Community Corner

Plenary Winery License Sought for Holmdel Road Location

Fox Hollow Vineyards, owned by Antonio and Kim Casola, would like to offer wine tasting and retail wine sales at 939 Holmdel Road.

Antonio and Kim Casola are seeking a state-issued Plenary Winery Class A license, which entitles a grape- or fruit-farmer to produce and sell his own wine.

Township Clerk Maureen Doloughty said the state Attorney General's office informed the township on Oct. 19 that the Casolas would like to sell wines they produce by the glass for immediate consumption, in original packages for off-premise consumption, and to offer samples of its wines to consumers over the age of 21.

As of this date, no application has been filed in the Holmdel Planning Board office for permits for a winery, said Doloughty.

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Their application is filed under the name "Fox Hollow Vineyards." The Casolas are listed as equal co-managing members. The proposed salesroom and marketplace for the retail operation is identified as 939 Holmdel Road, or Block 11 and lots 32 and 32Q, which county property records show is a 5,540 square foot home built in 1892 owned by Fox Hollow Farms, LLC.

The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control received the Casola's request for a Plenary Winery Class A license on Sept. 26, said spokesman Zach Hosseini. "We are in the process of conducting a background review, which we do for all applicants," said Hosseini.

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Holmdel Patch left two telephone messages for the Casolas with a secretary, seeking comment. The calls were not returned. The couple operates a popular  200-acre nursery and garden center at Route 34 and Schank Road.

Janet Giunco, who is part of a award-winning family-operated winery about three miles away in Colts Neck called Four JG's Vineyards on Hillsdale Road, said she was aware the Casolas had plans for a winery. "We are contemporaries," she said.

There are not many wineries around, she said, noting the closest ones to hers would be the Cream Ridge Winery about 35 miles away. She explained that winery visitors on Long Island and Napa Valley enjoy visiting various wineries on a day's outing, and a Holmdel winery would be good for business. "The more the merrier," she said. "People can drive into one, and go on to the other."

A public notice asking for any objections was published in the Asbury Park Press on Sept. 28 and Oct. 5. 

The notice said that objections, if any, are to be made immediately in writing to the Director, Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, PO Box 087, Trenton, NJ 08625.


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