about. Winning the trip was certainly an added and unexpected bonus to all of these already great reasons for drinking New Jersey wines.

We got the call about winning the trip the day before our 29th wedding anniversary. We were needless to say, VERY excited. Then of course we wondered about the timing of the trip and going to a country we knew nothing about and none of the language. We were so grateful to the Garden State Wine Growers and your travel agent, Barbara, for all the flexibility in both being able to choose the timing of the trip and let us pick the type of trip that suited our interests. What we came up with together was an excellent plan that made for an exceptional trip.

With the small group tours we decided on doing, we got to see many diverse parts of Portugal and experience the beauty, the history, the culture and of course the food and wine. We got to meet both the Portuguese people who were lovely and gracious as well as fellow travelers from all over the World. We even got to do a little Geocaching, another passion of ours, which we often did throughout New Jersey as we visited the various wineries and now we got to participate in the global part of this worldwide game.

A few of the highlights of our trip are shared below, pictures are attached. We obviously tell all of our friends about the New Jersey wineries and the Passport program. If we can help you spread the word in any other way, please let us know.

Sincerely,
Karen & Steve Kurtz
Highlights of Our Trip:

Day One – Arrival and exploration on foot of the historic, capitol city of Lisbon.

Day Two – Small group, actually just us, and our wonderful tour guide Madelena to Evora. On the way we saw and learned about the cork producing trees that, along with tourism, are the mainstays of the Portuguese economy. In Evora we saw the sites, from the Roman ruins to the ornate royal family’s cathedral and the contrasting “Church of the Bones” built for the ordinary people. We wandered the lovely little streets and alleys and had tried some Portuguese favorites at lunch, including wine of course. We finished our day in Evora with a tasting of a few local wines.

WineTastingDivinusDay Three – Small group tour to visit Pena Palace on a hilltop in the town of Sintra. Everywhere we looked we saw beautiful scenery both ancient and modern. Another typical Portuguese lunch and of course more wine! On the way back to Lisbon we saw sights on the Portuguese Coast including the spot that marks the western most point of Europe’s coast. Dinner in Lisbon at an outdoor café, oh the fish is so good and fresh!

Day Four – We explored Lisbon using the “Hop on Hop off” bus, since the Metro was having a one day strike. Visited the Castle of St. George which overlooks Lisbon and is full of centuries of history and also visited the historic Belem area of the city.

Day Five – Small Group tour of sites associated with the Knights Templar. The Castle of Tomar and the Convent of Christ built in the 12th century was definitely the most spectacular architectural highlight of the trip; everywhere you turned there was something fascinating to see. In Tomar we also got to see another beautiful cathedral and a very old Synagogue that is now a museum dedicated to the Jewish influence in the area. This was very special to us. A group lunch gave us a chance to try more Portuguese specialties and we had so much fun with the people on this tour, we had dinner with them that evening back in Lisbon.

Day Six – We traveled by train to Porto, appreciating the scenery along the way. That evening we did our first tasting of Port and started our education on the complexity of the varieties and aging processes. Then we shared a lovely dinner with a woman we had met on the tour the day before on the “Riveria of Porto”.
Douro Valley

Day Seven – Scenically and in many other ways probably the most spectacular day of an already spectacular trip. This day’s small group tour was to the Douro Valley, the heart of Portuguese wine country. Miles and miles of roads and hills are lined with stone terraces built by the early Celts to grow their grapes on these steep hills. Intermingled are olive and other fruit trees as well but grapes are everywhere. After winding through mountain roads, we finally came to the heart of the Douro Valley where we were treated to a boat cruise for an hour in the most unbelievable setting. Words and pictures can’t do any justice to the beauty here. The cruise was followed by a wonderful lunch and then off to the winery. This winery that had been here from long ago uses combinations of old practices and modern technology to produce great wines and has just started making their own Port (have to wait at least 10 years to go back and taste it). Steve got to participate in traditional stomping of the grapes in a vat that will become wine. Their wine made in this “old way” is superior to their new wine, because the seeds are not crushed in the pressing, reducing the tannins. For those who did the stomping, it was just fun and unforgettable.

Day Eight – The half day tour for this day was enjoyable though not as impressive as those proceeding. Averio is the “Portuguese Venice”, where we rode a boat through the canals that once were used to bring in seaweed and salt for processing. Today it’s just scenic fun for tourists. Came back to Porto and saw some of the main attractions, including the São Francisco Church, which is best known for the amount of gold, donated by rich families, which decorates its elaborate interior.

Day Nine – Our last full day in Portugal was supposed to be for one last tour but as I was feeling off in the morning we needed to forgo the tour. After some rest our hotel staff recommended a walking route by the Ocean near Porto. We went in and out of the rain but had a relaxing last look, followed by a relaxing late lunch in the downtown area. So these are only sketchy highlights of our remarkable journey and once again we thank you for the opportunity.