Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Roadside New Jerseyana, Exhibit 3

Here for your viewing pleasure is a giant bottle of Champagne (oh, sorry, sparkling white wine).  Locally, in Atlantic and Ocean Counties, there used to be several of these huge bottles, dating to the 1920s, advertising the location of the winery started in 1864 by  Frenchman Louis Renault.  I think now there's just two left.  This one is located by the side of Route 30 (aka: the" White Horse Pike") not far from Egg Harbor City.  There's another one along side of Route 9 a few miles south of Tuckerton, a town best known for it's maritime museum.  At one time there were as many as 80 of these 25 foot tall bottles stretching across the county from New Jersey to California.  I read somewhere that the bottle near Fresno, California is still standing.  Amazing!

2 comments:

  1. One of my best friend's relatives own that winery. He had his wedding reception there. 1985. I'm still recovering.

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  2. Yeah, when my father and I used to go to that winery for free samples it wasn't that big a deal. I went there last summer to check it out after 30 years and now it's a "destination"! You can still sip a sample or two. I think they now charge a couple bucks for a flight of samples.

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