The production of wine in New Jersey has increased significantly in the last thirty years with the opening of new

wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, b ...

. Beginning in 1981, the state legislature relaxed

Prohibition-era In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a nationwide constitutional law prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...

restrictions and crafted

new laws The New Laws (Spanish: ''Leyes Nuevas''), also known as the New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians (Spanish: ''Leyes y ordenanzas nuevamente hechas por su Majestad para la gobernación de las Indias y buen t ...

to facilitate the growth of the industry and provide new opportunities for winery licenses. Today,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

wineries are crafting wines that have earned recognition for their quality from critics, industry leaders, and in national and international competitions. , New Jersey currently has 51 licensed and operating wineries with several more prospective wineries in various stages of development.New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. " New Jersey ABC list of wineries, breweries, and distilleries" (5 February 2013). Retrieved 10 August 2013.New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. " New Jersey ABC license update" (16 April 2013). Retrieved 10 August 2013. According to the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

's 2012 Census of Agriculture, the state's wineries and vineyards dedicated 1,082 acres to the cultivation of grapes.National Agricultural Statistics Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2007 Census of Agriculture, State Level Data: New Jerse
Table 31. Specified Fruits and Nuts by Acres: 2012 and 2007
Retrieved 18 March 2019. New Jersey wineries are growing ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curre ...

'', ''

Vitis labrusca ''Vitis labrusca'', the fox grape, is a species of grapevines belonging to the ''Vitis'' genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The vines are native to eastern North America and are the source of many grape cultivars, including Catawba, Co ...

'', or French hybrid wine grapes, and producing or offering for sale over eighty types of wines. In 2010, 1.72 million gallons (approximately 716,000 cases) of wine were produced by New Jersey wineries; making it the seventh largest wine-producing state in the United States.With 1.72 million gallons in 2010, New Jersey was ranked seventh behind (1) California (492 million gallons), (2) New York (36 million gallons), (3) Washington (28.5 million gallons), (4) Oregon (3.95 million gallons), (5) Kentucky and (6) Florida. A considerable portion of New Jersey wine sales are non-grape fruit wine, particularly

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' within the genus ''Vaccinium''. ''Vaccinium'' also includes cranberries, bi ...

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...

, and

cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...

wines. These fruits are associated with New Jersey and can be purchased from many nearby farms throughout the Garden State. New Jersey's 51 wineries generate between US$30,000,000-$40,000,000 of revenue annually. Wealthy New Jersey landowners began to produce wines during the colonial period. In 1767, two men, Edward Antill and

William Alexander, Lord Stirling William Alexander, also known as Lord Stirling (1726 – 15 January 1783), was a Scottish-American major general during the American Revolutionary War. He was considered male heir to the Scottish title of Earl of Stirling through Scottish lin ...

received recognition for their successful efforts to cultivate grapes and produce wine on their plantations from the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

in London. The Society had challenged colonists in Britain's North American colonies to cultivate grapes and produce "those Sorts of Wines now consumed in Great Britain." While the cultivation of grapes and fruit trees supported a flourishing wine industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the effects of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

(1919-1933) and a legacy of restrictive laws constraining the industry's recovery subsequent to its repeal, practically devastated the industry. For fifty years after the repeal of Prohibition, New Jersey was limited by law to a ratio of one winery license for every 1,000,000 state residents, which by 1980 effectively allowed for only seven wineries. The growth of the state's winery industry has been bolstered by the repeal, starting in 1981, with the New Jersey Farm Winery Act, of many Prohibition-era laws and allowed many small growers to open new wineries.

History

Viticulture in the New Jersey colony and early America

In 1758, the

(formally, the "Society instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce") sought to incentivize agricultural innovation and cultivation in the North American colonies by offering a "premium"—or cash award—of 100 British pounds (£100) for the planting of vineyards and the production of "five tuns of red or white wine of acceptable quality."One tun equals 252 gallons. The initial award was unclaimed by 1762, and the Society augmented the bounty to £200 if the goal were reached by a colonial farmer by 1770 adding that at least five hundred vines should be planted and the wine produced equal "those Sorts of Wines now consumed in Great Britain." In 1767, two men had been recognized by the society for their undertakings. William Alexander (1726-1783), the self-styled "Earl of Stirling," informed the society in 1767 that he had planted 2,100 vines at his estate in

Basking Ridge Basking Ridge is an Local government in New Jersey#Unincorporated communities, unincorporated community located within Bernards Township, New Jersey, Bernards Township in the Somerset Hills region of Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset Count ...

