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2 8 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | J u l y - A u g 2 016 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m that they've found a strategy that works for them. For the rest of us, our challenge is to gain acceptance among consumers." Meeting this challenge takes time. The slow pace of winegrow- ing is a source of frustration for would-be vintners everywhere, and certainly in the Garden State, which lacks California's decades of trial-and-error experience, not to mention Europe's centuries of accumulated knowledge. "The wine industry moves at an agoniz- ingly slow pace," says Beneduce. "Unlike, say, craft brewers, who can order up a new batch of hops when- ever they want and try out a new recipe, we harvest grapes only once per year. Our experimentation takes years, decades, sometimes genera- tions to yield solid results. Before deciding what varieties to plant on my farm, I compiled about 100 years of soil and climate data for my specific site, then compared that to European wine regions to find the overlaps. This may not be a perfect system, but it beats being a blind- folded monkey throwing darts." The willingness to learn from the experience of vintners in estab- lished regions is one thing that sets New Jersey's top producers apart from their less dedicated peers. "We've had the privilege of meet- ing with some of the very best wine people in California, Oregon and Washington," says Sharko. "They've been incredibly generous with their time, and I always leave with the same takeaway that great winemaking is a never-ending edu- cation. It's what separates the best from the rest of the pack." ACCEPTANCE TAKES TIME Four wineries recently joined forces in another move to pull rest of the world. But since most people think New Jersey is very industrialized, it's hard for them to believe that any kind of agricul- ture even exists here. In reality it's the complete opposite, with the U.S. Census classifying 60% of New Jersey's land area as rural. It's called the 'Garden State' for a reason: New Jersey has long been known for the quality of its toma- toes, sweet corn, blueberries and other crops." At Alba Vineyard, Tom Sharko offers another, more critical view of what New Jersey's greatest challenge might be. "The prob- lem with the Garden State's wine is that most producers focus on cheap and sweet wines. What they're mostly interested in pro- ducing is souvenirs and novelties. There are no shortcuts to crafting world-class wines and, unfortu- nately, we have very few industry professionals here focusing on real vineyard-driven wines." Unionville's winemaker Cameron Stark more or less concurs with Sharko's dismal view of the state's overall wine quality, although his rhetoric may sound slightly more forgiving: "I do agree that there are a limited number of wineries trying to produce wines to com- pete with the rest of the world," he says. "The majority of wineries in New Jersey are niche wineries that produce sweet fruit wines and/or wines from hybrid grapes that they sell to a local market. Many of them are successful — and bless them Beneduce Vineyards' Chardonnay vineyard was planted after much research regarding location and soil type. Stocking Distributor: Enar s Laffort Filter Pads Barrel Racks Oak Alterna ves 336-677-6831 Yadkinville, NC www.carolinawinesupply.com CWS Carolina Wine Supply EAST WATCH MARGUERITE THOMAS