• 1. Where to Stay
• 2. Where to Eat
• 3. What to Do
• 4. Insider’s Tip
• 5. An Oddball Day

Decide for yourself how miraculous those grapes are at Villa Milagro.   (Photo: Courtesy of Villa Milagro Vineyards)

Take a self-guided tour of “Warren Hills AVA,” New Jersey’s unexpectedly good wine appellation sprinkled with vineyards. Start off in Finesville at Alba Vineyard, a large winery that specializes in raspberry wines. Check for weekend tours, live music, and seasonal festivals on their Website’s calendar page. Down the road at organic winery Villa Milagro (“House of Miracles”) Vineyards, sample the Noche, a sumptuous red blend of Petit Syrah and Merlot grapes. Call ahead for time with owner Dr. Audrey Cross, a nutritionist who gives private talks about the benefits and pleasures of wine. North, near the Delaware Water Gap at Brook Hollow Winery, skip the tour and go pumpkin-picking through the end of fall. Take a bottle of the slightly tart blueberry wine or peach Chardonnay for the road at Westfall Winery, set on a historic farm in Montague, north of the Gap. There are free tastings on weekends from noon to 5 p.m.

Published on Sep 24, 2008 as a web exclusive.