, in central New Jersey's Somerset County. Sterling had reported that his plantings were "chiefly Burgundy, Orleans, Black, White and Red Frontiniac,

Muscadine ''Vitis rotundifolia'', or muscadine, is a grapevine species native to the southeastern and south-central United States. The growth range extends from Florida to New Jersey coast, and west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma. It has been extensively ...

, Portugals and Tokays." Edward Antill (1701-1770) who inherited his father's estate and operated a large brewery at

Raritan Landing Raritan Landing is a historical unincorporated community located within Piscataway Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, which was once an inland port, the farthest upstream point ocean-going ships could reach along the Raritan ...

across the

Raritan River Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its Drainage basin, watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean. History Geologists assert that the lower Rar ...

Piscataway Township Piscataway () is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan Valley. At the 2010 United States Census, the population was 56,044, an increase of 5,562 (+11.0%) f ...

from the city of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, advised the society that he had a vineyard of 800 vines of

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

and grapes as well as a few "Sweet-water Grape vines, and of the best sort of the Native Vines of America by way of tryal." Antill had remarked in a 1765 letter that he had been "thought by some Gentlemen as well as by Farmers, very whimsical in attempting a Vineyard." and had planted his vines "on the south side of a hill facing a public road so that his experiment could be advertised to the skeptics." The society had discussed offering the £200 to both men for their achievements. However, the Society raised concerns about the legitimacy of Alexander's claim to a title of nobility. On 2 December 1767, the Society offered the cash award to Antill, and three weeks later offered Lord Stirling a gold medal "for having planted 2100 vines in North America in pursuance of the Views of the Society." Shortly after his death, Antill published an 80-page tract entitled ''An Essay on the cultivation of the Vine, and the making and preserving of Wine, suited to the different Climates in North-America'' (1771) and this account influenced scholarship well into the nineteenth century. The developments of Antill and Lord Sterling did not translate into a long-term success or establish the industry in the state. Within a few years after their deaths, Antill in 1770, and Lord Sterling in 1783, their prize-winning vineyards were neglected and gone. In the colonial period and early nineteenth-century, the prevailing market in the New Jersey was for Jersey cider and distilled spirits. During the 1840s, in Newark, producers were creating sparkling apple cider and marketing it as "champagne"—so much so that Scottish traveller

Alexander Mackay Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

asserted that he learned that most "imported champagne" in America came in fact from Newark. Pinney (1989), p
383-384
While Mackay thought that it was "excellent as a summer drink" he quipped that, "many is the American connoisseur of champagne who has his taste cultivated on Newark cider."

A flourishing industry (1860–1920)

In the mid-19th century, New Jersey was once again recognized for its suitability for growing grapes. In 1859, an agricultural society was organized in Egg Harbor City and tested over forty different grape varietals for local cultivation. Varietals of ''Vitis aestivalis'' and ''Vitis labrusca'' were selected, including Concord, Catawba, Norton, and several others. The early industry was started through new German immigrants and by 1865 ''Gardener's Monthly'' claimed that these Germans were making wine "as good as any in the world." Prominent vintners from the Egg Harbor City area during this period, who specialized in dry red wines primarily from

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

grapes, included

Charles Saalmann Charles Daniel Saalmann (April 25, 1836 – February 21, 1909) was a captain of Union infantry during the American Civil War. He was wounded at Gettysburg and acted as a Commissary of Subsistence during General William T. Sherman's famed Ma ...

and Julius Hincke.

Renault Winery Renault Winery ( )Toms, Charlie"Renault Winery Review"in '' American Winery Guide'' (15 June 2013). Retrieved 1 November 2013. is a winery located in Egg Harbor City and Galloway Township in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It is the oldest active win ...

