New Jersey and wine lovers, perfect together Local vineyard recognized as state's Winery of the Year BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer The state has a crush that gets bigger every year. With 38 wineries and more than 2,000 acres of land occupied by vineyards, New Jersey's wine industry is currently valued at $36 million. The state ranks fifth in the nation in terms of wine production, and its gallonage continues to grow as many new wineries make the Garden State their home. JEFF GRANIT staff Tony Palacios prunes back some of the grapevines in the vineyard at Silver Decoy Winery in Hightstown. The winery was named New Jersey's 2007 Winery of the Year. "With more wineries, we've got more experience within the state and more resources helping the industry," said Mark Carduner, of Cranbury, part-owner of the Silver Decoy Winery in Hightstown. "These are big factors in making New Jersey wines better than ever." Although wine making in the state dates back to 1767, when London's Royal Society of the Arts recognized two local vinters for producing the first bottles of quality wine derived from colonial agriculture, New Jersey has not always been hospitable to wine enthusiasts. To try to continue to keep a stranglehold on the production of alcohol other than beer after the end of prohibition, distillers lobbied the state to pass a law in 1938 to limit the number of wineries that could be established in New Jersey. The law prohibited more than one winery for every 1 million people in the state's population, according to Carduner. "They didn't change the law in 45 years," Carduner said, "and because of that, the state was limited in the amount of wineries it could have." New Jersey legislators did not rescind the regulation until 1982. Once the law of the land changed, so did people's perspective of New Jersey as a place for wineries and vineyards, according to Carduner. He said that in the '90s people started to take notice of New Jersey wines but that it wasn't until 2001 - when wine toppled beer to become the No. 1 alcoholic beverage sold in the country - that vineyards really began to root themselves in the Garden State. When Carduner, his brother Brian, of Roosevelt, and two of their friends began planting their first grapevines at the corner of Route 539 and Perrineville Road in 2001, the state had 12 wineries. By the time the Silver Decoy started harvesting its first crop to make wine three years later, New Jersey boasted 22 wineries. When the largest New Jersey wine competition ever held, sponsored by Rutgers University in New Brunswick, took place in early May of this year, it was reported that New Jersey is now host to 38 bonded wineries, including two of the newest wineries, Chestnut Run Farm Winery in Cumberland County and Laurita Winery in Mercer County. This year's competition had a total of 257 wines from wineries in 12 of the state's counties. PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff The Silver Decoy Winery in Hightstown, which is partly owned by Roosevelt's Carduner family, was named New Jersey's 2007 Winery of the Year. At left, Cranbury's Mark Carduner, a partner in the Silver Decoy Winery in Hightstown, samples some of the grapes growing in the winery's vineyard on Aug. 17. Gary C. Pavlis, Ph.D. and a certified wine judge of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and supporter of the New Jersey wine industry, has been running the New Jersey Wine Competition for 17 years. In a press release regarding this year's event, Pavlis said, "I have never seen the wine quality better." Gold medals were won by 12 wineries from seven different counties in the state, indicating that great wine is being made throughout New Jersey. In the competition, wines are awarded bronze, silver and gold medals. Silver Decoy Winery produced a nonvintage Raspberry and a 2005 Cabernet Franc that both won gold. The winery also won the Winery of the Year Award, a relatively new award that was first introduced in 2005. The honor is given to the winery that receives the highest number of medals in the competition, indicating that the winery's quality is excellent across its entire product line, according to the New Jersey Wine Competition press release. Run by Mark and Brian Carduner, Todd Abrahams, of the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold, Russell Forman, of Metuchen, Richard McIntyre and William Perrine, both of East Windsor, and Jerry Watlington, the winery was conceived when the group of friends, relaxing after work one day, started discussing how nice it would be to plant some grapes and try making their own wine for family and friends. The men started digging holes and planting vinifera on what would later become Silver Decoy's vineyard. When they found themselves calling Rutgers and wineries across the country for consultations about soil structure and plant maintenance, the men knew they were in for more than just a "grape" escape. Thirty days, many new friendships and one spray tractor purchase later, the men went from thinking they would plant enough vines to make two barrels of wine to having planted enough to make 10 barrels. The group started with 3 acres of Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay, as well as an acre of raspberries for dessert wines and later added Merlot, Chambourcin, Marechal Foch and Traminette vines along with small test plots of Pinot Blanc, Viognier and Syrah and Italian grapes such as Pinot Gris and Sangiovese. "The more we planted, and the more wine we made, the more we came to realize that our terrior, that combination of soil, climate [and] topography, is capable of producing outstanding fruit," Carduner said. "And our idea about making our own wines has taken on a life of its own, quickly changing from hobby to passion to obsession." The vineyard, which now contains a production room and 15 acres of vines, is growing every year. Whereas an acre of apples will generate $1,800 in revenue and an acre of tomatoes will earn $8,000, Rutgers estimates that a winery can generate between $18,000 and $75,000 an acre, depending on the variety of grapes grown. Profits don't come easy for vintners, though, and Carduner said that each of the more than 8,000 plants in Silver Decoy's vineyard requires tender love and care, meaning that every vine is touched at least 10 times per year. Carduner estimates that it takes approximately 850 pounds of grapes to make a barrel of wine, which is 59 gallons or just over 250 bottles. Last year, the winery produced 4,000 gallons of wine; this year, Carduner expects to see a production of more than 5,000 gallons. Because the winery is still young, the varietals in the vineyard will continue to gain in complexity and character as the vines mature. This year, Silver Decoy is excited to unveil its first production of Sangiovese, which will be bottled in the fall. The winery has plans to expand with more rows of grapes every year. In 2004, it purchased an adjacent 95-acre farm, which was auctioned through the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC). This land will eventually house an agricultural building for the winery's farming equipment and a wine-tasting center where the winery will offer wine education, according to Carduner. Carduner said the winery is open year-round, and he encouraged visitors to come and tour the vineyard or relax on the patio while sampling the estate-grown wines and learning more about the wine-production process. He also encouraged New Jersey residents to learn more about the wineries in the state through organizations such as the Garden State Wine Growers Association and said locals should visit the new Laurita Winery in the New Egypt section of Plumsted or the long-established Cream Ridge Winery in Upper Freehold. "Every winery has its own direction," Carduner said. "We are all great at what we do." Carduner said New Jerseyans should take pride in the state's wine business. "The wine business in New Jersey is growing very rapidly," he said. "It's the best use of open space that New Jersey has right now."