TV’s New Dose of Winemaking Reality

I’m going to talk about wine in a minute, but before I do, I need to come clean: until last week, I had no idea who Jon and Kate were—you know, the stars of the reality television show Jon & Kate Plus 8. I suppose I’m in the minority on this one.

Let me defend my ignorance by saying that with only 24 hours in any given day, I have never found a way to squeeze television into my life. In the past there were three children to raise and a high-pressure job to get to. Now I have myriad wine books and blogs to read, Facebook to check and Twitter to update, not to mention wine tastings, wine classes and, oh yes—a job and those same three children to feed and educate.

But I recently found out that there’s a new television show—a reality TV show no less that I think I could definitely get addicted to. According to the website, The Winemakers is a six-part series debuting this month on public television that will give twelve complete strangers from all walks of life the chance to become a winemaker and launch their own wine label nationwide.

Following in the tradition of Bravo’s Top Chef and other hit reality series, The Winemakers promises to take these twelve contestants and drive them to the brink of physical and mental exhaustion with a series of grueling challenges devised by real-world winemakers, chefs, sommeliers, restaurateurs, and industry leaders. Now doesn’t that sound like just the thing to take the edge off at the end of your own frenetic day?

But there’s a reason for New Jersey Monthly readers to follow along with me. One of the contestants, Laurin Tomasino, is a wine buyer from Lambertville. So tune in as Laurin and the other eleven contestants literally “plunge” into the oft-romanticized world of winemaking.

Tags: Lambertville | wine | reality television