, located in the

Egg Harbor City Egg Harbor City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 4,396, an increase of 153 from the 2010 Census.Atlantic County Atlantic County is a County (United States), county located along the southern coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 274,534.

in the southern region of the state, was established in 1864 by French immigrant Louis Nicolas Renault. In its early years, Renault Winery was known for its American version of "

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

". This was New Jersey's first commercial winemaking operation and remains one of the oldest continuously operating wineries in the United States. Philadelphia land developer Charles K. Landis (1833–1900) purchased of land in 1861 in

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberla ...

near

Millville, New Jersey Millville is a city in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 28,400,Temperance Town" based on agriculture and progressive thinking. Landis declared that he was "about to build a city, and an agricultural and fruit-growing colony around it." The population reached 5,500 by 1865. Landis determined the potential in growing grapes and named the settlement "Vineland", and advertised to attract

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

grape growers to Vineland, offering 20 acres (81,000 m2) of land that had to be cleared and used to grow grapes. Relocating to Vineland in 1865, clergyman, inventor and dentist Thomas Bramwell Welch (1825–1903), who developed the method for pasteurizing grape juice to prevent natural fermentation and spoilage in 1869, purchased the locally grown grapes to make "unfermented wine" (or grape juice) that was marketed as "Dr. Welch's Unfermented Wine" and later as

Welch's Grape Juice Welch Foods Inc., commonly known as Welch's, is an American company, headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts, Concord, Massachusetts. It has been owned by the National Grape Cooperative Association, a Agricultural cooperative, co-op of grape g ...

. Welch was an adherent to the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, which strongly opposed "manufacturing, buying, selling, or using intoxicating liquors." Despite Landis' efforts to create an alcohol-free community, Italian and German immigrants who settled at Vineland started producing alcoholic wine by the 1870s.

Prohibition and its legacy (1920–1980)

Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol (United States, prohibition era) 2

Prohibition was a major reform movement from the 1840s into the 1920s, and was sponsored by evangelical Protestant churches, especially the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Disciples and Congregationalists. Groups like the

Women's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program ...

, Prohibition Party, and

Anti-Saloon League The Anti-Saloon League (now known as the ''American Council on Addiction and Alcohol Problems'') is an organization of the temperance movement that lobbied for prohibition in the United States in the early 20th century. Founded in 1893 in Ober ...

used pressure politics on legislators to achieve the goal of nationwide prohibition during World War I, emphasizing a need to destroy political corruption, the political power of the German-based brewing industry, and the need to reduce domestic violence in the home and claiming alcohol was the cause. On 16 January 1919, Prohibition was established with the ratification of the

Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII) of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the requisite number of ...

prohibiting the "...manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States..." and Congress subsequently passed the

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...

to enforce the law. New Jersey, coincidentally, was the 46th and last state to ratify the Eighteenth Amendment—not doing so until 9 March 1922. Although it was largely unsuccessful, Prohibition would last for 14 years, becoming increasingly unpopular during the

Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties, sometimes stylized as Roaring '20s, refers to the 1920s decade in music and fashion, as it happened in Western society and Western culture. It was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the U ...

and the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. A repeal movement pointed out the hypocrisy of Prohibition activists and politicians, the rise of organised crime, and how it undermined respect for the law. Seeking tax revenue and to weaken the base of organised crime, Franklin Roosevelt and other politicians sought to end prohibition, and did so with the passage of the

Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twenty-first Amendment (Amendment XXI) to the United States Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had mandated nationwide prohibition on alcohol. The Twenty-first Amendment was proposed by ...

on 5 December 1933. By its terms, states were allowed to set their own laws for the control of alcohol. During the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

(1919-1933), several wineries survived by adopting clever strategies for skirting the law and preserving their businesses. Renault Winery continued producing wine but cleverly marketed it in drugstores and pharmacies as a medicinal "tonic" that doctor's prescribed "liberally for maladies ranging from pregnancy pains to insomnia." The Krumm family's "Seaview Winery" in

