LIQUID ASSETS

Photographs: courtesy of Tomasello Winery

FINE LINES

Thanks to the Tomasello family,
New Jersey’s winemaking is
a global, as well as local, enterprise.

BY GARY PAVLIS, PhD, CWJ

With all this growth and coverage, one might be lead to believe that all of New Jersey’s wine history is relatively young. Nothing could be further from the truth. New Jersey’s winemaking tradition dates back more than 200 years, to when the first New Jerseyans cultivated wine producing vineyards for the British Empire in the mid-1700s. In fact, by 1767, London’s Royal Society of Arts had recognized two New Jersey vintners for their success in producing the first bottles of quality wine derived from colonial agriculture.

The wine industry thrived until 1920, when Congress passed the 18th Amendment, which put a ban on the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcohol. Prohibition effectively put all wineries out of business (an exception was the Renault Winery, which remained open by producing a grape tonic.) When this amendment was repealed in 1933, so the story goes, one of the first people to apply for a winery license was Frank Tomasello.

Frank was a berry farmer in Hammonton but he also had a passion for wine. When he heard that the federal government was repealing Prohibition, he jumped into his truck and drove through a snowstorm to Washington, D.C., to apply for a winery license. He received license number 68. Later that year, New Jersey repealed Prohibition and the Tomasello winery was born.

The first wines that Frank made were called Ranier Red, Ranier White and Ranier Rosé (after his wife’s maiden name). Made from Native American grape varieties, these wines were a great success and remain so today. In the 1940s, Frank’s sons, Charles and Joseph, joined the business and began producing sparkling wines using the classic French Champagne method. The winery continued to flourish, and after the passing of Frank and Joseph, Charles took over the operation.

I first met Charles in 1984 when I was returning home from a job interview. I’d applied to become Atlantic County’s agricultural agent (a position I hold to this day). Charles was my first introduction to the New Jersey wine industry. He had a great sense of humor. He kidded me that if I got the job, he expected me to fix all his problems. Well, I can’t say that happened but I did get to know Charles very well and also his sons, Charlie and Jack.

The Tomasello winery is the largest in New Jersey, producing 125,000 gallons and over 30 different wines. I often tell people that New Jersey wineries make a large selection of wines, from cranberry to cabernet sauvignon, and as a result, anyone can find a wine they will like. This is never more true than at Tomasello’s. Of course the sparkling wines are still a staple here but they’ve got classic European varieties, too. Their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is, in my opinion, one of the top 10 wines ever produced in New Jersey.

But it is possibly their fruit wines that have brought them the most acclaim. It all started in the 1990s when Art Brown, then New Jersey secretary of agriculture, walked into the Tomasello tasting room. He was headed to an international agriculture products show in Chicago and wanted to bring blueberry wine, made from New Jersey blueberries. The rest is history. A buyer from Japan tasted the wine, and the Asian market for Tomasello’s blueberry wine was born. Blueberries were all the rage in Japan, because it had recently been reported that, due to their high antioxidant levels, blueberries are a key ingredient in a healthy diet. The market has since expanded to Korea, China, Singapore and Taiwan. China is now the major importer with three shipping containers, holding 700–900 cases of wine, already exported there this year.

Tomasello’s also sells cranberry, blackberry, cherry and pomegranate wines to Asia, sourcing the fruit from across the U.S.; Michigan cherries, Massachusetts cranberries, Oregon raspberries, and blackberries from the Pacific Northwest. Jack laughs that they are not going to get rich on fruit wines, but that the sales do pay for the expensive oak barrels for his cabernet and chardonnay, which can cost over $1,000 each and need to be replaced every three to four years.

I find these fruit wines to be beautiful in their aromas. Charlie has a knack for producing wines with a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity so that they are never cloying. One reason is that he ferments in small lots under very cold conditions, which maximizes the fruit aromas and character. The wines have garnered numerous national and international awards. Closer to home, Tomasello Winery has won the Governor’s Cup for the “Best of Show” wine in the New Jersey Wine Competition an astounding seven times and the prestigious “2010 Winery of the Year” award in this same competition.

I understand that Charlie’s son Brian is currently researching colleges and is looking into Cornell University’s viticulture and enology program. Could he be the fourth generation at Tomasello Winery? If so, he’ll be continuing a long and successful business that is the standard- bearer of the New Jersey Wine Industry.

TOMASELLO WINERY
225 North White Horse Pike , Hammonton
1.800.MMM.WINE
tomasellowinery.com

The winery also operates tasting rooms and gift shops in Smithville, Village Greene, Lambertville and Freehold. Visit the website for more information.

Charlie (left) and Jack Tomasello

“The Tomasello winery is the largest in
New Jersey, producing 125,000 gallons
and over 30 different wines.”