Virginia is starting to open up (a little) and I was going to hit some wineries this summer and dump some money in the local economy.
The biggest frustration I have with Virginia wineries is that most of them seem to just be wedding pavilions that make mediocre wine and try to justify $35 a bottle for it. Been burnt by this on more than one occasion.
That said, I’ve had fantastic wines from Barboursville but never visited. I’m sure there are more out there, but any “best of lists” or stuff are obviously promotional copy disguised as journalism.
Spend more time focusing on ‘where’ than ‘who’ you want to visit. Many of the wineries that will be recommended will be 1+ hour apart, and you may miss out exploring an area. Also don’t spend too much time bagging on prices; frost damage this spring was so bad there are a number of wineries that are looking at 0 production wines this vintage unless the buy outside fruit, and everyone’s going to have a reduction in production. Even in the better years wineries without entertainment venues struggle to break even, a lot of them are looking at catastrophic losses over the next two years.
Having said that:
B’ville always solid, broad spectrum of wines and a pretty venue to walk.
Early Mountain has a broad spectrum of reds, their Quaker Run sourced wines are among the better ones in the state the last few years. Winemaker Ben Jordan has two experimental labels, Lightwell Survey and Midland Construction, that may be for sale there as well, but may be small retailer only… wink wink.
Hark is a newer one outside Charlottesville past Earlysville near the mountains. Winemaker Jake Busching has worked a lot of local wineries, tends to make a fuller style wine. Nice venue, one to watch.
Lovingston makes some more understated wines, including a Pinotage that’s more of its Pinot heritage than Cinsault. Winemaker Riaan Roussouw is one of my favorites in the state.
Thatch (formerly First Colony) and the Michael Shaps Wineworks are on the same dirt road south of town, both smaller with historic ties as one of the first areas of the state to grow grapes.
Plan was to put these into Google Maps and if we’re near one (or can plan ahead just a bit), hit it up. No super-tasting-day or any dedicated trips like that. Just targets of opportunity.
We’ll probably head out to the Linden area in the next few weeks to hit up a couple restaurants. Might see what the winery is up to then as well.
Rdv Vineyards in Delaplane does a reservation only tour and tasting that is pretty pricey but 100% worth it. Their 2014 Rendezvous is one of the best wines I’ve ever had, head and shoulders above anything else I’ve had in Virginia.
With that said, I find the Charlottesville wineries to be generally more reliable than Northern Virginia wineries, I definitely recommend visiting Barboursville, they are my favorite in that area.
Curious what restaurants you are considering ‘in the area’. Other than the Inn at Little Washington, most other places are a good hour drive from there.
Our 2 favorite around Charlottesville (and farther) are Gabrielle Rouse and Ox Eye(in Staunton). As was mentioned, King and Veritas are worth a stop. Pollack is very nice. Michael Schapps is not bad either. It has 2 locations. Jefferson makes some good wines. Moss actually makes a decent Cabernet worth trying.
We have tried Barboursville and found it wanting. Same with Horton. Horton makes, I think, 20+ wines and few very well. Though our kids like the peach.
We’ve sampled around 20+ wineries in the area and virtually all make drinkable wines. We have found the vast majority of reds are decent wine with no flaws but ultimately uninteresting. They lack fruit/ripeness as well as structure and it seems the winemakers all use the same recipe. Besides that they are overpriced for what they are. The whites are usually the better wines but, again, can be overpriced. IMHO, the wines are made to show well in the tasting room and to be sold that day. I’ve found virtually no wines where I thought it needed a few years.
Most of my favs are already listed. Agree with bypassing the normal tasting for the cellar tasting at Linden. Also same At Barboursville where it’s better in the Library.
I will add that Pollak has a pinot Gris that can be good depending on the vintage and the tasting room generally doesn’t resemble a chuckle cheese so we usually stop.
Ingleside Vineyards isn’t going to knock your socks off but it’s the only decent winery in the area and can at times produce some good wines but probably better for inexpensive summer patio pounders. They are part of the old guard that helped move VA wines forward. l admit to having a soft spot for them and much of the old guard as Doug Flemer along with Jim Law, Dennis Horton, and Luca Paschina were all very generous with their time and provided a lot of education and guidance to me when I was planning my home vineyard.
That and Blue Door Inn a few miles north of there. We had reservations for Inn at Little Washington in April (obviously didn’t happen) and the chef at Blue Door Inn used to run nice northern Italian restaurant in Fairfax City. it’s not a bad place to stay either, but they only have 4 rooms.
Got it. Sperryville is fun to knock around in, the Corner Store actually has a decent bottle selection (though the shelves get a bit warm), decent wood fired pizza as well. Copper Fox zdistillery is good quality, and even two breweries if a craft beer fan; Pen Druid does more funky sours/Brett aged beers, while Hopkins Ordinary more traditional. Town has more places to drink than 4 way intersections!
I saw that too. Might be for a loophole in the law or might just be to keep the tour buses away until things settle down. I can’t fault them for either reason.
Unpopular opinion here, but I think Linden is skippable. The wines are nice but my experiences there have been pretty awkward or even unpleasant due to the absurd levels of snobbery from the people working the tasting room. Not a reason not to drink the wines, but in my opinion a reason not to visit.
Most of my favorites have been listed already. The one that hasn’t is The Barns at Hamilton Station, which makes fantastic, unpretentious wines that are more affordable than many others in the area.
Other favorites:
Veritas
Early Mountain
Ox Eye
Stone Tower
Paradise Springs
Zephaniah is also a nice experience with surprisingly good wines. A bit different - you’re basically sitting in their living room.
