BERKELEY – Driving down Route 9, there are a lot of roadside icons that stand out. The dinosaur, of course. The car on top of a roof. The other dinosaur.
And the wine bottle.
There’s a tricky intersection on Route 9. On the west side is Korman Road. On the east side is an entrance into Ocean Gate. There’s an access road from Ocean Gate Road to Route 9. And in the corner there, just north of Ace Outdoor Power Equipment, is a giant wine bottle, painted white, standing in a small plot of land next to a gas station and a house.
There used to be quite a few of these wine bottles set up around New Jersey as advertisements for the Renault Winery. Now, it is believed that only a few remain. They pop up on websites like RoadsideAmerica and WeirdNJ.
Sam Russo bought the property where Ace is located in 1984, and the wine bottle was part of it. At one time, the Ace building was Saints and Sinners, a go-go bar. In reconstructing it, they had to gut the inside, removing poles and other tools of the trade. During the renovation, Russo kept looking over at the bottle thinking ‘I’ve gotta knock that down.’
It escaped that fate due to sheer luck.
“If I had the time and the weather I would have knocked it down because I wasn’t sentimental about it,” he said.
But then the bottle’s value as a landmark became clear. People would describe a location in its relation to the bottle, just as they would in relation to the dinosaur. A road might be “just past the wine bottle, on the left.”
Russo painted it to look like Dom Perignon. Back in his racing days, he was selling propane at the shop and was advertising ‘the champagne of propane.’
The intersection used to be called Korman’s corner, and it was laid out a bit differently. Route 9 has changed since then. And Russo sees the value in it now as a landmark, an advertisement, a piece of history, and a part of the memories of people who have lived in the area.
But one thing people don’t realize about it is that it’s not all concrete. It’s chicken wire and stucco. It’s actually hollow inside, he said.
He had travelled down to the Renault Winery and tried to learn more about it. He also wanted to see if they would advertise on it, but there was no interest from the company in the artifact.
Renault did not return calls for this story.
He still owns the land, even though he doesn’t own the shop anymore.
Like the dinosaur, Russo said he would like to see the bottle be renovated. Perhaps, a clever advertiser could turn it into an alternative to a billboard.
“I got so many compliments on the Dom Perignon. I want someone to benefit from it like I did. Let it be good for someone else,” he said.
After all, it stands out.
If you have stories about local history, reach out to News Editor Chris Lundy at CLundy@JerseyShoreOnline.com or 732-657-7344 ext. 209.
