Loosen your belts, ladies and gentlemen;  it’s time for the 15th annual Cape May Wine and Food Fest. The first events will be held Friday, September 16, and the festival concludes on Sunday, September 25, 2011. It’s not too late to reserve a room at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast during the week.

Give yourself over to pleasure - attend the 2011 Cape May Wine and Food Fest.

The Cape May Food and Wine Festival celebrates all types of food and drink at a variety of venues around town. Highlights include:

Self Guided Wine Trail: daily, noon to 3 p.m. Spend a leisurely few hours visiting Natali Vineyards and Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery. Tour their facilities, speak with the wine makers, and taste their wine. If you’d rather not drive, consider biking from our Cape May Bed and Breakfast. Hawk Haven Winery is six miles from the inn, and Natali Vineyards is 16 miles away.

Winery Cellar Tour and Tastings: daily at 3 p.m. at the Cape May Winery. Stroll through the vineyard and taste wine directly from the barrel, accompanied by cheese and fruit. The Cape May Winery is less than 4 miles from the John F. Craig House; borrow a bike and be on your way.

Beer Tasting Dinner: September 20 at 6 p.m. Folks who prefer beer to wine take heart – the beer dinner is an opportunity to learn about pairing beer with food while enjoying a four course dinner at Aleathea’s Restaurant. Gary Monterosso, one of the country’s leading experts on all things beer, will be on hand to offer beer and food insights.

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The Cape May Winery.

New Jersey may not leap to mind like Napa Valley or Bordeaux when one thinks of great wine producing areas. Nonetheless, the wineries near our Cape May NJ Bed and Breakfast deserve a look. When next you visit our pretty Victorian seacoast town, allow time for wine tasting at Cape May Winery and Hawk Haven Vineyard. We don’t think you’ll be disappointed by what you find.

Cape May Winery and Vineyard recently won three silver medals and four bronze medals at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition. On a hot day, try their Barrel Fermented Chardonnay or Riesling. Tours of the facility and vineyard are available; they last under two hours and include a wine tasting and a souvenir wine glass. The tour also includes cheese and fruit, so your palate will be cleansed between tastes. If you’ve always been curious to see how wine is made, this tour is for you.

Hawk Haven Vineyard is also worth a visit. Their 2008 Quill New (a Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot blend) was awarded a gold medal by The World Wine Championship. Tastings.com called it “distinctive, dynamic and exotic”. So much for New Jersey wines being pedestrian!

Stop by Hawk Haven Vineyard on any Sunday afternoon between now and September 11, 2011, for their Sangria Sundays. Wine and sangria are offered by the glass, and live music plays all day. Bring lawn chairs, blankets, and picnics.

We offer our own special wine tasting every evening at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast. Try our house wine, affectionately known as Chateau Blanc, or dip a glass into Barbara’s Sangria, a tantalizing blend of Chateau Blanc and our homemade fresh fruit punch. A votre santé!

Please visit Cape May Winery and Hawk Haven Vineyard for more information about wine tastings and tours.

We’re really looking forward to two upcoming Wine and Spirits Weekends with Craig McManus: April 1 – 2 AND April 15 – 16, 2011. Boos and Booze – what could be a more perfect combination? Certainly these are two of Craig’s passions! We’re sure to have fun, but beware – we may just learn something, too.

Join us if you dare.

Craig is well qualified to guide us through two weekends of wine and spirits. In addition to being a respected psychic and medium – a gift he has been honing since his youth – he spent over 30 years working in the wine business. Craig has traveled the world in search of great wine and interesting spirits (of the otherworldly kind). He finds them both in Cape May NJ.

Cape May Wine and Spirits
April 1 and 2
April 15 and 16

The fun starts Friday evening, after you’ve had a chance to get settled in your Cape May Bed and Breakfast. Craig will host a casual meet and greet at the Mad Batter Restaurant and Bar at 8 p.m., followed by a walking tour past some of his favorite haunts in downtown Cape May.

We’ll meet again Saturday afternoon from  1-3 p.m., when we’ll tour a Cape May Winery and taste several of their wines. We’ll return to the Mad Batter at 7 p.m. for a great meal, followed by wine tasting: three white wines and three red wines from around the globe. Listen to Craig weave wine with ghosts and hauntings – it is sure to be entertaining and educational, no matter what you may or may not know about wine and the paranormal.

Participants will visit the Cape May Winery on April 2 and Natali Vineyards on April 16, 2011.

Craig will be staying at our Cape May Bed and Breakfast on April 1 and 2, 2011.

For additional information about Craig McManus and the Wine and Spirits Weekends in Cape May, please visit Craig’s website.

We still have a couple of openings in our Cape May Bed and Breakfast during Presidents’ Day Weekend.

The long weekend enables you to stay three (or even four) days instead of two; you’ll have more time to participate in the many fun events taking place in Cape May February 18 – 21, 2011.

Always wanted to brew beer? Sign up for the Mad Batter Beer School. Prefer drinks made from grapes rather than hops and barley? Enroll in the informal Cape May Wine School and learn about making and storing wines from around the world. The focus is Italian wines on February 20. If you’ve no interest in making wine, indulge in a Cape May Winery Cellar Tour and Tasting. See Cape May MAC for more details.

Embark on Ghost Tours, Trolley Tours, and tours of the Cape May Lighthouse, or simply browse shops and walk the beach. Even though it occurs in mid February, Presidents’ Day always seems like the start of the summer season in Cape May. It puts us in a gay mood here at our Bed and Breakfast Cape May. We hope you’ll join us.

Winter sunset, as seen from the warmth of our Cape May Inn.

Walk to the top of the Cape May Lighthouse while in town.

Don your caps, all you Sherlock wanna-bees, and take advantage of a fabulous special at our Cape May bed and breakfast. Get out your magnifying glass and try to find a one night “hole” in our bed and breakfast Cape May schedule. If you do, and if you can fill it, you’ll enjoy the room for a mere $195 (plus NJ taxes). Now that’s substantial savings!

There is a lot going on these days in Cape May. The beaches are full, the restaurants are hopping, and the shops are bustling. Romance/Romance is showing at the Cape May Stage, and history is living at Cape May’s Cold Spring Village. Our guests enjoy tours of Fisherman’s Wharf, and Designer Show House Luncheon and Dinner Tours. They have fun wine tasting at Cape May wineries, and sipping tea at the Carriage House Tearoom.

You could be here, too, you know. Grab that Holmes hat and check out our reservation page. When you find a hole, book it and mention the “Find a Hole” Special.

See you soon!