Before I get to my wine picks for this month, I wanted to thank you for allowing me to serve as your Burlington County Trustee to the New Jersey State Bar Association these last six years. It has been an honor and privilege to represent Burlington County in “the room where it happens,” with people who work tirelessly to improve the legal profession in New Jersey.

Also, a plug: get involved in your county and state bar associations! I have met amazing attorneys from all over New Jersey, practicing in areas of law where I would have never run across them, had I not been involved in bar associations. I was asked to stay on the Burlington County Bar Association Board for one more year to fill a vacant trustee seat, a request I initially declined in order to make room for others to get involved in the leadership of the Bar. But when I was told no one else had applied, I agreed to stay on. So please, get involved! Apply to be a trustee and see from the inside how much bar associations do for our profession. You will not regret it.

Now, on to my wine picks. There were two wines that stood out to me recently, one a rosé, and one a light-bodied red. The first, 2023 Ravenna Rosato Rosa di Ceparano Fattoria Zerbina 2023, was enjoyed at Johnny’s Pies, a fantastic pizza restaurant on Main Street in Medford, open Wednesday through Saturday. (I’ve eaten there twice in the last month.) Ravenna is located on the Adriatic, east by southeast of Bologna. The winemaker, Cristina Geminiani, created this blend of 60% Sangiovese and 40% Syrah. The varietals are vinified separately in stainless steel tanks before blending. This wine is rather complex for a rosé (not a common occurrence), with aromas and flavors of roses, white pepper, strawberry, rhubarb, pomegranate, and thyme and coriander on the finish. This paired perfectly with the mushroom pizza. 12.5% ABV. Available at Moore Brothers Wine Company for $19 a bottle.

The second was 2022 Dunites Wine Company Grenache from San Luis Obispo, grown in the granite foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains, cooled by Pacific breezes. I paired this light-bodied red with beef stir fry, heavy on the vegetables. The wine is made using 30% whole cluster vinification, fermented using native yeasts, aged in 500-liter neutral French oak puncheon, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Bright berries on the aroma and palate, with bright acidity, making this red very food-friendly. 13% ABV. Available at Moore Brothers Wine Company for $34 a bottle. Cheers!