Linwood Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia *Linwood, South Australia * Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario * Linwood, ...

chose to sell wine jellies, tonics,

cooking wine The classification of wine is based on various criteria including place of origin or appellation, vinification method and style, sweetness and vintage,J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 752 & 753 Oxford University ...

and

sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

which were permitted under Prohibition's

(1920). By the end of Prohibition, the American wine industry which was (as a whole) fledgling, was largely destroyed. What had not survived the spread of

Black rot Black rot is a name used for various diseases of cultivated plants caused by fungi or bacteria, producing dark brown discoloration and decay in the leaves of fruit and vegetables: * A disease of the apple, pear and quince caused by a fungus ('' Botr ...

and other grape diseases was severely damaged by Prohibition. Many winemakers had gone out of business, and to comply with the law many vineyard growers replaced productive wine quality grape vines with lower quality vines growing thicker skinned grapes that could be more easily transported as table fruit. Much of the institutional knowledge was also lost as winemakers either emigrated to other wine producing countries or left the business altogether. Only a few wineries emerged from Prohibition. According to Pinney, they included H.T. Dewey, Herman Kluxen, Miele, Renault, Schuster, Tomasello. The Dewey winery (1857) closed in 1952; Herman Kluxen (1865) went out of business in 1974. Pinney (1989), p
270

The Farm Winery Act and the industry's renaissance

Wine production within the state remained small until the 1980s when New Jersey began to relax its laws and regulations regarding the licensing and operation of alcoholic beverage production facilities (breweries, wineries, and distilleries). Laws that remained unrepealed after the end of the

(1919-1933), prevented the creation of new wineries and limited licensing to one winery for every one million state residents. In 1981, the state legislature passed the

New Jersey Farm Winery Act The New Jersey Farm Winery Act was legislation passed by the New Jersey state legislature and signed by Governor Brendan Byrne in 1981. The Farm Winery Act was the first of several efforts by the New Jersey state legislature to relax Prohibition-e ...

subsequently signed by Governor

Brendan Byrne Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American politician, statesman, and prosecutor, serving as the 47th governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrne started his career as a privat ...

. which sought to facilitate a rebirth for the state's wine industry by exempting low-volume family-owned wineries from the restrictions, and allowed wineries to create

outlet stores An outlet store, factory outlet or factory shop is a brick and mortar or online store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowin ...

. This act effectively allowed anyone with a minimum of three acres and 1,200 vines to apply for a winery license.Capuzzo, Jill P. "Ready For Prime Time?" in ''New Jersey Monthly'' (13 February 2012). Retrieved 26 January 2013. According to the ''New York Times'', by 1988, the provisions of Farm Winery Act had allowed the industry to grow from 7 wineries to 15, increased the acreage of wine grapes, and the state became the country's tenth largest producer with 204,000 gallons. Comparatively, New Jersey ranked sixth in the country in per capita consumption of wine, with a total of 27,194,000 gallons drunk in 1986. In 1985, the state legislature directed the creation of the

New Jersey Wine Industry Advisory Council New Jersey is home to the most complex alcohol laws in the United States. They provide 29 liquor licenses to wholesalers, manufacturers, retailers and the general public. New Jersey is the only other state, other than Wisconsin, to consider a DUI ...

, which serves to advise the state Secretary of Agriculture on production and promotion for the state's wine industry. This council is funded by a per-gallon tax levied on the state's wine producers. The funds are used by each council for product research and improvement, promotional point-of-purchase materials and special promotional events. In 1999, New Jersey implemented its Quality Wine Alliance (QWA) program modelled after similar rigorous standards in Italy and France. According to this process, a wine "must undergo a review by an independent review board of certified wine judges, wine editors, wine distributors, liquor store owners, and experienced wine reviewers." On 17 January 2012, New Jersey governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in Ne ...

signed into law a bill (S.3172/A.4436) that legalised direct shipping from winery to consumers, and permits state wineries to open as many as 18 offsite retail tasting rooms in the state."Free at Last: New Jersey Passes Direct Shipping Bill"
''Wine Spectator'' website (19 January 2012). Retrieved 26 January 2013. The law allows wineries that make less than 250,000 gallons of wine annually (a "capacity cap limit") to ship wine to state residents. Because this prohibits 90% of wine made in the United States, but does not affect New Jersey's small wineries, proponents of the law fear that this section of the law will be struck down as unconstitutional. The

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts in the following United St ...

had struck down a similar limit in Massachusetts in 2008 and the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

addressed direct shipping laws a few years earlier.

