Wine-making began its resurgence in New Jersey with the passing of New Jersey’s 1982 farm winery legislation.
New Jersey wineries are primarily located along the western border of northern New Jersey and throughout southern New Jersey. New Jersey has a long history of wine-making, winning awards as early as 1767.
New Jersey’s oldest winery, Renault Winery, was established in Egg Harbor City in 1864. New Jersey’s maritime climate allows for a wide range of grapes including French-American hybrids, native American varieties and vitis vinifera grapes.
Tours typically last from 30 to 60 minutes per tour and they are well worth your time to check out the different ones. Each one has their own flavors, beauty, and charm to experience.
What is even more awesome is that most wineries offer free samples of their wines when you go through a tour as well. Some do more formal tasting events as well. The tours are extremely interesting and fun to do too. They aren't just there to sample the wine that you're looking forward to but are actually very informative and you get to meet a lot of like-minded people usually that are also doing the tour. It's always nice to a fellow wine lover! - Be sure to call ahead if you are planning on doing a tour at one of the wineries or vineyards though to check on availability since many of them get very busy during season.
