Winter Blues FestivalNatali Vineyards |
Beat the winter blues at local vineyard
January 21, 2008
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE -- Oh, the weather outside is frightful—finally,
with the region receiving a light dusting of snow earlier this week, and
it really started to feel like winter. Grey, listless skies, cold, wet
weather, mix in another Eagles disappointment and the end of the holiday
season, and what do you have?
“The winter blues, so if you have the winter blues, you might as well
get rid of them by coming out to our Winter Blues Festival,” said Kevin
Celli, junior partner with Natali Vineyards, on the Goshen/Cape May
Court House border on the bay side of Route 47.
The vineyard will be having its first Winter Blue Festival this
Saturday, and has an impressive offering of local food to pair with the
locally made wine, and the blues stylings of none other than Frank Bey,
a blues artist who frequently plays in Cape May’s Congress Hall as well
the Cape May music festivals.
“We’re trying to do an event each month (there was a Harvest Festival in
November and a Holiday Festival in December), and with January we
thought Winter Blues was appropriate. I started asking around about what
musician or band to get and almost everyone was saying Frank Bey,” Celli
said. “I contacted him and we talked for awhile, he checked us out, and
then agreed to do it.”
In addition to the over-the-top talent of Bey and his band, the vineyard
will be hosting its largest collection of vendors to date. In addition
to being able to sample Natali wines (including the first public
offerings of their 2009 releases), visitors will be able to taste and
purchase offering from Seaside Cheese, Victory Baking (appetizers and
artisan breads and baked goods), Gus Pizzeria (homemade third-generation
family chili), The Deck (award-winning chowder from Wildwood’s Seafood
Festival), Up In Smoke (discounted cigars) and Emma Jams (jams and
jellies, including Beach Plum Jelly made from locally grown and
harvested beach plums).
“It’s the best collection of vendors we’ve ever had,” said Celli, who
said recent festivals have introduced many residents and visitors to
locally made wine for the first time.
“The Beach Plum Wine sold out, people went crazy over that and bought us
out. And then at the Holiday Festival, the Christmas Blueberry Wine was
the top-seller, and other local blends sold well, like the Cape May
Court House Blush, Goshen White (a French, dry wine), and the Cedar
Hammock, “Al Natali’s own special best-of-the-best recipe,” Celli said.
Cedar Hammock was the original name of the town of Goshen, “and we mix
the best grapes that we grow right here in Goshen for our wine master’s
blend.”
The Natali Vineyards site was selected in the spring of 2000 and after
one year of bio-renovation, the first 2,000 vines were planted. Each
subsequent year, more vines were planted and the total number is nearly
5,000 on a little more than six acres. There are 13 different varieties
on the tract allowing the partnership to produce the best blends
possible.
Celli said the grapes they specialize in grow very well in the sandy
soil of Cape May County.
“As one might expect, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc do
very well in this climate,” and are all award-winners for the vineyard
in state events.
The vineyard is open six days a week (closed Mondays) in January, with
tasting room hours from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Photos by Jen Arthur
Related:
Cape
Cuisine Dining: A very European-like harvest festival in Cape May County
Cape Cuisine Dining: Natali
hosts another festival
Rob Seitzinger can be e-mailed at seitz [at] catamaranmedia.com or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250.
Check out his Cape Cuisine food blog | Cape Cuisine Blog | Cape Cusine Archive | Return to Columns Home