Cava Winery & Vineyard

Solid 3 stars.
Good: wine flights, plenty of seating inside and out, bands playing in the afternoon.
Not so good: Food. Pizza was burnt and the toppings were inedible. The cheese and meat platter was all crappy salami and not enough good cheeses. It was like Oscar Meyer salami… yuck.
I understand you don’t go here for the food, but at least make it a little better.
It’s definitely a good spot to bring kids. Wait staff is for the most part friendly. The other staff is meh.
Plenty of parking. Does get busy during the nicer weather.

This is not a place for wine tasting. You pay $ 7 for every 4 wines you want to taste. No tours of the place and no explanation of wines we were tasting. Flies everywhere! It’s a restaurant with wine, that’s it!

This place is a cute, small winery. My friends and I decided to come here one fall sunday and we had a nice day. Its not a huge winery where you can walk around from place to place. We stayed indoors. It wasnt too crowded which was perfect– i didnt want to be surrounded by people. The chicken pizza was quite tasty. I had one of the red wine flights and it was ok, but nothing Wow.
Its a good place to come and enjoy the day.
They also have a bar area but it was SUPER quiet. I almost felt awkward walking through to use the restroom.
THey did have a singer with a guitar in the main area which was a nice perk

I arrived there at 1PM on a Saturday. The service started off nicely with our waitress explaining the flight choices (wine samples) to us, and how the tasting works. Then the winery got considerably more crowded, and the service went downhill. Our server was very nice, but it was clear that she was just taking care of too many tables. I was seated inside, and the outside tables were getting much more attention than the inside ones. I had two «flights,» a selection or reds and a selection of whites. Nothing in either flight impressed me. The bruschetta was delicious, as was the Caesar salad. The Margherita pizza was awful — doughy and undercooked. The grounds were clean, but the inside bathrooms were filthy. My companions and I did enjoy ourselves, but I will not be rushing back any time soon.

Wine was pretty good. The Ferro and Sangiovese were way too strong. They only had one woman managing all of the tastings on a Saturday evening. At one point we waited about 25 minutes between tastes. The server went above and beyond for customer service.

Delicious food and wine! Cannot get enough of their cheese platter.
On the day we went a man named Kyle Hancharick performed live and wow– was it breathtaking!!! We would go back every Sunday if he was there.
Cannot wait to return!

I was just here this evening for my Bachelorette Party. This was our first stop of the day. We took the winery tour, which was interesting. Then we ordered some flights and food to nibble on while we sampled. Our server, Michelle, was wonderful! She took great care of us, always making sure we had wine, water, and food. The owner, Larry, came by and chatted with us for a bit. He even allowed me to choose a bottle to take home in celebration of my special day. We had amazing service, great wine, and great food. We will definitely be coming back!

This was the second time I had been here and I was significantly less impressed than the first. The server was nice enough, but definitely not friendly and attentive. We were without water for ½ our meal and ended up pulling out our water bottles we had in our purses. We sat without silverware and salt for a good 10 minutes after getting our lunch. The margarita pizza was flavorless and doughy. The cheeseboard I definitely could have made myself at home. Nothing special. The wine, however is good, which is guess is what matters. It is also reasonably priced and the location is pretty.

The wine is so so. The sweeter stuff is better. The food was really good but the service was horrible. The waitress was very slow very slow. Forgot part of our order and didn’t even come back to check on us throughout the meal and tasting. Also found most of our glasses to be dirty. Had 2 with lipgloss/​lipstick on them.
We will not be going back.

