UncorkNJ

Jersey Fresh Wine & Food Festival August 8-9

If you're a wine lover and you hadn't planned on attending the Jersey Fresh Wine & Food Festival this year, you should probably change your plans. On August 8-9, Heritage Vineyards in Richwood will host the largest outdoor event in its history. Participants will be able to taste wine from over 20 New Jersey wineries, attend a live outdoor rock and jazz concert, tour the winery, and take hayrides through the vineyards.

With wineries from across the state flocking to the festival, this will be a great opportunity to talk with fellow wine lovers about direct shipping laws and the need for change. This fight will be won by individuals like you who speak up on behalf of wine lovers across New Jersey. So attend the Jersey Fresh Wine & Food Festival on August 8-9, visit http://capwiz.com/cpanj/issues/alert/?alertid=12317661 to send your elected officials a letter urging them to legalize direct shipping of wine, and help us Uncork NJ!

Liberty Natural Gas to sponsor Red Cross fundraiser

Kicking off the 63^rd annual Red Grant Regatta, New Jersey’s largest sailing regatta, Excalibur Energy (USA), Inc., is sponsoring the reception for the 2009 “Red Grant for Red Cross” fundraiser.

On Friday, July 17, the Excalibur-sponsored reception will precede an evening of live entertainment, wine tasting, and a silent auction. At $50 per person, tickets include a variety of food and wine pairings, wine tasting with Barbara Anne Hay from Ocean Wine and Spirits, and a signature 2009 Red Grant wine glass. Proceeds benefit the Jersey Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross. 

As sailors grace the Jersey shoreline in support of a worthy cause, Excalibur reaffirms its commitment to protecting New Jersey’s clean waters through the Liberty Natural Gas project. Created to meet the Northeast’s growing energy demands, and guided by the principles of responsible environmental stewardship, Liberty Natural Gas will consist of a deepwater pipeline system that receives gas fifteen miles off the Jersey shore, which is expected to begin delivering up to 2.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas by late 2011. Embracing its role in the community, Excalibur seeks to enrich the Northeast not only through clean projects such as Liberty Natural Gas, but through worthy causes such as the “Red Grant for Red Cross.”

Tennessee direct shipping bill officially in effect

Legislation permitting the direct shipping of wine went into effect in Tennesseeon July 1. Licensed wine manufacturers and distributors can now ship twelve nine-liter cases of wine per resident per year after obtaining a wine direct shipping license and paying a $300 registration fee. But our work is far from complete: we must move forward and replicate this success in every remaining state that denies its residents the right to enjoy their favorite wine shipped directly to their homes.