Judgment of Princeton (2012)

On 8 June 2012, a

blind tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...

comparing red and white wines from New Jersey and Bordeaux and Burgundy wines from France was held at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

during a four-day conference of the

American Association of Wine Economists The American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE) is a non-profit, educational organization based in New York City. Since 2006, the association has published a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, the ''Journal of Wine Economics'', twice per year, ...

(AAWE). It was modelled after the

Judgment of Paris Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle ...

event in 1976, the famous blind tasting in which California wines beat French wines. It was organized by

George M. Taber George McCaffrey Taber (born May 25, 1942) is a journalist and entrepreneur. Taber was a reporter and editor with ''Time'' magazine in the United States and Europe for 21 years, working in Brussels; Bonn; Houston; Washington, DC; and New York. S ...

, a former journalist from

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

who attended the Judgment of Paris event and later wrote a book about it, Princeton University economics professors

Orley Ashenfelter Orley Clark Ashenfelter (born October 18, 1942) is an American economist and the Joseph Douglas Green 1895 Professor of Economics at Princeton University. His areas of specialization include labor economics, econometrics, and law and economics. H ...

and

Richard E. Quandt Richard Emeric Quandt (born 1 June 1930, in Budapest) is a Guggenheim Fellowship-winning economist who analyzed the results of the Judgment of Paris (wine), Judgment of Paris wine tasting event with Orley Ashenfelter.Orley Ashenfelter and Richard E ...

, New York University economics professor and ''Journal of Wine Economics'' managing editor

Karl Storchmann Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

, and wine shop owner Mark Censits. Of the nine judges in Princeton, five were American, three French, and one Belgian and represented vineyard owners, international wine critics and journalists. Each tasted ten wines, of which six were from New Jersey. New Jersey wines took three out of the top four spots in the white wine category and ranked third highest in the reds, and event organizers stated that the results were a "statistical tie." Several critics have publicly pointed out flaws in the competition including the comparison of weaker vintage French wines, and that the results are statistically meaningless. Indeed, event organizers Ashenfelter and Quandt have published papers criticising the methods of the 1976 Judgment of Paris and undermining the effectiveness of wine tastings. According to the AAWE, "A statistical evaluation of the tasting...further shows that the rank order of the wines was mostly insignificant. That is, if the wine judges repeated the tasting, the results would most likely be different. From a statistical viewpoint, most wines were undistinguishable."

Geography and climate

New Jersey is a very geologically and geographically diverse region. Most of the state has a humid

mesothermal In climatology, the term mesothermal is used to refer to certain forms of climate found typically in the Earth's temperate zones. It has a moderate span of temperature, with winters not cold enough to sustain snow cover. Summers are warm within oc ...

climate, and southern New Jersey has sandy soils and maritime climate affected by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

with longer growing seasons and more sun exposure than the north. Northern New Jersey, especially the northwestern regions of the state, experience a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

microthermal In climatology, the term microthermal is used to denote the continental climates of Eurasia and North America. Etymology The word ''microthermal'' is derived from two Greek words meaning "small" and "heat". This is misleading, however, since the t ...

)—a cooler climate due to its higher elevations in the mountainous and rocky terrain of the state's northwestern counties that are part of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

and the protected New York-New Jersey Highlands region. These northwestern regions of the state have colder winters and a shorter growing season that proves challenging to winegrowers who must consider this in their selecting cold-hardy varietals for cultivation, and in their viticultural practices. The state's five

physiographic provinces physiographic province is a geographic region with a characteristic geomorphology, and often specific subsurface rock type or structural elements. The continents are subdivided into various physiographic provinces, each having a specific charact ...

offer a range of unique

terroir (, ; from ''terre'', "land") is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these conte ...

s, climates and

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

s for vineyard production that is reflected in the essence of the wine.