I’ve been to several wineries in the area, so I was expecting a relaxing, leisurely afternoon but instead found strange and unnecessary rules and an incredibly rude waitress. First, they don’t allow you to walk right into the back patio (which is open to the parking lot) — you must walk in the front door, then the hostess acts put off that you did not come with a reservation, the kitchen did not accept food orders for an hour due to the rush, and when we got the pizza it was barely edible at best. The wine tasting also took about an hour to get the staff’s attention four times to taste four wines.
But I will say the worst part of the experience that left us with a bad vibe for the rest of the afternoon was when we actually went inside to ask if we could order food and the waitress told us no, we had to be at a table and then proceeded to give us a hard time because she didn’t see us with the group of people we were claiming to be sitting with (aka my entire family). She actually said «I know several of the names of the people at that table and nobody mentioned that you were coming and that you would want food.» Well excuse me, I know their names as well because they are my family, and we’re standing here TELLING you that we would like food, so what’s the problem?!
Ultimately, they have a very exact protocol and strict rules that they expect every single patron to be familiar with and they are rude about informing people about the rules… Which I have NEVER experienced at a winery before. Wineries are supposed to be warm and welcoming, with friendly, helpful staff and respect for customers who are ultimately keeping them in business. I give them one star for having the good sense to have a great band playing outside.
Needless to say, we will not be returning, and I would steer anyone looking for a great winery to Warwick Valley or Applewood instead.

A winery and a restaurant. A different kind of winery than the others from northern nj. They have the standard fruit infused wines but also have a full compliment of red wines. The restaurant has tapas style foods cheese board is excellent and the salads are great.
Went on a tour and that was excellent as well as very informative and the tour guides are able and willing to answer any questions that i had.
My favorite wines while there were the Sauvignon blanc, mistura, and apple pie wine. They really seem to have a wines that can fit anyone’s taste they have a large selection, some say that’s bad I think it’s great there is such a large selection.

This place is horrible. I am a business owner and I know if the right person bought this place it would be a gold mine. The food is horrible it took 45 minutes to make 3 pizzas and it was way under cooked. Our waitress was amazing and I felt bad for her cause I know the happiness of the customers affects her tips. Wine was decent. Manager was super young and didn’t seem to have the best social skills. Would not go back unless they changed their menu.

Excellent service! The staff is really knowledgable and helpful. Wine is amazing. Highly recommend

While they are not my first choice NJ Winery, I spent a very pleasant couple of hours here this past weekend. They do distinguish themselves from other NJ wineries in the way that their tasting room is set up. Instead of bellying up to the bar for a few pours, you are seated and can order a flight, which includes four one ounce pours. Since my company was convivial and didn’t mind swappin’ some spit, we got to sample about 20 different wines. I ended up purchasing a really delicious bottle of Sangiovese. There were snacks and entrees available too, although we didn’t try the food.
At the risk of sounding absolutely ancient, the live music was so incredibly loud, it was difficult to spend much time there. We sat down and tasted like it was our job, and then headed out. It was impossible to have a conversation. I imagine that spending time outside, as my fellow Unilocalers have suggested, might be more pleasant in the future.

If you want a nice place to have some snacks, enjoy some OK wine and beverages while sitting outside in a gorgeous setting and possibly live music, this is the place. Snacks were great — not super pricey and the live music and services were great. 4 stars.
If you want amazing wine with all the teachings that go with a typical winery go elsewhere.3 stars. Think the other reviews tell you that already.
In summary: Overall experience and ambiance (insert greater-​than-​sign here because Unilocal won’t let me) Wine

At Cava I feel that the wine is an afterthought. Like they are a lovely establishment with pretty décor and fun cover bands, that also happen to make wine.
I unknowingly visited during a Mardi Gras celebration and it seemed everyone was having a grand time. The music was fun, the atmosphere was exciting, and the staff were friendly and helpful. But then the wine happened. My first sign that maybe Cava’s wine wouldn’t be the best was when I saw all 173 645 of their offerings on the wine list. No one can make that many wines and do it well. Suspicions=confirmed. The wines were weak and not at all distinctive. They almost tasted watered down.
Maybe people who are looking for a fun day out would be distracted buy the music and food to notice the sub par wine, but unfortunately I’m not that person.

