Unionville Vineyards recently released their premiere red wine - The Big O 2022. Full disclosure, this is the last wine I participated in when I was at Unionville. I pressed grapes there during harvest...but the winemaking and the final product falls on the team there. I'm not looking to steal anyone's laurels.
The wine is an excellent one...and I will get to that later. Almost just as important in this review is the price tag - $100 per bottle. In the past, a $100 bottle of wine offered access to premium selections, often high-scoring Napa Valley wines, Bordeaux, Burgundies, Italian Brunellos, or fine Champagnes, representing excellence, quality, and prestige. These wine made for a sweet spot for special occasions or investment.
'For a New Jersey wine?' you ask? Indeed, and it is about time. There are only a few wineries on the east coast that demand that price or more. One (maybe two?) on Long Island, one in Maryland and maybe two in Virginia? The exact numbers aren't important. That fact that they exist does.
The $100 price point often marks the transition from very good wine to a truly exceptional wine. Usually such wines are of limited production and from famous producers. Many can stand or want cellaring of many years. All signs of quality, reliability, taste, and quality.
I believe, it is time for more wineries on the east coast, not indiscriminately, to start charging for their exceptional wines. Not every winery should be putting out a $100 bottle. But the better ones should be.
And what is $100? It's nothing compared to some of the wines that once were $100.
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) $19,000
La Tâche $2,000 to $5,000
Clos de Tart Grand Cru Monopole $650
Château Mouton Rothschild $600-800
Screaming Eagle $1,500
Opus One $490-600
Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon $500+
Pahlmeyer Estate Cabernet Sauvignon $150 to $250
Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne $15,000
Dom Perignon $150- 300
Am I comparing this wine to those? No. But at the same time, you can see that those wines command much higher prices. these days.
Owners Bob Wilson (and his partner Michelle) and Lindy Eiref.
For Long Island wine, Wolffer's Premiere Cru was the green light on the end of Daisy's dock. When the first vintage was released, at $100, in 2002, it has represented the aspirations of the Long Island wine community. It was a bar stretcher. It was a bold statement, that said, "Our region has arrived. we are this good!" It was supposed to be the shape of things to come. It was controversial at the time. No wine in all of New York was worth $100, some said. $100??? Today it sells for $175 a bottle.
It was so important, upon it's first release, Howard G. Goldberg wrote in the New York Times, "In May, the Wölffer Estate expects to release a wine that Roman Roth, the winemaker and general manager, calls its masterpiece. It will be Long Island's first $100 bottle, and experts on the state's wines cannot recall any New York wine priced at $100 on release...Since merlot is the Long Island wine industry's métier, and the 15-year-old Wölffer Estate... is a leading producer, the wine is creating excitement, although few have tasted it. Few will. Only 1,200 bottles -- 200 six-bottle cases -- were made. Of these, 194 cases of 750-milliliter bottles remain."
Since then more wines up and down the coast have swelled the number. But for Jersey wine? The answer is indeed yes. Quality wine is made throughout the state, from Cape May to the northern regions. Numerous wineries have received scores of 90 or better. Many are excellent. They make them using a variety of yeasts from around the world. They age them in American. French, Italian, and Hungarian oak, and more. And the talent making them have never been more educated.
Eric VanSciver and Austin Sterling -
The winemaking Team
Unionville was really amongst the first wineries to make quality vinifera wines back in the late 1990s and early 2000s - making stunning Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Syrah, and Counoise. Eric VanSciver and Austin Sterling, the current winemaking team, is possibly the best team to helm Unionville since Cameron Stark and Stephen "Zeke" Johnsen made those now historic wines. Eric made wine in South Africa for some time before joining Unionville. Austin has been with the winery for almost his entire career has been one of the best cellar workers I have ever encountered, and who took courses at UC Davis. His knowledge of the vineyards and of the cellar are unmatched. And to boot? They're great guys.
General Manager John Cifelli, a former sommelier, has long championed his house and the New Jersey wine industry. He has been a voice for quality and excellence. This wine, the Unionville Big O has long been his passion. He has refused to let some vintages be released in the past, feeling they were not up to the standards of that particular label in their lineup. But this year's wine was different.
The Big O 2022 is 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Cabernet Franc, and 33% Petit Verdot. The wine is aged in American oak, mostly 2nd and 3rd year use (an some neutral) to create a wine that is fruit forward, yet austere enough to cellar well, and be considered in the heavyweight red wine class. The resulting wine starts off with dark sour cherry, dark raspberry, blackberry, and cassis. The flavors come though on the palate as well as notes of spice. The wine ends with a does of black tea and white pepper. The finish lasts a good long time, with the cherry and raspberry lingering for almost a full minute. This is a big red wine. It is complex in its flavors, balanced in its fruit, acidity and tannins. And easily cellarable. Big enough for all the roasted meats you can name. An exceptional wine. If I gave ratings, this would be near a 95 point score.
But why is this wine so important of such a long diatribe? Because it's a New Jersey wine, and because its worth its price point. And it's time for people to understand, that this wine is an exceptional wines. And exceptional wines are being made on the east coast. It doesn't coast a lot because it is so expensive to make (although it is), it's expensive because it is absolutely worth it. And like Wolffer's Premiere Cru (and a slew of other wines) it stands to be reckoned with. And that's why it's important.
Congratulations to all at Unionville Vineyards.