Willow Creek Vineyard Producing First Year of Wine

WEST CAPE MAY- Like the fox in Aesop’s Fable of the Fox and the Grapes, we all seem to be intrigued by seeing grapes growing on rows of vines and the promise of the sweet or not-so-sweet taste of wine.
The grapes are not out of reach at Willow Creek Vineyard here which has just begun producing wine five years after the first vines were planted.
“I wanted do something with the farm and make it economically viable and that’s hard because you cannot make money selling corn and potatoes in New Jersey,” said Barbara Bray Wilde, owner of Willow Creek Vineyard and Cape May’s Southern Mansion.
She attended the University of California in Berkeley and remembered that areas near oceans and bays were good places for vineyards. The same conditions that exist in Northern California and Oregon are found in West Cape May.
Wilde said she wanted something that would attract visitors but have no negative impact. A vineyard keeps the property “green and gorgeous,” she said.
Cape May County is becoming a little Napa Valley with an increasing number of wineries, said Wilde. She notes the vineyard is within walking and biking distance of everything on Cape Island.
Adding wineries to the historic homes and accommodations here enhances the “romantic panache,” said Wilde.
She bought the property in 1998, which was known at one time in history as the Plantation, owned by the Rutherford family, which owned the Mount Vernon Hotel in East Cape May. At one time, the Mount Vernon was the largest wooden hotel in America before it was destroyed in a fire.
The story goes that J.E. Rutherford would send his guests to the farm in horses and carriages where they would fill their stomachs with inexpensive melons and therefore not consume a lot of expensive meat and wine at the hotel, she said.
Willow Creek Vineyard covers 50 acres. From Stevens Street, it is impossible to perceive the size of the property. Visitors to the recent Renaissance Fair held on the property were surprised how large an area the vineyard covers, said Wilde.
How do you start a vineyard on old farmland? It starts with deciding which grapes would do well. Wilde is growing Pinot Noir.
Wilde said a vineyard is a “tremendous amount of work,” even in January when pruning takes place.
The first year of grapes grown at Willow Creek produced 3,000 cases of wine. Wilde said production will double next year.
A winery building is under construction on the property which will also host wine tastings. The grapes from Willow Creek were sent to another winery for the first year of production, said Wilde.
Seven kittens were playing on the back porch of the Villa, the yellow building visible from Stevens Street, during our interview. Wilde said they keep the area free of mice.
They will soon be joined by miniature sheep known as “Cheviots,” which only grow to a height of 20 inches. They will eat all the weeds located around the vines.
“They’re not tall enough to eat the grapes,” she said.
While deer like to eat grapes, Wilde said she believed coyotes on the property kept them in check.
A previous owner of the farm named it Willow Creek. It has a huge willow tree by the Villa and a creek. The willow will appear on the labels of the wine.
Perhaps the Willow Creek Vineyard T-shirt sums up Wilde’s philosophy “Wine is proof that God love us and want us to be happy.”