10/25/2017- 10/29/2017
Our trip to visit Virginia wineries, cideries, and distilleries. Plus a bit of treasure shopping along the way. It’s a bit late, well okay years late, but such a fun trip and some great places I wanted to share. My goal is to get more folks visiting wineries as they reopen and to make sure they all make it through. So please stop in and visit some of these lovely spots.
After the summer of 2016 being filled with hospitals and doctors, we gained a new value for doing things we enjoy and for spending time together both as a couple and as a family. So 2017 brought more time together and the discovery of more wineries.
The fun day in Visiting Local Wineries sparked an idea and we started thinking how great it would be to go on a winery trip. A plan was hashed, hotels booked and a loose list of wineries we wanted to see in the Charlottesville, VA, and surrounding areas.
Travel Dates: 10/25/2017 to 10/29/2017
Day 1
On good advice, we decided to head out in the intended direction but go further west to start for the day and work back toward the hotel for the first night. We off we went. Our first stop, Old Hill Cider. Don’t follow the GPS on this on, lol. It led us a bit astray but no worries we found our way and what a great little first stop it was. Great cider and a nice place to visit. So I failed on the photo for this place but the ride there was lovely.
Our second stop let us to BlueStone Vineyard in Bridgewater, VA. The scenery was just beautiful with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A lovely tasting with a friendly host. Did I mention the views? Since we were there in the fall there was also a cool view of a corn maze further down the hill. Could see myself sitting outside here relaxing with a glass of wine for a good while. I failed epically on photos here so please forgive that and definitely go check them out at their website.
Our next stop was high on my list because I love lavender, one of my favorite plants. The Purple WOLF Vineyard was surrounded by lavender. We had another great tasting. Lovely wines, and a fun little spot to shop.
Next we headed to a lovely spot where we just decided to sit with a flight and relax on a comfy sofa, chat and people watch. Laughed a bit with some folks we saw in passing at another winery. That is a good part of the fun of visiting wineries, you always connect with someone. CrossKeys Vineyards brought more beautiful scenery and some lovely wines.
Last but not least, stop number five, yes number five, was Barren Ridge Vineyards. As with so many of the wineries we stopped by so far, the scenery was amazing. We loved this tasting room, it was warm and cozy. We felt welcome and enjoyed the wine and listening to all the chatter around us. So glad we stopped here.
So there you have it our first day on this amazing trip and 5 wineries down. How did we hit 5 wineries in one day you ask? Very carefully. We don’t drink bottles of wine, just tastings and often we share a tasting or a flight just to get an idea if we like the wine. We buy bottles to take home and enjoy over the next few months.
For our first two nights, we chose the Embassy Suites Hotel. We met a really nice gentleman in the lounge. He happened to own a winery in California. Great conversation and again cool to connect over wine and about wine.
All in all the first day on our trip to visit Virginia wineries was amazing! Stay tuned for day number two filled with more adventures.
Peace and love
#VirginiaWine #winelife #travel
Disclosure: Please bear in mind that some of the links in this post may be affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. I will note when a post doesn’t contain any affiliate links as well. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you. Note that the wineries and B & B’s don’t contain affiliate links at this time.
The last two look like they have some incredible views. I haven’t ventured to that area of Virginia yet. I especially love visiting wineries that have amazing scenery. One of my favorites so far that I’ve found in Maryland is called Big Corks since it has a view of the mountains.
The scenery is my favorite thing about wineries as well. We have yet to get to Maryland but it is on our list and will highlight Big Corks.
I’ve never been to Virginia, but it looks beautiful. I will eventually make it out that way and visit some of those amazing wineries.
It is such a beautiful state and such a fun adventure exploring. Thank you for stopping by and hope you get to visit soon. =)
Thank you for giving us some ideas for when we travel through Virginia. The views as well as the wines are to be savored. Perhaps you could add what kind of wines the wineries featured and which ones you particularly liked and recommend.
Hi Deb, thanks so much for stopping by. I will plan to focus my Winery Wednesday’s on the types of wines and some opinions on our favorites, great idea. I always find it hard to choose a favorite, however as I look back a bit on some of the trips I realize there are some standouts for sure. I really want to do a top 10 favorites list too.