A Look at Iron Plow Vineyards

The newest member of the Garden State Wine Growers
Association is Iron Plow Vineyards located on Mount Pleasant Road in Columbus,
NJ, which is located in Burlington County.
The first thing a visitor to Iron Plow Vineyards notices is the entry way
winery sign and green iron plow guiding vehicles to the tasting room.  There’s a unique historical hook to why the
winery is named Iron Plow. The first cast iron plow was invented in Burlington County
as Charles
Newbold, born in Chesterfield, NJ (1780 was issued the first US patent for
a plow on June 26, 1797.

Iron Plow Vineyards is located on 62 acres of beautiful farmland,
lawns and gardens.  The estate was
established by the Thomas Revell family in 1690 and the farm was originally called
Boythorpe Plantation.  Guests to the
vineyard can take in breathtaking views of the farmland, vines, and lawns,
picnic or enjoy some of the handcrafted wines being made by winemakers Don
Stanlaw and his son-in-law Scott Shumway.

Currently eight acres of vines are planted with more on the
way.  Baca Noir, Cayuga, Cab Franc Merlot,
Norton and Vidal Blanc are among the grapes varietals that Iron Plow is growing.  Stanlaw and his wife Gilda, their daughter
Sara, who is married to Scott and son Josh took over the vineyard about
three-and-a-half years ago. It formerly operated as Mount Pleasant Vineyard.

The wine making philosophy of Don and Scott is to do as
little to wine as you can, including filtering the wine as little as
possible. The goal is to make a product as natural as the beautiful land from which it came and to produce a high quality product in small
batches. That is why visitors to Iron Plow always have to check the board in the tasting room as
new product is launched on a regular basis.

An inspiration to the wine making process at Iron Plow
Vineyards is the legacy of Gilda Stanlaw’s grandfather who used to make homemade wine.
His wine press is still present in the tasting room beneath his picture.Highlights of the wine room menu right now include Hopped Up, an IPV (India Pale Vidal)
which has the perfect balance of aroma and flavor thanks to its Cascade hops. Iron Plow’s Vidal Blanc carries a vegetal aroma and crisp taste, perfect for
pairing with seafood, light pasta dishes and roasted vegetable and Iron Plow White is a slightly sweet
white wine made with Cayuga grapes that has been compared to Riesling and
Chenin Blanc.  On the red wine side, the Ives Noir ’13 has the nose of a Concord
but is dry on the palate while the Cabernet
Franc ’13 is a full-bodied wine with smoky and peppery flavor and a
blackberry finish. If sweet wine is your pleasure, there is plenty to choose
from including their Easy as Pie, apple pie wine and Out of the Blue, blueberry
wine spiced with allspice, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.  

Iron Plow is currently open Friday evenings from 6-10 pm and
Saturday and Sunday from 11-5.