"Sideways" in South Jersey

Shockingly, when my sister (aka RRR) planned an itinerary for our jaunt on the Jersey Shore, the oenophile included a visit to a few wineries in southern New Jersey. We were thinking the climate would leave us tasting a lot of white wines but were pleasantly surprised to find many red wines produced by the Garden State wineries.

Our first stop and coincidentally the highlight of our mini-wine tour was a trip to Silver Decoy, New Jersey's 2007 Winery of the Year. Our delightful host took us through a (free) tasting of all the wines Silver Decoy had to offer.

The first white, a 2007 Traminette was quite lovely. A light fresh bouquet and a subtle hint of apricots and honey. We all were in agreement that this was a purchase and bought a few bottles to get us through the week. After working our way through a Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Chamourcin, Marechal Foch, Merlot, Cabarnet Franc, and Sunrise Blush, we made our way to the fruit wines: a blueberry and a raspberry.

I was expecting a "fruit bomb" but again was surprised by the drinkability of the wine. You could certainly pair it with grilled meats or vegetables - no need to wait for dessert! The blueberry was outstanding and the raspberry was refreshingly tart. We were all quite impressed with the Sunrise as well. A tasty blush that wasn't too sweet and perfect drinking wine for a warm summer evening.

After making a bunch of purchases (Mr. RRR quite enjoyed the blueberry wine and decided to stock up) and chatting with our gracious host in the tasting room, we hit the road and headed to Cream Ridge winery, perhaps the best known vineyard in the area.

Cream Ridge's wines were not as complex or sophisticated as the ones at Silver Decoy but I did purchase an interesting Sangria. The Sangria is a blush wine with a hint of citrus on the back. Since I've been doing lots of grillin' in the burbs, I figured this would be a nice accompaniment to whatever I toss on there.

As lovely as the vineyards were in the summer, I'm sure they are even more delightful in the fall. Looking for a day trip and not willing to bear with Long Island traffic? Hit the Turnpike and head to the Jerz instead! You won't be disappointed!

Cause down the shore everything's all right...

I've said it before and I'll say it again...there's nothing like the Jersey Shore. It's silly, sweet, fun, unpretentious and one of the best guilty pleasures around. Oh yeah, and the food's pretty good too!

The RRR's and I spent some time down at our beach house last month. One of the cornerstones of our trip was a return visit to the sixth annual New Jersey State Ice Cream Festival in downtown Toms River. RRR and I take full advantage of Mr. RRR's peanut allergy by helping ourselves to his peanut-laden samples. Hey, whatever it takes to make an informed decision.

If you don't remember from the last time I posted about this event, the premise is simple. You pay a few bucks, get a spoon and some tickets, and make your way down the street picking up samples at the various vendor stands. After sampling the creamy treats, you then place two votes: one for best national and one for best local flavor. Of course, there's entertainment and other craft stands to occupy your time while you contemplate your decision.

The contestants this year? Vying for the title of best local flavor were Applegate Farm's Frozen Hot Chocolate (Upper Montclair), Baskin Robbins' Chocolate Orea (Toms River), Friendly's Hunka Chunka Peanut Butter (Toms River), Farley's Homemade Ice Cream's Cinnamon Buns (Jackson), Mrs. Walker's Blueberry Pie (Beachwood), Sweet Kate's Cookie Crunch (Lacey), Springer's Homemade Ice Cream's Oreo (Stone Harbor), Gifford's Ice Cream's Lobster Tracks (Maine), and The Sprinkle Shack's Praline Fudge (Berkeley).

It seems that the ice cream festival is also feeling the effects of the economy with this year's samples being about half the size of the previous year's treats.

It also seems that proper food hygiene has gone at the window for one of the vendors. At Applegate Farms, one of the workers was a class act and had a lit cigarette dangling out of his mouth as he doled at samples to waiting patrons. In my mind, this should have been an immediate disqualification, even more of an issue than their poorly stored samples. My sample was complete liquid, RRR's frozen solid and Mr. RRR somewhere in between. One word sums up Applegate Farms: disgusting!

We were all close in our picks for favorites but we weren't totally in sync with the rest of the crowd. Enough of the hype, let's get to the winners!

People's Choice Local Brand
1 Praline Fudge, Sprinkle Shack
2 Blueberry Pie, Mrs. Walker's
3 Frozen Hot Chocolate, Applegate Farms

People's Choice National Brand
1 Hunka Chunka Peanut Butter, Friendly's
2 Chocolate Oreo, Baskin Robbins
3 Lobster Tracks, Gifford's

Judges Local

1 Praline Fudge, Sprinkle Shack

2 Oreo, Springer's

3 Cinnamon Buns, Farley's

Judges National Brand

1 Lobster Tracks, Gifford's

2 Hunka Chunka Peanut Butter, Friendly's

3 Chocolate Oreo, Baskin Robbins

Next up in the long overdue posts, a trip to NJ wine country! Yes, NJ wine country!