Geology

Geologically, the state offers variety from the Appalachian Mountains and the Highlands in the state's northwest, to the Atlantic Coastal Plain region that encompasses both the

Pine Barrens Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine (see Atlantic coastal pine barrens) as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barre ...

and the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May Po ...

. The state's geological features have impacted the course of settlement, development, commerce and industry over the past four centuries. New Jersey has five distinct

physiographic province physiographic province is a geographic region with a characteristic geomorphology, and often specific subsurface rock type or structural elements. The continents are subdivided into various physiographic provinces, each having a specific characte ...

s. They are: (listed from the south to the north) the outer and inner

Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

Provinces, the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Province, the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

Province, and the

Ridge and Valley The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...

Province. Soils in the state vary. In the Atlantic Coastal Plain, fertile, loamy soil makes the land ideal for agriculture and is responsible for New Jersey's nickname of the "Garden State". The majority of the state's wineries are located in this area.

Climate

Higher elevations of northwestern New Jersey's Appalachian mountains experience a cooler

climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

Dfb) which indicates patterns of significant precipitation in all seasons and at least four months where the average temperature rises above This differs from the majority of the state, which is generally a humid

climate, in which temperatures range between -3 °C (27 °F) and 18 °C (64 °F) during the year's coldest month. Sections of southern New Jersey around Delaware Bay and along the Jersey shore experience a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen Cfa) characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. New Jersey lies within USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6a through 7b, generally increasing in grade from north to south.

Wine regions

Today, 51 wineries are currently in operation in fourteen of the state's 21 counties. Several other wineries are planning to open and are either awaiting the approval of licenses, or in some form of development. Because of favorable sandy soils and warmer climate, a majority of these wineries are located in South Jersey's Outer Coastal Plain AVA, with some wineries also falling within the newly established Cape May Peninsula AVA. A handful of wineries are in northwestern New Jersey's Warren Hills AVA. Part of the Central Delaware Valley AVA is in New Jersey, but no New Jersey wineries are currently in this viticultural area. These four AVAs comprise nearly 4 million of the state's 5.6 million acres—over 70% of its area. Some of New Jersey's wineries operate in areas of the state that are not within a designated AVA.

Outer Coastal Plain AVA

The Outer Coastal Plain American Viticultural Area was established by federal regulation in 2007. It consists of most of the southern half of New Jersey, spanning across nine counties. This AVA is roughly equivalent to the Outer Coastal Plain physiographic province, including most of the State's Atlantic coastline and the area known as the

. Almost seventy percent (70%) of state grape production is located within this area. According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, 713 acres of the state's 1,043 acres dedicated to grape production (both wineries and commercial vineyards) were located in the counties that comprise the Outer Coastal Plain—

Atlantic County Atlantic County is a County (United States), county located along the southern coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 274,534.

(21 farms, 207 acres),

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are f ...

(10 farms, 100 acres),

(6 farms, 14 acres), Camden County (8 farms, 88 acres), Burlington County (12 farms, 86 acres), Gloucester County (10 farms, 48 acres), Monmouth County (23 farms, 40 acres),

Ocean County Ocean County is a county located along the Jersey Shore in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its county seat is Toms River.Salem County Salem County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its western boundary is formed by the Delaware River and its eastern terminus is the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaware. Its cou ...

(5 farms, 26 acres). This region is known for its high production yields for all crops and is the center of New Jersey's

and

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

production. It is characterized by a combination of factors conducive to cultivating grapes, including a climate moderated by the influence of Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, a growing season extending 190–220 days, and fertile

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

and

sandy loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

soils. This longer growing season and warmer climate allows the region to grow ''vinifera'' varieties that are too cold sensitive to be cultivated in the Northeastern United States. , 25 of New Jersey's 51 wineries are located within this viticultural area (32 when including the wineries in the Cape May Peninsula AVA, which is entirely contained within the Outer Coastal Plain AVA).

