Just off Spotswood Trail (aka Route 33), just east of the village of Barboursville, you'll come upon the prominent stone gate of Horton Vineyards. As you navigate down the drive and past the acreage of well-groomed, trellised vines, you'll find the main winery building, which houses the tasting...
Virginia does not offer ideal climate for organic viticulture. It's the entire east coast really. There is just too much rain and that makes the use of fungicides a routine part of the winegrowing process. Nevertheless, there is still a pair of organic vineyards in the state and one of these is...
One of the top fifty wedding destinations on the east coast can be found in North Garden, Virginia. The view from Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyards really does supply a postcard-quality backdrop, so its popularity is easy to understand. It was the venue for a recent celebrity wedding, which was all...
The Shenandoah Valley doesn't have the concentration of wineries that you might find in Central or Northern Virginia, but the few that are in this wine region tend to be spectacular and produce excellent wines. Valhalla Vineyards, located in the southern tip of the Shenandoah, illustrates this...
The Rocky Knob American Viticultural Area (AVA) straddles the Blue Ridge Parkway in Southwestern Virginia. It is small-only 9000 acres-and ranges in elevation from 1600 feet to over 3500. So most of it is inhospitable to viticulture. Nevertheless, there are two wineries located in this lonely...
Southwestern Virginia does not immediately come to mind when one thinks of Virginia wine. It's a particularly rugged and mountainous part of the state tucked up against the North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky border. Nevertheless, there are a few wineries of note spread throughout the state's...
This is what I love about exploring wineries. You just never know what you'll find. There really are some hidden gems just waiting to be uncovered and one of these is not far from the village of Raphine, in the Shenandoah Valley. After exiting Interstate 81, we wound our way along Route 606 past...
As the story was related to me, Christine and Dennis Vrooman were intent on cultivating a vineyard and opening a winery in Amherst County, at 1800 feet, high on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge. Other winemakers tried to wave them off. Too difficult, they said. The Vroomans were not to be...
The area around Sans Soucy, in the southeastern corner of Campbell County, is an extremely rural part of the state, and agriculture is the primary industry. You will see far more tobacco fields than vineyards, but don't let that fool you. There are some exceptionally good wineries in this part...
When one speaks of the Southern Virginia Wine Region, it is not uncommon to hear disparaging comments about the region's production of primarily sweet wine. I've heard this refrain for years, so I traveled down south to see if there was any truth to that claim. Hunting Creek Vineyards was among...