More than 50 wineries in New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware are part of the newly formed Atlantic Vintage Wine Region. Hoping the replicate the marketing success of the nearby Finger Lakes Wine Region, the wineries in South Jersey are working with their local tourism board to convince potential visitors that the state has more to attract vacation dollars than its proximity to New York, clogged bridges and Tony Soprano memorabilia.
Among those attractions are a trio of South Jersey wine trails that link up with 20 wineries, many of them less than a dozen years old and striving to put their region’s name on American wine drinkers’ maps. Among the varietals common to the area are Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Vidal Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, and Sangiovese, which are said to be closer to California in style than the more austere wines of Europe.
Climactically, the Atlantic Vintage region falls somewhere between the short, chilly growing season of Finger Lakes and the long, balmy season of California. And a French wine magazine even compared the region’s terroir to that of Bordeaux, with gravel and loam layered with clay and sand, and a climate mellowed by the maritime influence of rivers.