While the weather outside was gray and gloomy on the day of our visit, the atmosphere inside of the DiMatteo Winery’s tasting room couldn’t have been sunnier. I like to think of DiMatteo as the Olive Garden of wineries – when you’re here, you’re family. It’s always been that way ever since our first visit some ten odd years ago. Back then the tastings were held in the back of Mr. DiMatteo's garage and there were only a few wines to sample but he was so entertaining and his wines were so good, that we ended up hanging out for several hours. Since then, DiMatteo has expanded their wine selection, built a beautiful tasting room and has become one of the must-visit wineries of South Jersey.
DiMatteo Winery offers everything from dry reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to sweeter fare such as Niagara but their best seller continues to be the semi-sweet, slightly tart Pasquale Red. This was the wine that sucked me in back in those garage tasting days and continues to be one of my all-time favorites. Sweet and fruit wine fans will fall in love with DiMatteo, which offers an abundant selection at frugal prices - White Christmas (white sangria), Christmas Magic (red sangria), Blueberry, Strawberry, Cranberry, and Pumpkin. My personal faves are the Apple (made from MacIntosh apples, slightly tart but refreshing), CranCherry (cranberries and cherries), Crantasia (blueberries, cranberries and Niagara), and the Blackberry (sweet without being syrupy).
While visiting DiMatteo Winery is always a fun time, it’s even more so on those occasions when they host special events, such as cigar night, grape stomps and Wine Trail weekends. When we attended their Holiday Wine Trail, we were treated to live music in the barrel room along with a tasty spread of Italian wedding soup, fresh fruit, deli meats, cheeses and pasta. DiMatteo has grown so much since that first visit ten years ago and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this lovely Hammonton winery.
