Rutgers Love Grows on the Vine
Alumni couple who met as students in the Rutgers Glee Club and the Kirkpatrick Choir look forward to welcoming fellow alumni to enjoy wine and charcuterie at a Rutgers Takes the Garden State event at Unionville Vineyards on September 20.
John Cifelli, a meteorology major turned vineyard manager, and Jennifer Cifelli, a music teacher turned restaurant owner, attribute their combined love of Rutgers, singing, and Scarlet Knights football for bringing them together.
John, who began working in the hospitality field while at Rutgers–New Brunswick, and Jennifer, a former elementary and middle school music teacher, co-own Blawenburg Bistro in Montgomery Township. The bistro is the caterer preparing the accompaniments for Rutgers Takes the Garden State: Day at Unionville Vineyards in Ringoes, where John is general manager.
The couple are excited to welcome alumni for the fun-filled day on Sunday, September 20, which will include a behind-the-scenes tour of the vineyards and the winery, wine tasting, and connecting with fellow alumni. The tour will feature a short hike around the grounds with its red barn, rolling hills, vineyards, and tasting room.
“I tell people that Unionville Vineyards is unique in that the grapes are grown here, they’re farmed here, and everything is done here,” John says.
The deadline to register is September 13.
Choral Proposal
The Cifellis’ Rutgers romance started when the two met at a social gathering for the Rutgers Glee Club and the Kirkpatrick Choir in 2005. John was a member of the Glee Club, and Jennifer sang with the Kirkpatrick Choir.
After graduation, the couple attended the annual Christmas in Carol & Song concert at Kirkpatrick Chapel on the College Avenue campus in New Brunswick, when John proposed to Jennifer. They married at Kirkpatrick Chapel in 2011.
John, who grew up in Ewing Township in New Jersey and graduated from Notre Dame High School in Lawrence, worked full time at several restaurants, including the Stockton Inn so he could work his way through Rutgers. He began at the restaurant as a food runner and worked his way up to general manager.
He also served as executive director of the Garden State Wine Growers Association and of the Winemakers Co-Op, a small group of wineries focused on fine wine production. While working at the vineyards, he was the part-time meteorologist for NJTV News and worked as a consulting meteorologist for 10 years.
At Unionville Vineyards, a former peach orchard, each day is different. “Every day, there is a new challenge and the challenges never end,” he says. “There are a lot of different ways to build and grow and mostly improve what we are doing here. My goal is to grow the best wines on the East Coast.”
Jennifer, who grew up in Warren, New Jersey, attended Rutgers Prep. After graduating from Rutgers, she worked as an elementary and middle school music teacher before opening Blawenburg Bistro in Montgomery, New Jersey.
Meteorology and the Vineyards
Although not currently a meteorologist, John uses what he studied in the meteorology program, as the weather has a tremendous impact on growing grapes. “John will go out at two or three in the morning to keep the grapes from freezing,” Jennifer says.
His responsibilities are vast and include growing grapes across 40 acres at sites in Princeton, Hopewell, and Ringoes, as well as overseeing sales, marketing, hospitality, website management, compliance, storytelling, blogs, and social media.
“I do everything, including taking out the trash,” he says. “The only thing I don't do here is I don't make the wine, and I don't drive tractors.”
Busy Fall
Fall is the busiest time of year for the winery and Blawenburg Bistro, with numerous vineyard weddings, making it challenging for the Cifellis to find time to attend home football games, which they have enjoyed together for more than two decades.
They fondly recall a trip to Phoenix in 2005 when the Scarlet Knights played the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Insight Bowl, the first bowl game for Rutgers outside New Jersey. The couple, along with Glee Club and choir friends from their student days, often traveled across the country to attend Rutgers games.
Overall, their time at Rutgers, which brought them together, means a lot to both of them. “Rutgers was life-changing,” Jennifer says. “It gave me the degree and career that I wanted for the first 12 years of my adult life.”
Rutgers runs in the family on both sides. John’s father, Joseph Cifelli GSE’78, earned a master’s degree at Rutgers, while Jennifer’s mother, Rhonda Rapps GSAPP’75, received her doctorate in psychology. (Jennifer’s maiden name is Rapps.)
The couple’s Rutgers experience meant so much that it influenced the name they chose for their daughter, Easton, after Easton Avenue, a street on the Rutgers College Avenue campus that runs through the commercial district in New Brunswick. “Our time there meant enough to us to name our first child after the main thoroughfare,” she says.
Sip, Savor, and Celebrate
Escape to the rolling hills of Hunterdon County for a relaxing afternoon of fine wines and great company at the alumni-owned Unionville Vineyards on September 20. The registration deadline is September 13.
