Love Among the Vines at William Heritage and Sharrott Wineries

Nichole Bambacigno and Kevin Bednar fell in love while making wines for California’s historic E & J Gallo Winery. After leaving Gallo, they spent a year working vintages in New Zealand and Austria, an experience that Bednar says “was really formative for us in terms of how we approach winegrowing and the techniques that we both use.”

In 2020, the couple brought their collective, global winemaking knowledge to New Jersey. In March, William Heritage Winery in Mullica Hill hired Bednar as winemaker. In June, Bambacigno became winemaker at Sharrott Winery in Winslow. The couple had planned to marry last spring, but like many engaged couples in 2020, they postponed the ceremony until the pandemic subsides.

Meanwhile, they’ve come up to speed quickly on the challenges of growing grapes in New Jersey’s Outer Coastal Plain. Following the 2020 harvest, they put in long hours at their respective wineries to create their first vintages. Still, when they get some downtime, they talk shop.

“I feel incredibly lucky to be able to come home and discuss ideas or issues that have come up at work with Kevin,” says Bambacigno. “Some nights we look at the clock and realize we’ve spent the last two hours discussing pumpovers versus punchdowns.”

Bednar adds, “We spend a lot of time bouncing ideas off each other but there’s plenty of competition. We make each other better winemakers.” Look for their first releases this spring.