After sampling Cava’s wines at one of the NJ WInegrowers Association festivals, my wife and I decided to pay them a visit during a day trip to Sussex County to visit a bunch of wineries. Cava is a great stop if you’re planning a day in the area because they have a dining room where they serve food (lunch only though) so we stopped here for lunch and wine before hitting some other wineries that just have tasting.
In addition to a separate room just for tasting, you can get flights of 4 different wines in the dining room ranging from $ 5-​$ 7 and sample a bunch of wines while eating. You can also get wine by the glass (and of course, the bottle) while you eat.
Cava’s wines are really tasty and vary from traditional whites and reds to lots of different fruit-​infused sweet wines (think Arbor Mist but waaaaay better). My wife’s favorite is their Apple Pie wine (we left with a case of it) and she claims it’s her «favorite NJ wine of all the wineries in NJ.» My wife has a bit of a sweet tooth when it comes to wine.
The food at Cava ranges from average to really good. On the really good side was the cheese and crostini plate with homemade preserves. Great for snacking on while sampling wines. We also got a grilled panini that was pretty good. On the more «meh» side was the «grilled» pizza. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t what I was expecting when I saw «grilled» pizza on the menu. I pictured hand-​stretched dough nice and charred. The crust of the pizza was a perfect circle, slightly under-​cooked and resembled more of a frozen pizza crust. The toppings are what saved it because they were top-​notch. I just wish the crust was on the same level as what was sitting on top of it.
The staff at Cava were all extremely warm and friendly and made you feel right at home sitting in their dining room. I don’t know if this is a regular thing or not but there was also live Jazz when we were there (a Saturday afternoon).

We had bridal shower party in this place. The Operations Manager was extremely nice and very helpful. She was open on any our requests. She let us choose the wine and the food. The table set up and decorations in the private room were beautifully. The service was more than very good. Our guests really enjoyed the wine samples, delicious food and the venue. Everyone had a wonderful time. Thank you very much for making the party special. I will recommend this place to anybody for any occasion (excluding party for the children of course).

The term winery is very loosely used here. They only have one wine that is grown on site. All the other grapes are purchased from other parts of the country/​world. I was def expecting, ore local grapes from a «winery» otherwise it’s nothing more than a place where u bottle the wine yourself
Another annoyance here is the fact that you can’t do tastings like you would at any other winery. You don’t gomtomthe counter… You have to take a seat and wait for a waitress to come take your order. In my case that wait was about 10 mins before I tried a wine, and it wasn’t busy. The tastings are also curiously grouped together for $ 7 each, which limits you from mixing and matching different kinds of wines. You’re paying $ 7 for reds, then another $ 7 if you want whites, then another $ 7 if you want to try other reds. All together there were four or five flights. You’re looking at around $ 30 just to try a 1oz pour of all the wines here. None of which were worth while.
The only redeeming thing here was that the meat and cheese plate was good and plentiful for another $ 10
Def not worth a repeat visit

cava winery has an amazing setting and atmosphere, and I love the ability to have something to eat at the café. They have nice little tapas menu and some gourmet type pizza. it is the perfect setting to hold an event. but that is about all I can say positive about the winery.
it is 7 dollars for a wine flight tasting that is broken out into various categories, Italian reds, white, sweet fruit wines etc. You sit at a table and they bring you the flight. Sadly unlike other wineries I have been to there is no presentation of the wine or someone telling what is in a blend by the individuals serving the wine. The wine was sadly disappointing. Some of it was really too young to be served, and others had an overwhelming burnt oak nose, and flavor. BUT the worst was my Merlot was «fizzy» and last I check Merlot is not supposed to be sparkling? the cab. savigon was decent, but not worth 20 dollars a bottle, it was equal to the mass produced wines like yellow tail… flip flop. I was sadly disappointed
Most of the grapes used to make their wines are not from NJ wines, so honestly why pay that price for wine, if the grapes are not from NIJ and the wine is mediocre at best. I have no problem spending 20 — 40 dollars for a bottle of truly hand crafted and blended NJ wine. But this wine does not provide this at this point, but maybe in time. NOW if you like sweet fruit wines they have that in spades, and make s a great sangria.
With that said it is still an enjoyable afternoon to stop and have lunch if you are doing the Sussex wine trial and then head over to Ventimiglia Vineyard about 15 min up the road for some truly handcrafted and expertly blended wines.