Jersey Fresh: Taste the Best NJ Has to Offer

By Maureen C. Petrosky

After indulging in last week’s Real Housewives of New Jersey finale-- drenched in Godfather moments and finished off with flipping tables--I wondered: Really, how could the Garden State top that? Well, we’re doing it, and this time you won’t have to wince as we make waves in the press. Break out your most fashionable drinking shoes (gilded or otherwise), grab your friends, and get ready to celebrate New Jersey in style.

The former New Jersey Slow Food and Wine event has blown up to become the first East Coast Food and Wine festival, and it’s right here in your backyard. For the first time ever, Central Jersey is the place to be for food and wine lovers to revel in the biggest wine event on the calendar. That’s right, no need to travel to Napa Valley, Oregon, or the North Fork to spoil yourself with world class wine and artisanal food.

This weekend New Jersey’s wine-loving housewives (TV’s and otherwise), wine connoisseurs, and rookies are all invited to Hopewell Valley Vineyards for the festival. Don’t miss your chance to taste hundreds of wines grown in the Garden State, served alongside dishes from popular chefs and restaurateurs. Wine and cooking seminars as well as talks on beekeeping and honey making and cheese making are all yours for the taking. Yours truly will be under the tent at 2 p.m. on Saturday, toasting all of you wine lovers, locavores, and those who just can’t get enough of all the best parts New Jersey life has to offer. I can’t promise I’ll flip over my table but I can’t promise I won’t either. You’ll just have to come and find out for yourself.

For more information, visit slowfoodandwinefestival.com