Bellview Winery is one of the 20+ wineries in the newly established Outer Coastal Plain American Viticulture Area.

A new American Viticulture Area was recently approved by the US Department of the Treasury’s Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax, and Trade Bureau. The geographic area is in the South East portion of New Jersey and has been designated The Outer Coastal Plain. The area encompasses approximately 2,250,000 acres, and all or parts of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Cape May, Gloucester, Monmouth, Ocean, and Salem counties are within the specified AVA.

Much of this territory is still comprised of small farms that serve portions of the East Coast with fruits and vegetables. In this respect, vineyards located in the Outer Coastal Plain share a similar history with a number of wine growing regions in California, Oregon, and elsewhere that have made their mark by contributing some excellent varietals to American viticulture.

The Outer Coastal Plain AVA, like any approved AVA, is definable in geographical, agricultural, and historic terms as well as a very specific geographical area with uniform climate, soil, weather, and general grape growing qualities.

At a recent wine-growing symposium funded by a $40,000 grant from the USDA, and sponsored by the Outer Coastal Plain Vineyard Association, the presented papers focused on “Bordeaux-An Old World Terrior with Lessons for New Jersey.” Featured speakers such as: Dr. Catherine Peyrot desGachons, known for her award winning research on the aromas of Sauvignon Blanc, obtained her Ph.D at the University of Bordeaux and has worked with wineries in Bordeaux, Burgundy, New Zealand, Chile, as well as Oregon, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; Dr. Gregory Jones, Professor and Research Climatologist at Southern Oregon University, a well-published author on wine economics, grape vine phenology, site assessment methods, and climatological assessments for viticulture, who specializes in the study of how climate variability affect natural and agricultural ecosystems; Dr. Cornelius (Kees) van Leeuen, a professor at the University of Bordeaux, who has conducted research and published extensively on grape vines and terrior, and continues to be a consultant to the celebrated Chateau Cheval Blanc in Saint-Emilion; Dr. Denyse Lemaire, a professor at Rowan University, where she teaches Geology, Geomorphology, Climatology, and Remote Sensing, and is president of the wine specialty group of the American Association of Geographers; and Dr. Daniel Ward, Rutgers University Specialist in Pomology with responsibility for horticulture of tree fruit and small fruit, including wine grapes throughout the state of New Jersey.

The Papers and accompanying discussions were centered on Optimizing New Jersey Viticulture for Quality Wine Production, Terriors of Bordeaux, Similarities and Differences in the Regional Climate and Soil Characteristics of New Jersey and Bordeaux, Climate Component of Terrior – Structure and Suitability for Sustainable Wine production, and Crafting Bordeaux Style Wines in New Jersey.

Typical of the more than 20 wineries in the Outer Coastal Plain AVA is Bellview Winery, which for three generations starting in 1914, had been continuously operated as a
vegetable farm by the founding Quarella family. In 2000, Jim Quarella, a fourth generation farmer, viticulturist, and winemaker, began the conversion from farm to vineyard acreage with the planting of 35 acres of vineyards with more than 20 grape varietals.

In a recently published*, informal tasting test conducted by Dr. Lena Brattsten, Rutgers University professor in the school of Environmental & Biological Sciences and a group of people with “excellent wine tasting abilities” did a blind test of three Pinot Gris wines: A Santa Margherita, an Italian from Collio, another from Alsace, one from Carneros, California, and a 2008 Bellview Pinot Grigio. The Bellview Pinot Grigio was judged best among those tasted.

Since releasing its first production in 2002, Bellview Wines, like the wines of many other Outer Coastal Plain wineries, have enjoyed a steadily growing acceptance by their winemaking peers and the general public. Bellview Winery and other Outer Coastal Plain wineries have routinely offered their wines for regional, national, and international wine competitions with a great deal of success resulting in a very positive reflection on the wines being produced in the state of New Jersey Outer Coastal Plain.

The continuing work and dedication of the Outer Coastal Plain Wineries seems destined to establish the AVA as a significant East Coast source of a wide variety of excellent
wines.

*Biz4NJ, September 2009, “To Pino Gris or Not to…” Dr. Lena Brattensten.