Cape May Peninsula AVA

The Cape May Peninsula American Viticultural Area was established by federal regulation in 2018. It consists of approximately 126,635 acres in Cape May and Cumberland Counties, New Jersey. The viticultural area lies entirely within the established Outer Coastal Plain AVA. , there are 7 wineries in the Cape May Peninsula AVA.

Warren Hills AVA

The Warren Hills American Viticultural Area was established by federal regulation in 1988. It consists of of most of

Warren County, New Jersey Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 109,632, representing an increase of 940 (0.9%) from the 108,692 residents counted at the 2010 census. The county borde ...

. This is an area largely known for dairy farming, in the rolling hills and valleys of the Highlands physiographic province and drained by the watersheds of the

Musconetcong River The Musconetcong River is a tributary of the Delaware River in northwestern New Jersey in the United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It flows through ...

and

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

. Roughly 100 acres are planted with grapes in this AVA. This region is primarily planted with French hybrid grapes. , there are 5 wineries in the Warren Hills AVA.

Central Delaware Valley AVA

The Central Delaware Valley American Viticultural Area was created by federal regulation in 1984 and includes surrounding the

in both southeastern Pennsylvania and central New Jersey north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey.This regulation was amended in 1987. Its southern boundary is near Titusville, New Jersey, just north of Trenton, New Jersey, Trenton, and its northern border is near Musconetcong Mountain. , there are no New Jersey wineries in the Central Delaware Valley AVA.

Wine production

Wines produced

All common styles of wine—Red wine, red, Rosé wine, rosé, White wine, white (dry, semi-sweet and Sweet wine, sweet), Sparkling wine, sparkling and Fortified wine, fortified and Dessert wine, dessert—are produced in New Jersey. Wineries market products made from more than 90 varieties of grapes including both internationally well-known and obscure local varieties, and from over 25 other fruits. Grapes: Albariño, Baco noir, Barbera, Blaufränkisch, Blaufränkisch (Lemberger), Brachetto, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Catawba (grape), Catawba, Cayuga White, Chambourcin, Chancellor (grape), Chancellor, Chardonnay, Chenin blanc, Ciliegiolo, Colobel (grape), Colobel, Colombard, Concord (grape), Concord, Corot noir, Corvina, Counoise, De Chaunac, Delaware (grape), Delaware, Diamond (grape), Diamond, Dolcetto, Durif, Durif (Petite Sirah), Fredonia (grape), Fredonia, Frontenac (grape), Frontenac, Frontenac (grape), Frontenac gris, Gewürztraminer, Geneva Red, Grechetto, Grenache, Grüner Veltliner, Horizon (grape), Horizon, Ives noir, La Crescent (grape), La Crescent, Lagrein, Lakemont (grape), Lakemont, Landot noir, Léon Millot, Malbec, Malvasia, Malvasia bianca, Marechal Foch, Marquette (grape), Marquette, Marquis (grape), Marquis, Marsanne, Merlot, Mourvèdre, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Muscat blanc, Muscat of Alexandria, Muscat Ottonel, Nebbiolo, Nero d'Avola, Niagara (grape), Niagara, Noah (grape), Noah, Noiret, Norton (grape), Norton (Cynthiana), Muscat (grape)#Varieties, Orange Muscat, Petit Manseng, Petit Verdot, Pinotage, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, Pinot noir, Rayon d'Or (grape), Rayon d'Or, Reliance Seedless (grape), Reliance, Riesling, Rkatsiteli, Roussanne, Sagrantino, Sangiovese, Sauvignon blanc, Teroldego, Trollinger#Sub-varieties and crossings, Schiava Grossa, Sémillon, Seyval blanc, St. Laurent (grape), St. Laurent, Sumoll, Syrah, Tempranillo, Tinta Cão, Touriga Nacional, Traminette, Trebbiano, Vespolina, Vidal blanc, Vignoles (grape), Vignoles (Ravat 51), Villard grapes, Villard blanc, Villard grapes, Villard noir, Viognier, Vranec, Zinfandel, and Zweigelt. Other fruit: açaí palm, açaí berries, almonds,

s, apricots, Asian pear (disambiguation), Asian pears, bananas, beach plums, blackcurrant, black currants, blackberry, blackberries, blueberry, blueberries, cherry, cherries, cranberry, cranberries, dandelions, honey (mead), kiwifruit, lime (fruit), limes, mangoes, nectarines, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, pomegranates, pumpkins, raspberry, raspberries, strawberry, strawberries, sugar plums, and watermelons.

