Wine #6 1983 Chambourcin
Wine #6 1983 Chambourcin
Tewksbury Winery
In 1965, Dr. Daniel F. Vernon Jr., a veterinarian at the time, bought a 58-acre farm in Hunterdon County and converted one of the 18th century barns into a hospital for horse surgery. When his hobby – home #winemaking – became more serious, he decided to outfit the barn to make wine in 1979.
By 1985, Tewksbury Wine Cellars, Dr. Vernon had the largest vineyard in New Jersey devoted to vinifera grapes. This was after experimenting with French-American hybrids at first and learning how successful other wineries in the East, like Dr. Konstantin Frank in the NY Finger Lakes, had nurtured these tender varietals despite harsh winters and humid summers.
In 1983, Tewksbury Wine Cellars entered and won awards for its #Chardonnay and #Gewurtraminer in the Eastern Wine Competition held in Rochester, N.Y., an event opened for the first time to entries from the entire country.
Dr. Vernon said that there were over 40 California Chardonnays entered, and yet Tewksbury Wine Cellars won both gold and best-of-class designation for their wine.
Of course, mistakes were made along the way. The year before in 1982, cellar master and vineyard manager John Altmaier, pumped #Chambourcin wine into a tank of Chardonnay turning red all 900 gallons of his first effort to produce the premium white wine. Fortunately, they were able to market the wine as “Rose de Chardonnay” with the story on the side label called “John’s Blunder”. According to Dr. Vernon, the Meadowlands Hilton liked it so much that they purchased the last forty cases.
All things come to an end, with Tewksbury Wine Cellars closing their doors in the early 1990’s, and later selling the estate in 2005. On the bright side, the 62-acre property which included a historic 1700’s stone home, tiered garden, horse stalls, caretaker’s quarters, studio or office, and other structures and land was saved from development at the time due to historical preservation restrictions. Max Spann Jr, a realtor who conducted the the on-site auction, said it was physically one of the most beautiful properties they’ve ever dealt with.
During the 1950’s, before the Daniel and Donna Vernon owned the property, the estate was owned by Alexina Matisse, former wife of Pierre Mastisse, who was the son of the French artist Henri Matisse. Alexina later divorced Pierre, kept her art world connections and while living on Burrell Rd married her next husband, famous artist Marcel Duchamp.
Marcel and Alexina split time between the Tewksbury property and Manhattan, due to Duchamps desire to maintain his urban image. It was said that the property was kind of a hideaway for the married couple.
Who knew we’d uncover such a story? Pretty fascinating history coming from one single bottle of wine, from the same year Tewksbury helped put New Jersey wines on the map, and one year after “John’s Blunder”. It makes you wonder if Richard Naylor knew the significance this winery had on the east coast wine industry at the time. Our guess, absolutely!
Sources: The New York Times & New Jersey Hills
