This past Saturday, May 12, 2012, we participated in Unionville Vineyards Spring Festival and it was a blast! Unionville Vineyards is made up of four farms with over 300 acres of preserved farmland. It is operated by a group of local owners whose goal is to grow the finest grape stock while preserving this beautiful countryside.
The vineyard’s land is filled with American history, much of it including George Washington and his troops. Washington and his troops camped all over this land, which now produces some of Unionville’s finest wines. He also led the Colonial Army just south of Unionville to cross the Delaware River, which changed the course of history forever. Unionville became an enormous agricultural region, producing vast fruit orchards followed by thousands of Dairy Farms.
It was not until 1988 that Unionville vines were planted and then the winery opened on April 1, 1993. Now the vineyard has over 40 acres of vine stock under cultivation. Yay for wine and farmland preservation!
After my brief history lesson on the vineyard, lets get into the Spring Festival! First of all, we would like to thank Unionville Vineyards for including us in this wonderful event. The weather was 77 and sunny and we had so much fun! There was live music by the CC Coletti band that had this place rocking and great wines for all to try. There were also vineyard and winery tours, in addition to the seminars pairing either cheese and wine or chocolate and wine (YUM!). I was even lucky enough to see a man propose to his girlfriend in the vineyard (so cute!).
Now on to the wines! Unionville’s different grape varieties and terroir has naturally resulted in several categories of wine, all of which I love and many of you will love too! They have the George Series after George Washington and all of the American history that took place on this land. Some wines from the George Series are Heritage White, Revolutionary Red, Fields of Fire and Lafayette’s Pride.
They also have the Fox Series, which “celebrates the natural beauty of the region and the natural bounty of the land.” Additionally, the fox has always been a cherished symbol of the local environment and Unionville Vineyards. Some of these wines include Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Dry Riesling, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Another series is the Artisan Series, which are one-of-a-kind blends that you will find nowhere else. This series varies year-to-year depending on Mother Nature and the vine. The series has included the multi Gold, Silver, and Bronze Winners of “The White Montage”, “Cool Foxy Lady”, “Cam Jam”, and “The Big O”.
The last series is the Single Vineyard Series. This series is “dedicated to producing wines of world class quality through the union of art and science”. Their Single Vineyard wines begin with diverse terroir and exposures and then each is matched with hand selected vine stock of the highest quality including clones from some of the finest vineyards in the world. It takes four to six years of care and cultivation before even thinking to harvest, which means the wine has an exclusive and highly limited release.
There was also a vast array of vendors to walk around and check out, at Unionville Vineyards Spring Festival. The list included Bamboo Hollow apiaries and honey, Dove Chocolate Discoveries (yes I said DOVE CHOCOLATE!), Capital Corn Confections, Herb N Zest artisanal fruit butter and Chutneys, Runamok Fabrication, Chocolista Chocolate, Lost Loon Farms, Silpada Jewelry, Global Family Imports, and Rustic Elegance Stone Boards. Furthermore, there was Cabot cheese tasting, flowerpot painting, book signing with NJ author Chris Redding, pony rides, and vineyard photos and Mother’s Day photos with My Picture Perfect Art. And we were happy to keep everyone refreshed and energized with our cold-brewed iced coffee in between the wine tasting.
It was a beautiful day and spectacular event to be part of and we cannot wait for their next event!
Ashley