First, I want to congratulate Sean Comninos, the winemaker at William Heritage Winery in Mullica Hill (and fellow classmate of mine from the Wine School of Philadelphia), for scoring a 90 point rating from Wine Advocate for his 2014 Vintage Brut Estate Reserve!  This Vintage is a blend of 69% Chardonnay and 31% Pinot Noir of estate-grown grapes.  It is unoaked, and aged on its lees for two years, with no dosage added, before being disgorged in February 2017.  It is dry, with an ABV of 11.5%.  Wine Advocate’s reviewer Mark Squires noted:  “[T]his is pretty execptional, elegant, beautifully textured and very dry, with a long, lingering and zesty finish.  There is extremely limited availability of this bottling, and I hope there is some left by the time the Straightword hits your desk.  If you are a member of their wine club, your chances of obtaining a bottle increase.  $40 at the Winery.  Kudos, Sean!

Another pleasant surprise in the Outer Coastal Plain AVA this year was Beneduce Vineyards’ Blueprint, made from estate-grown Blaufränkisch.  You’ve heard of this grape in this column before, as it is a go-to Austrian varietal for me.  Beneduce’s version does the varietal proud, with aromas of blueberries and black pepper, with smooth tannins.  (WA rated 88 points) $28.99 at the Beneduce Vineyard in Pittstown.

Finally, those who grew up in South Jersey are very familiar with Tomasello Winery.  This winery is so ubiquitous that we took a field trip to the winery in High School!  I have not idea how this was allowed, but my French teacher was pretty inventive.  At that time, and for years afterwards, Tomasello brought to my mind blueberry champagne, but I really need to stop by this Winery and give it another taste.  Their Palmaris line is winning awards up and down the East Coast.  The 2014 Palmaris Pinot Noir Reserve is made from 100% estate grown Pinot Noir, hand-harvested from their Flittertown Road Vineyard.  The juice was fermented on the skins for 10 days, and then put into second-year American and French oak barrels for 12 months.  The resulting wine has aromas of bright cherry, plum, and red cassis, with enough acidity to make it a versatile food-pairing wine.  $19.98 at Canal’s Bottlestop 

Here’s to even more awards for our Outer Coastal Plains AVA vinters in 2018!