Passport to Discovery
The grand prize is a trip to one of the world’s great wine regions. But the real winner of the Garden State Wine Growers’ Passport Program may be New Jersey itself.
The Garden State Wine Growers Association created a Passport Program more than a decade ago as a marketing tool for New Jersey wineries. The passport is a challenge for wine lovers to visit the 40-plus wineries in the book for a tasting. Those who complete the challenge earn a chance to win a trip to wine regions around the world.
Each May a winner is drawn, and the odds are favorable. This spring the winning passport was drawn from a bin of 175 entries.
The wine industry in New Jersey is relatively young. Between the end of Prohibition and 1981, the state’s law allowed for only one winery license per 1 million state residents. The past decade has seen a burst of growth both in the number of wineries and in the quality of the wine, as those who grow grapes and make wine have discovered the best varietals to grow in the state’s rainy, humid climate.
That growth has earned New Jersey wineries national attention, including complimentary coverage from the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Wine Enthusiast magazine. Earlier this year, Wine Advocate gave its first 90-point rating to one of our state’s wines, William Heritage’s 2014 Estate Reserve Vintage Brut.
The association averages 200 completed passports each year, meaning that about 2,000 people—more if you count their companions— have visited each participating winery at least once since the program began.
“When people send their completed passports in, we often get thank-you letters with them,” says Tom Cosentino, executive director of the Garden State Wine Growers Association.
People comment about discovering the quality of local wine, and how they graduated from sweet wine drinkers to dry wine drinkers. They are impressed by the dedication of the winery owners and winemakers. Almost always, they remark about visiting unfamiliar parts of the state. One comment echoes a familiar thread: “I’ve been living in New Jersey most of my life, but if it weren’t for the passport, I wouldn’t have realized how pretty New Jersey was.”
Bob and Sue Lyons of Piscataway have completed the challenge each year since 2005. They won the contest in 2012, and The Garden State Wine Growers Association sent them to Austria and Hungary, where they toured wineries and historical sites. Yet it’s their stateside adventures that keep them participating.
“We got to see parts of the state that we’d never get to see,” says Bob Lyons. “You start falling in love with the state again.”
As part of their wine tours, the couple stops at farm stands, mom-and-pop shops and landmarks. They even plan their winery visits around certain stores.
“When we visited Plagido’s Winery in Hammonton, they brought out a small plate of cheese. It was absolutely amazing. It came from Bagliani’s, an old-style Italian grocery store that’s right between three wineries—Plagido’s, Tomasello and DiMatteo,” says Lyons. “They have a wall of cheese with over 300 different cheeses.
“We now try to split visiting the Hammonton wineries into two separate annual trips, so on the way back we can stop at Bagliani’s and buy enough cheese and olives for a couple of cheese and olive nights.”
“We got to see parts of the state that we’d never get to see. You start falling in love with the state again.” —Bob Lyons
Kristen and Tom Olson of Springfield also have been inspired by the challenge. They had one of their first dates at Alba Vineyards in Milford. They climbed the winery’s beautiful, elevated vineyards. Looking down at the vines, they recall thinking, “This is heaven.”
They didn’t find a Garden State Wine Growers Association Passport at Alba—it’s one of the wineries that doesn’t participate in the program—but they did find a love for New Jersey wineries.
The Olsons accepted the passport challenge after a visit to another winery. They had their engagement photos taken at Beneduce Vineyards in Pittstown, and recently returned from a wine vacation, staying at Renault Winery’s hotel in Egg Harbor City and venturing out each day to visit other nearby wineries.
The Passport Program has inspired the Olsons in another way, leading them to make some career evaluations. Tom, a chef, has left his full-time job and now has a part-time gig at one of Tomasello’s tasting rooms.
“We have some ideas we’re looking into,” says Kristen, an assistant professor of engineering at Rutgers. One possibility is wine-tour business, with the Olsons as guides.
“We probably would not have gotten to this point if we hadn’t found the passport,” says Tom.
Mike Beneduce, winemaker at the Beneduce Vineyards, says the passport program creates business.
“We get people who wouldn’t find us otherwise,” he says. “People plan romantic weekends around visiting the wineries,” he says. When they do that, they go to local restaurants and stay overnight at local establishments. They also tend to spend money at the winery, not just pop in and ask to have their passport stamped.
“The people who come in with passports want to hang,” says Beneduce. “They’re pretty educated and interested in wine. They often go home with a couple of bottles.”
Those bottles carried home create another positive ripple effect. People share their wine with others.
“I didn’t have much experience with New Jersey wine before the passport,” says Nick Marzock of Plainsboro, who learned of the program from a friend. Marzock and his boyfriend, Ed Anderson, completed the book within three months, taking about 12 or 13 different trips to hit all the wineries. In the process, they discovered Clinton and its downtown restaurant Pru Thai, which has become a favorite.
“It’s the cutest town,” says Marzock, who shares his wine with friends and has persuaded others to join him on winery excursions and participate in the challenge.
The Lyonses also share their wine with others, particularly when they go out of state.
“We’ll bring a few bottles of the good stuff with us,” says Lyons. He sets up tastings, and inevitably he gets the same reaction from guests:
“This is from New Jersey?”
GETTING YOUR PASSPORT
Passports are available at any participating winery in the Garden State Wine Growers Association, or download the New Jersey Wine Trails app. Passport holders have three years to complete the challenge and be eligible for the grand prize. See newjerseywines.com.
