“New Jersey champagne” might sound like a sarcastic joke, but it’s really a thing, and the winery that invented it filed for Chapter 11 Thursday.
Renault Winery Inc. became so prominent among New Jerseyans for its champagne and other wines, in fact, that it earned Egg Harbor City, N.J. the unlikely nickname of “Wine City,” despite a very un-Napa like location 20 miles from Atlantic City.
By filing bankruptcy, Renault—which also runs a 50-room resort, two restaurants and a 7,200-yard golf course—narrowly escaped a scheduled sheriff’s sale Thursday brought on by a foreclosure by lender Ocean First Bank.
In Chapter 11, Renault plans to keep operating, and LivingSocial Inc. even emailed customers a discounted offer for a one- or two-night stay at Renault on Friday afternoon, with a “limited time extra discount” for those who clicked immediately.
Renault operating chief Dennis Del Vecchio in court papers blamed the bankruptcy on bad investment advice from a prior manager, who allegedly urged the company not to pay its mortgage or taxes while it sought a sale of the company. That sale falling through, and Hurricane Sandy ravaging the Jersey Shore and temporarily closing Renault, put the company on a path that eventually led to Chapter 11, Mr. Del Vecchio said.
Renault, the oldest winery in New Jersey, has had to reinvent its business before.
According to its website, Renault used to be the largest producer of champagne in the U.S. It was once owned by grocery magnate John D’Agostino, who during Prohibition made “Renault Wine Tonic,” a drink that could legally be sold by pharmacists because its label advised drinkers “not to chill the tonic, as it would turn into wine which is illegal.”
Later Renault experienced a downturn and was bought by newspaper publisher Joseph P. Milza in 1977. Mr. Milza opened a gourmet restaurant at Renault in 1983, and in 2001 the Tuscany House hotel was built. Three years later, the 18-hole Vineyard Golf course was added.
Today, Renault makes wine from 12 different grapes, and remains the only U.S. maker of blueberry champagne, which americanwineryguide.com said “possessed the appealing aroma of blueberry muffins without the tart taste of blueberries.”
And because it’s been around so long, Renault has another distinct advantage: It doesn’t have to label its “champagne,” as “sparkling wine,” as other American “champagne” makers do.
The Renault story all started, naturally, with a guy named Renault. Master Vintner Louis Nicholas Renault left France in 1855 after the parasitic phylloxera ambushed France’s wine industry. Mr. Renault’s first stop in the U.S. was California, but the phylloxera killed his grapes there too.
So he came to New Jersey, and in 1864 bought the land where Renault Winery now stands. Six years later, he introduced to the world New Jersey Champagne.
Write to Joseph Checkler at joseph.checkler@wsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @joecheckler
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