The Wine Press - August 17, 2025

Hello Everyone,

 

I hope our first edition of this season’s Wine Press finds you well and enjoying the late stages of summer. As summer begins to wind down, our preparations for the Essex County Wine Society’s 52^nd are picking up in earnest. The Board believes an exciting and educational tasting season has been curated for the year ahead and wanted to share with you some important information as the season approaches.

 

Season Opening Fall Dinner

 

We will kick off our season on Sunday, September 28 with our annual Fall dinner to be held again at Hackensack Golf Club in Oradell, NJ. Watch this space and our social media accounts for further details and pricing on the dinner, but we expect to serve a Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru from the outstanding 2005 vintage along with an excellent 2007 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, along with a strong lineup of wines paired to our menu. We look forward to coming together with both our long-time and newer members and their guests on September 28 – stay tuned for dinner details and registration information!

 

2025-2026 Tasting Season

 

As always, our tastings will be held at the Montclair Women’s Club at 82 Union Street in Montclair, NJ. With one exception this year due to the observance of Yom Kippur, our tastings are at 7:30 PM on the first Thursday of every month and this year’s lineup is as follows:

 

 

(1)   Note – this tasting will be a member only tasting

 

Please note that the October tasting is on Wednesday October 8 as opposed to our traditional Thursday evening, due to a scheduling conflict at the Montclair Women’s Club on Thursday.

 

Membership Information

 

While we all enjoy and relish the camaraderie our Society’s events (and beyond) offer, we remain as committed to our core mission in 2025 as the Society was at its founding in 1972, which “includes the education and instruction of its members in the wines and vineyards of the world." Our members have been and remain at the core of that mission and continuing to increase our membership with individuals who are committed and interested to that mission is critical to sustaining the vitality of the Society.

 

We’ve been encouraged by the many new faces we’ve seen at our tasting the last couple of seasons and want that to continue. As members, we encourage you to expose both your wine-curious and wine-serious friends and associates by attending our tastings. If you are not a member and are interested in membership, please reach out to our Board members listed below. This year, Stacey Rudbart will be a dedicated resource for new members and member engagement, and while it's critical to maintain our tradition (and by-laws) of membership by invitation only, the ability to be considered for membership after three tastings as a non-member is a convenient (and fun!!) way to join the Society. We believe our Society offers good value as well, with this year’s membership dues only modestly increasing to $135. Our new member cellar fee remains unchanged at $150.

 

Hopefully you will be attending the Fall Dinner at Hackensack Golf Club but if you’re not able to make it, we’d love to see you at tastings this upcoming season.

In the meantime, enjoy the Labor Day weekend!

Pat Haveron

ECWS President

 

ECWS Board 2025-2026:

·       President - Patrick Haveron (ecwspresident@gmail.com)

·       Vice Presidents - Marjorie Wang, Stacey Rudbart

·       Secretary - John Meluzio

·       Treasurer - John Bachmann

·       Social Media – Brandon Wang

·       Trustees – Nuris Portuondo, Bob Slusarczyk, Susan Harris