#WineWednesday: An Afternoon at Cape May Winery

June 2, 2021 newjerseyisntboring

Cape May is one of my favorite places for many reasons, but one thing I love about the area is that it’s home to many wineries and vineyards. During my most recent trip to Cape May, I stopped by Cape May Winery for their award-winning wine, tapas, a tour, and most importantly a meeting with Arthur. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

Although most people associate Cape May as a Summer destination there is actually plenty to do here year-round. For example, Cape May Winery is open to the public during all seasons, and it’s a beautiful spot with amazing wine and food.

The winery was started by the Hayes family in conjunction with Rutger’s Agricultural Co-op in 1989 and their first wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon, was released in 1996. In 2003 the Hayes family sold their winery to their current owners, the Craig Family. Since taking over the farmland currently encompasses over 150 acres around Cape May and is currently the 5th largest producing winery in NJ.

When the Craig family purchased the winery in 2003, they expanded the facility and added their own personal touches. Before everything was done out of a three-car garage that sits on the property. The Craig’s have added a main winery building, an outdoor deck, a production barn, a second production barn, a solarium, a kitchen, three concrete fermenting eggs, and a bottling line barn.

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While walking around the winery you’ll notice special items that were handmade by owner Toby Craig. One of those items is their Copper Beech chandelier, found in their Port Wine Cellar, made from a 100-year-old tree that originally stood on Washington St in downtown Cape May.

The beloved tree’s trunk became weakened due to disease and had to be taken down, and Toby used pieces of it to put on display in the winery, including the beautiful chandelier. You can also find another pie of the tree trunk in their taproom:

Also located in their taproom is their vine chandelier which Toby made from three Cabernet Sauvignon vines twisted together and hung upside down and lit from hand-strung LED lights.

as well as the barrel stave walls made from 30 retired French Oak barrels. Toby custom cut and nailed each stave board into the wall to create the “coolest wallpaper ever”.

While touring the winery and gawking at all the beautiful handiwork, I got to meet Arthur. Arthur, who was born in September 2020, is a very sweet golden doodle who cleans the crumbs at the winery as a dedicated winery dog. Be sure to say hi! He is super friendly and loves belly rubs.

In addition to grapes, Cape May Winery’s farmland is home to tomato plants, beach plums, squash, and kale. Fresh ingredients from their farm are served in their seasonally changing tapas kitchen which opened in 2018.

Chef Mike Siegel is the genius behind Cape May Winery’s menu which includes cheese, charcuterie, sliders, hummus, tuna poke tacos, flatbreads, and more. Tapas are available during winery hours, and they have a special tapas menu for Sunday brunch.

I enjoyed a great plate of food prepared by Chef Mike, including his homemade lavender truffle honey which he recently started selling as jars at the winery. Of course, I had to buy a jar to take home.

With my tapas, I also enjoyed a “wine flight” which came with three wines to sample; a white wine flight and a red wine flight.

I went with the white wines which featured their Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Lighthouse Blush.

The wine flights come with suggested tapa pairings. I was a big fan of the Lighthouse Blush with their brie and blackberry bite.

Unlike other NJ vineyards, the winery sells 100% retail in Cape May with the majority of it being sold directly at the winery. If you love what you try…be sure to buy it there! I purchased a bottle of their Cabernet and their Rose.