Industry statistics

Today, New Jersey is ranked seventh in the nation in total wine production behind California, New York, Washington, Oregon, Kentucky and Florida. However, New Jersey's production is minuscule compared to California's wine industry which produces 89.5% of the country's total production. In 2010, 1.72 million gallons (approximately 716,000 cases)A case being defined as a standard twelve (12) 750 millilitre bottles (a total of 2.4 gallons). of wine were produced in the “Garden State”—the most popular red wine varietals grown being Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin and most popular white wine varietals being Chardonnay and Vidal blanc. A considerable portion of New Jersey wine sales are non-grape fruit wines-particularly apple, blueberry, raspberry and cranberry wines—from produce readily identified with New Jersey, and which can be purchased from many nearby farms throughout the Garden State. In 2007, vineyard crop production was valued at $4.7 million in 2007. , New Jersey's 48 wineries generate between US$30,000,000-$40,000,000 of revenue annually. According to Rutgers University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s United States Census of Agriculture, Census of Agriculture, in 2002, 551 acres of New Jersey farmland were dedicated to the cultivation of grapes.National Agricultural Statistics Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2002 Census of Agriculture, State Level Data: New Jerse
Table 36. Specified Fruits and Nuts by Acres: 2002 and 1997
Retrieved 25 January 2013. By 2007, this had nearly doubled to 1,043 acres.National Agricultural Statistics Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2007 Census of Agriculture, State Level Data: New Jerse
Table 35. Specified Fruits and Nuts by Acres: 2007 and 2002
Retrieved 25 January 2013. Despite estimates that total acreage might increase by 50%-100% when the 2012 census was released, growth leveled off, with 1,082 acres under cultivation in 2012. As of 2014, New Jersey currently has 48 licensed and operating wineries and several others in development. In 2012, 197 farms in the state were growing grapes to be sold as table grapes and converted into wine and juice production—this was up from 182 in 2002.

Legal issues

Winery licenses, taxation, and regulation

Wineries in the state of New Jersey must obtain licenses from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and from the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. New Jersey laws and regulation regarding farm wineries require that a farm cultivate a minimum 3 acres of vineyards. Wines, including fortified wines, fortified and sparkling wines, are taxed at 87.5 cents per gallon by the state.N.J. P.L.2009, c.71
/ref> The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has expressed concern that wines made here are increasingly less dependent on grapes grown in the state and that business models are focused on sourcing grapes or juices for winemaking from out-of-state. Their concerns are centered on the credibility and authenticity of a "New Jersey" wine. As a response, they have recommended expanding the number of acres of vineyard production from 3 acres to 5 acres in order to obtain a plenary winery license. Further, the state is looking to certify wineries and permit the marketing of certain wines under its "Jersey Fresh" agriculture program based on their being produced with New Jersey grown grapes. New Jersey law generally treats cider, hard cider as a type of wine because it is made from fermented fruits. There are currently three licensed hard cider producers in New Jersey. Cider can be produced with a plenary or farm winery license, or with the cidery and meadery license introduced in 2017. Cider with less than 3.2% alcohol by volume is untaxed, cider with 3.2% to 7.0% alcohol is taxed at 15 cents per gallon, and cider with over 7.0% alcohol is taxed at 87.5 cents per gallon.

New Jersey Class A manufacturer's licenses for wineries, cideries, and meaderies

Direct shipping of wine to consumers

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Garden State Wine Growers Association

* [http://www.state.nj.us/jerseyfresh/wine.htm Taste New Jersey Wines] (from the Jersey Fresh Program)
Rutgers University New Jersey Wine Grape Resource Center
{{American wine, state=expanded New Jersey wine, Wineries in New Jersey, * Wine regions of the United States by state