We had an incredible Memorial Day Weekend at Natirar Park in Peapack, with almost 5,000 of our favorite New Jersey wine enthusiasts. It was a weekend of driving Blues Rock, plenty of delicious wines, heaps of medals from the NJ Wine Competition awards ceremony, and lastly, just a lot of fun. The festival grounds at Natirar sit at the base of what almost could be defined as a mountain. At the top sits Ninety Acres, a sprawling food fortress, aptly described not as a farm to table restaurant, but rather “a table at the farm.” I climbed a short way up the hill towards the resort to look down on the grounds, and snapped this picture.
Instagram can turn anyone into an artist.
Now we turn from Spring and set our eyes on Summer. May and early June evenings have been comfortably cool. Not only comfortable for us, but for vines. One school of thought teaches that cooler evenings preserves natural acidity in the grapes, so despite a harsh winter, the growing season has been favorable in NJ thus far.
The dog days inevitably will arrive, and there will be no choice but for you to join us in refuge at your favorite nearby winery. A list of everyone’s events for June can be found here. July 19th & 20th will be our annual Barrel Trail Weekend, when most wineries participate by offering barrel tastings, winery tours, vineyard walks, or personal opportunities to meet NJ’s winemakers. Stay tuned for details; we will see you out on the wine trail.
-John Cifelli, Executive Director, GSWGA
