Barrel Oak Winery

Barrel Oak Winery (Fauquier) is one of the most popular wineries in the area, and for good reason. They always welcome picnics, kids, and dogs – in fact, dogs are a very important part of Barrel Oak Winery (BOW…get it?). There’s a dog in the logo and many of their wines are named after dogs. They welcome groups of eight+, but ask that you call or e-mail ahead of time for reservations. They have a beautiful outdoor area equipped with picnic tables, a stone patio, fire pits, and one of the most gorgeous views in Fauquier. They feature live music on the weekends and a food menu that might blow your mind. Some wineries are truly lacking in the food department, am I right? Well, not Barrel Oak Winery. They have one of the best food menus of any winery I’ve been to.

Narmada Winery

 

Narmada Winery (Rappahannock) is located right off of Route 211 in Amissville, about fifteen minutes from Warrenton. I’ve been here several times – once to celebrate a friend’s birthday, once to hear friends play bluegrass (live music at the pavilion!), and four other times just for tastings. They often have live music, sometimes inside the tasting room and other times outside at their pavilion. There are picnic tables located by the pavilion so spectators can enjoy the music comfortably. We ended up going for a tasting once and they had an Indian buffet being catered – it was DELICIOUS. They have Indian fare available for purchase every day, but this was a treat.

Lake Anna Winery

Saturday, while spending a weekend at the lake with friends, the guys took the boat out on the water while the girls headed to Lake Anna Winery (Spotsylvania). It is described on their website as a small boutique winery that specializes in producing award winning wines at affordable prices – and that is all SO true! The entrance is not well marked, but you’ll see the vines from the road. A narrow gravel driveway leads the way to the winery and it is very quaint. They have plenty of parking and you can get up close and personal with the grape vines.

The Great Skedaddle Wine Tour

The Great Skedaddle Wine Tour includes three wineries: Pearmund Cellars (Fauquier), Vint Hill Craft Winery (Fauquier), and The Winery at Bull Run (Prince William). This wine tour costs $20.00 and you can purchase the punch card at any of the three wineries. There is no expiration date, so no need to rush to them all in one day (or you totally can…I don’t judge). The wine tour includes a wine tasting and a souvenier glass from each participating winery. When you reach the third winery, you get a special gift.

Little Washington Winery

 

The first winery I’m going to feature is Little Washington Winery  (Rappahannock County). This is one of my favorite wineries and I’m a wine club member there. The owners are so personable and run the place themselves. They also opened a little shop in Little Washington, VA called Wine Loves Chocolate. It’s an awesome little boutique right by the Inn at Little Washington where you can purchase chocolates and wine – it’s a great little shop to check out & they offer wine tasting as well. Little Washington Winery features the Dirt Road Wine Tour, and this is one of my favorite things about them.

Welcome to Virginia Wine Diaries!

This map is how it all began, though I didn’t know back when I put it together that it would later inspire this blog! I was just starting to really enjoy wine tasting and I thought – how AWESOME would it be to take that Virginia Wineries map and start keeping track of my winery visits? I found the perfect sized corkboard and affixed the map to it. Then I went to Amazon [one of my fave online shopping websites] and found black pins that were just right for this project. The above photo is the map on the day I made it…like I said, I was just starting to do the whole wine thing! 😉