Monday, October 3, 2011

Wine Tasting and Tour of Hopewell Valley Vineyards


My latest obsession has been finding awesome deals at LivingSocial, Groupon, Google Offers, and the like, which has brought me some neat stuff like $10 off at Whole Foods, 50% of at certain restaurants and museums, and even $4 admission at the Bronx Zoo! My rule is to only buy deals at places that I would normally go to or have been thinking about going to anyway. But every once in a while, I jump at a good deal, even if it is a 50 mile trek to South Jersey. This would be one of those splurges.

It started out innocently enough, I got the email from LivingSocial for $15 for a wine tasting and winery tour at Hopewell Valley Vineyards (a $30 value! and it comes with two souvenir glasses! How could I resist?) Of course, I realized it was a bit of a drive to Pennington, New Jersey, but since a couple of friends who lived nearby were having a party soon, I thought I could swing by for the wine tasting and head over to the party, thus killing two birds with one stone.

Unfortunately, the timing did not work out so well, and we ended up making a special trip for it yesterday. And I must admit, the trip was well worth it. The vineyard is family-owned and modest in size, but our tour guide (one of the owners, who actually used to be a lawyer) was very knowledgable and had a delightful sense of humor. Plus, we got to taste varieties of wines that I had never tasted before and learned about the wine-making process.

The oak barrels where the red wines are stored and aged

Here were my two favorite wines of the tasting portion of the tour:

On the left is the Spuma Rossa, a sparking red wine. I can't wait to try it with some fruit salad, or maybe a fruit pie. And on the right is Barbera, which actually is made from grapes grown right on the property, and has an earthy taste, unlike anything I've ever tasted. I'm excited to pair it with beef and other red meats.

So all and all, it was a fun trip, and at a good price too.

Note: This review is my personal views and opinions. I was not compensated by Hopewell Valley Vineyards or Livingsocial to make this review.

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2 comments:

Rose said...

I'm lime green jello - I've always wanted to go to a vineyard! Sounds like it was really fun! Maybe I will recommend it to Pete =)

Cheryl said...

Rose, I'll let you know the next time I come across another deal this!