Laurita Winery to open doors this weekend in Plumsted after decade of preparation
By John Dunphy, Managing Editor
PLUMSTED — After a decade of preparation, wine enthusiasts will finally get the chance to taste the fruits of Laurita Winery’s labors.
Starting at noon Saturday, Laurita Winery, 35 Archertown Road, will open its doors to the public for a special commencement celebration, featuring a day of wine tastings, hors d’oeuvres, live music and tractor rides through the vineyards set amid 250 preserved acres.
Over the last decade or so, wine making in the Garden State has begun tocome of age. From a handful of businesses spread far and wide to a continuously growing industry, this area alone now boasts three wineries — Cream Ridge Winery, which has operated in Upper Freehold for 20 years, Silver Decoy Winery, in East Windsor, which opened a few years ago, and now Laurita, in Plumsted.
Ray Shea, an attorney specializing in land use, purchased the property in the 1990s with business associate Randy Johnson, who comes from construction. While the two had not come directly from wine roots, their business savvy and love of the grape have bore tremendous fruit.
”I absolutely worship the image of a vineyard, the contrast of the linear isles juxtaposed with a meandering wood line,” Mr. Shea said recently as the 20,000-square- foot tasting center was receiving final preparations.
While Laurita is one of now 34 wineries operating or soon to open in New Jersey, one is immediately taken aback by just how much work has been put into making this not just a winery, but a destination.
From the multiple tasting bars to the artwork Messrs. Shea and Johnson have accumulated over the years lining the walls of the sprawling Laurita Room, with its two fireplaces and grand views of the vineyard, walking trails and access to the on-site Dancer Bed & Breakfast a half-mile away, it is clear a lot of attention has gone into setting Laurita Winery apart from the competition.
Ray Shea’s son, Ed, who serves as the winery’s general manager, said the family prefers not to talk about costs, noting only that “it was a good investment.”
”There was nothing here when we got here,” he said.
Mr. Shea echoed his son’s statement. The site was barren, he said, save a pair of dairy farms abandoned for decades.
”The existing buildings were in decay,” he said.
Those barns were razed and the task of creating a world-class winery from literally the dust of the earth began.
The tasting center actually was built from two pre-existing barns, which were dismantled and shipped to the site, then reassembled in opposing directions, so they would appear “as a cross from the air,” Mr. Shea said.
He noted roughly 70 percent of the facility was either reclaimed or recycled, from light fixtures at a convent in North Jersey, to bricks along walls and the front doors from a Trenton elementary school, to an elevator reclaimed from the historic Warren Hotel in Spring Lake. Even the asphalt and concrete in the parking lot have been recycled, Mr. Shea said.
This serves two purposes: “We want people to think this has been here for a couple hundred years,” he said. “It is so easy to build new. We have had to adapt every step of the way.”
Also, “I think there is a growing awareness that resources are finite,” Mr. Shea said, noting solar panels alongside the building help to produce much of the winery’s power. “We should have respect for things that age.”
All of Laurita’s wines are “estate grown,” meaning every grape is grown on-site. Thirty-six thousand vines on about 40 acres are currently producing 15 wines, with more planned. Nicolaas Opdam is the winemaker and entered the industry 34 years ago as a chemist with a winery in Canada where he quickly rose to the position of assistant winemaker, according to the Laurita Winery Web site. He has been producing wine in New Jersey for 10 years and is currently a member of the American Vintners Association and the American Society of Enologists & Viticulture, as well as the New Jersey Garden State Wine Growers Association, of which he is a past president.
Plumsted Mayor Ron Dancer called Laurita “a premiere vineyard and winery.”
”It’s certainly going to provide our township with an agri-tourism destination for all seasons,” he said. “When you are at the vineyard and winery and you observe the rolling green acre vistas, you’re looking at preserved land in all directions.”
Laurita already has been tasted at several wine festivals over the summer, and Mr. Shea said based on what other New Jersey winemakers have said, “we have raised the bar.”
”Colleagues (in wine) have been extremely helpful,” he added. “The more wineries in New Jersey, the better for the public and the better for us.”
Laurita Winery, 35 Archertown Road, will hold a special commencement celebration from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20 and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21. Tickets are $25 at www.lauritawinery.com ($30 at the door) for a day of wine tastings, hors d’oeuvres, live music and tractor rides through the vineyards. For more information, visit the Web site or call 1-800-LAURITA.

