Best Virginia winery recs

[Anonymous]

Just had to cancel long-planned Napa trip for DH's 50th birthday. Beyond bummed. Trying to make it up to him with a local trip to a great VA winery but know little about them. Would love recommendations. TIA.

[Anonymous]

Stone Mountain

[Anonymous]

Barboursville is beautiful if you want to stay for a night. The restaurant is great, the inn is beautiful. Michael Shaps in Cville isnt too far away, and has a wide range of wines. We also liked the inn at Veritas, and the wines there were good. RdV is crazy expensive and not worth the price, but we did have a great time at the tasting. Linden is the OG, but you’ll want to join the wine club to get more than a wave (if you can even taste without being a member these days?).
My absolute favorite winery in VA these days though is Glen Manor, which is tiny and beautiful. There are a couple nice places to stay nearby. Glen Gordon Manor is beautiful and has a spectacular breakfast. They also do a tasting menu dinner that can be hit or miss. Blue Rock Inn is not as fancy as Glen Gordon, but the food is better. Blue Door is also not too far away, and it’s nice and the food is good, but I prefer the other two. Sperryille is also close by and a fun place to visit, with good food, a beautiful walking path, and a quirky brewery.

[Anonymous]

Not a specific winery rec but you might be interested to know that in the past few months I have seen VA winery articles in one or more magazines (I believe Travel & Leisure or similar travel magazine and Wine Enthusiast or Wine Spectator) as well as a recent NYT one. You might want to search those for ideas.

We considered doing a trip to Napa/Sonoma for my DH’s 50th so we may have some similar tastes. If I were planning something in VA instead, I would probably head towards the greater Charlottesville area for a weekend, hit up the wineries around there, and be able to do a nice meal or two as well (Maude & the Bear or other options around). Ideally I’d love to do it in the fall and enjoy better weather, scenic drives, and/or a nice hike or two to build up some thirst and appetite.

Hope you have a nice time regardless!

[Anonymous]

Trump winery.

[Anonymous]

Just so you know, Virginia red wines are on the whole… are Terrible! You’re not going to go to a Virginia winery for the amazing wine, you go for the beauty and experience. We like Barboursville, Stone Tower, Walsh family wine, King family vineyards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Barboursville is beautiful if you want to stay for a night. The restaurant is great, the inn is beautiful. Michael Shaps in Cville isnt too far away, and has a wide range of wines. We also liked the inn at Veritas, and the wines there were good. RdV is crazy expensive and not worth the price, but we did have a great time at the tasting. Linden is the OG, but you’ll want to join the wine club to get more than a wave (if you can even taste without being a member these days?).
My absolute favorite winery in VA these days though is Glen Manor, which is tiny and beautiful. There are a couple nice places to stay nearby. Glen Gordon Manor is beautiful and has a spectacular breakfast. They also do a tasting menu dinner that can be hit or miss. Blue Rock Inn is not as fancy as Glen Gordon, but the food is better. Blue Door is also not too far away, and it’s nice and the food is good, but I prefer the other two. Sperryille is also close by and a fun place to visit, with good food, a beautiful walking path, and a quirky brewery.

This is pretty spot on, especially regarding Linden and being a member vs non member. A new winery just opened in Linden, Crimson Lane Vineyards. We haven’t been there or tried the wines but the pictures of their space are really pretty.

[Anonymous]

I would agree that none of the wines are going to be "good." You are mostly going out to enjoy the scenery and people watch. VA wines will never hold a candle to CA wines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just so you know, Virginia red wines are on the whole… are Terrible! You’re not going to go to a Virginia winery for the amazing wine, you go for the beauty and experience. We like Barboursville, Stone Tower, Walsh family wine, King family vineyards.

Stone Tower skews pretty young so it might not be the atmosphere you’re seeking for a 50th. Breaux has a covered deck area that’s adults only and doesn’t draw as many of the mid 20’s to young 30’s crowd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just so you know, Virginia red wines are on the whole… are Terrible! You’re not going to go to a Virginia winery for the amazing wine, you go for the beauty and experience. We like Barboursville, Stone Tower, Walsh family wine, King family vineyards.

Virginia merlot is terrible but the Cabernet Francs are very good. Same deal with Chardonnay vs. Viognier.

I absolutely agree that Barboursville is a top contender for OP.

[Anonymous]

Barboursville is definitely the way to go. Last time I visited (which was a long time ago) they had a wide selection to taste too.

King Family and Pippin Hill are okay.

Closer to here Stone Tower, Breaux, Delaplane, maybe.

I'll also offer up that it's okay to go somewhere and hate everything. I went to Boxwood and just hated everything I tried there but still had a good time with friends because we kept it unserious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Virginia merlot is terrible but the Cabernet Francs are very good.

I’ve come to never expect greatness from a Cab Franc, and Virginia is no exception.

[Anonymous]

You have to go far to get good VA wine. Veritas and Pippin Hill aren’t bad. There is a new VA winery that is trying to give the whole Napa experience. Crimson Lane. It is gorgeous. Make a reservation. There is also RDV but it outrageously expensive for what it is. I also really like Slaughter Run.

[Anonymous]

Muse vineyards on the other side of Shenandoah!

[Anonymous]

Also ignore the haters. There is definitely some bad Va wine (and oceans of bad CA wine), but there is some great wine here too. And I wouldn’t have said that 30 years ago when I moved here. Good recs in this thread!