Grape Finale

We had our 40th wedding anniversary party at Grape Finale last week and it was fantastic. It was so much fun for all our family - from the little tykes to the teens to the adults. Lisa and Jurgen did a great job of explaining how the wine is made, letting us taste the different grapes, etc. The adults were fascinated by the process and the kids/teens LOVED the grape crushing. Lisa set us up with a caterer so we did our wine making first which got everyone in a party mood - followed by our dinner. They even helped us set up a "Wine Stomping Selfie Station" by supplying a barrel cut in half that our guests could stand in as if they were crushing grapes Lucy-style and take pictures. We gave each of our guests a commemorative bottle of wine with our own anniversary picture/date label. And next summer we're have the wine we made on our anniversary to share again. The whole experience was more fun than we'd even imagined - and a great way to celebrate with our family!

Discovered Grape Finale in Spring of 2012. Truly a wine-making school, with Lisa & Juergen providing detailed instruction and explanation through each step in the process. Lisa’s personal selection of grapes and ability to nurture the wine-in-process is excellent. The hands-on aspect says you “made” the wine – crushing-pressing-racking-bottling (with labels you select and personalize). Becoming Medicare-eligible in 2012 necessitated a special celebration, and having made wine once before in southern NJ, we invited family members to make wine with us at Grape Finale. Started with 4 ¼ barrels of Chilean wines (Chardonnay, Cab-Sauvignon, Malbec, & Syrah). Then tasted a barreled Super Tuscan from CA. Bought a ¼ barrel, now bottled and cellaring for maturity (although it drinks very well now). Also sampled CA Sauvignon Blanc and Chateaneuf du Pape and enjoyed them so much we added 2 more ¼ barrels to our “inventory.” So if you enjoy wine, pay a visit - you'll definitely enjoy!

We have been making wine at Grape Finale since it opened in 2011. Our Malbec will be bottled soon, and the Riesling is next. So far, we’ve done one or two wines at each session (Spring and Fall), which is allowing us to build our inventory. We share the experience with friends to get the cost down and make the whole thing more fun. We are very pleased with the wine and everyone that we have shared it with thinks it’s great. It’s really nice to give as gifts as well, with our own label! Lisa really knows what she is doing and the wine is superb.