Fruit of the vine is a passion for family
Four JG's Vineyards begins harvest for new wine year
BY PATRICIA YOCZIS Correspondent
As autumn approaches with cool nights and dry, warm days, it signals only one thing at the Four JG's Vineyards in Colts Neck - the beginning of harvest time.

"We start in September and will continue to harvest until about the middle of October," said Janet Giunco, owner and winemaker. "It's a busy time and we will know what looks good for the 2007 grapes when the crushing starts."

Last year the harvest at Four JG's Vineyards, one of only two vineyards in Monmouth County, produced about 32,000 bottles of wine that ranged from semi-dry white wines to rich red wines.

Giunco said the vineyard is on land that has been farmed since the early 1700s and may have been a dairy, too. The property contains 60 acres and was bought in 1997. The first planting was on Mother's Day 1999. Currently, 30 acres are under vine cultivation, with nine varieties of grapes, four red and five white.

"We bought the plants from Double A Vineyards, Fredonia, N.Y., in the Finger Lakes region," she said. "Our first harvest was in 2002."

That was a good year for the Four JG's flagship red wine, Chambourcin Riserva, that won several awards for its 2002 vintage, including the Gold in the 2004 New Jersey Wine Competition; the Silver in the 2006 Los Angeles County Fair World of Wines; and the Bronze in the 2004 Vino Challenge International Wine Competition.

Giunco and her husband, John, an attorney, took courses at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., in enology (winemaking) and viticulture (grape growing). The vineyard operates under a farm winery license and total production of winemaking from growing, harvesting, aging, bottling and selling are done on the premises, she said.

"There are so many things to learn and things that can't be controlled," said Giunco, who worked for IBM for 23 years. "I like to be in control, but in farming you have little control over the weather, pests, animals and diseases that harm the grapes."

Applying less harmful chemicals is within Giunco's control. She said the vineyard is "going green" and beginning an organic spray program using a solution made from hydrogen peroxide.

Giunco said her son, John, 17, a senior at Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, is doing a report on the feasibility of using wind or photovoltaic power as alternative energy sources to use in the barn, the vineyard's production area.

The Four JG's Vineyards was named after the family members' first names, including the Giuncos' daughter, Jill, 16, a student at Ranney School, Tinton Falls. It employs only one full-time employee, Paul O'Neill, of Howell, as vineyard manager, and two part-time men when needed.

"When work needs to be done, family and friends do it, including my son and daughter," said Giunco. "It's really a family owned and operated business."

Often asked what wine a person should drink, Giunco answers, "drink the wine you like."

To find out what that wine is, she suggests going to a wine tasting and recommends a way to test a wine.

"When the wine, about one ounce, is poured in a tulipshaped glass, sniff it," she said. "If it doesn't smell like something you would like in your mouth, pour it out in the spit bucket. If it does smell good to you, swirl the wine in the glass and sniff again. Take a sip and let it roll around in your mouth for a while. That lets the taste buds on your tongue get the full flavor of the wine. Then swallow."

This year for the first time, Four JG's Vineyards will be introducing a sweet red wine and a sweet white wine. The wines will have a Big Brook label that has a background of marine fossils named after a nearby brook that contains a trove of marine fossils.

Giunco said the sweet white will use vignole grapes that have a green apple and citrus flavor. The sweet red wine will use a combination of Chambourcin grapes that have a strong flavor of blackberry and herbs and Cabernet Franc grapes that offer a spicy aroma of plums and bell pepper.

"We don't add anything to the wine to give it various flavors," she said. "The flavors come from the grapes and the oak barrels in which they were aged."

Giunco said the best selling white wine at Four JG's Vineyards is Cayuga, a semi-dry, light and fruity wine with an aroma of apples and a hint of melon. The best selling red is Chambourcin Riserva, a wine with blackberry, spicy nutmeg and coffee herbal flavors and tannins.

The winery, 127 Hillsdale Road, Colts Neck, will be open for the season for wine tasting and sales every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 27 through Dec.23.

Also, Four JG's Vineyards will be one of the wineries on the Garden State Winegrowers Holiday Wine Trail, Nov. 23-25. For a list of other wineries that are participating on the wine trail click on www.newjerseywines.com.

Outlets for Four JG's wines are Buy- Rite Liquors, Colts Neck; Wine Sellers of Holmdel, Holmdel; Spirits Unlimited, Red Bank and Middletown; Circus Foodtown, Red Bank, and Ocean Wines and Spirits, Ocean. Also, it is available by the glass at the Court Jester, Freehold.

For more information about the Four JG's Vineyards call (732) 817-9463 or click on www.4jgswinery.com.