Charlottesville Va Wine Trip
A couple of weeks ago Mike & I took our daughters and son-in-laws to Charlottesville Virginia for a family get-a-away, an early Christmas present. I told them it was a gift for them but it was really for me. The best present I can ever receive is a quality adventure with people I love. Even vacations that have some bumps in them turn out to be some of my best memories. (Hey Christen remember the spa gift in Berkeley Springs WV – me in a spa tub gone berserk reaching for a towel (naked) when “Broom Hilda” with sandpaper hands threw open the curtain exposing my cellulite for the world to see… ok that’s another story. Not a best memory, but a memorable one).
If you are interested in a wine experience getaway in the Charlottesville area read on for the itinerary, the best places to visit, and a house where your family can stay.
Why Charlottesville?
I picked the Charlottesville area because it has so many wineries, distilleries, breweries, and hard cider manufactures within a couple of minutes from each other. This makes it really easy and convenient to taste a lot of different alcohol beverages without driving long distances.
I booked a three bedroom house on Airbnb.com in the Wintergreen area. I highly recommend renting a house instead of separate hotel rooms so you can spend quality time together. It had a beautiful gas fireplace surrounded by stone that kept us warm while we enjoyed wine and cheese. The house was also on a golf course with a nice walking path where we strolled and took in some beautiful views and saw a deer. I’m past the deer are cute phase since I have been hit three different times in my car by them. And my son-in-law Nick’s car was totaled a few weeks before this trip by one. This deer was the scariest thing I saw all weekend!
When you rent a house on Airbnb you never quite know what to expect, but for the most part we were happy with this house. The main bedroom and bath downstairs was really nice, as was the kitchen and living area. When you walked upstairs the blaring red carpet, Chinese inspired 60’s bathroom wallpaper, and the bedroom which looked like it was designed by Grandma with an old bed that sagged with a loud squeak, was a little underwhelming. Check out Airbnb.com for your next adventure, it’s worth it!
If you are afraid of heights and winding roads beware. Wintergreen resort is on top of a mountain, you have to go up a steep, curvy, 90 degree road that’s almost a scary as the deer. Thank God we didn’t plan this trip when there was snow or ice on the ground. The house was 8 miles to the nearest winery but it took us 25 minutes to get there because of the roads.
Vertias Winery Art
The Itinerary
The following are places we visited over a two-day period:
Pollack Vineyards
Nice wine – worth stopping by, my favorite wine was the 2014 Viognier.
330 Newtown Road
Greenwood, VA 22943
Phone: (540) 456-8844 Fax: (540) 456-6565
Veritas Winery
Loved this winery – it was beautiful and they had amazing wines.
The Red Star wine was my favorite.
151 Veritas Lane Afton, Virginia 22920
GPS Address: 145 Saddleback Farm
540.456.8000
Cardinal Point – We didn’t buy any wine here but it was worth stopping by for the tasting.
9423 BATESVILLE ROAD
AFTON, VIRGINIA 22920
540.456.8400 tel | 540.456.6800 fax
Open every day from 11:00am to 5:30pm
Silverback Distillary
This was a busy place when we arrived but worth the wait. Awesome Gin, Vodka & Whisky!
Address: 9374 Rockfish Valley Hwy, Afton, VA 22920
Phone:(540) 456-7070
Friday 12:00 – 6:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 – 7:00 pm
Sunday 1:00 – 6:00 pm
Flying fox vineyards
Their tasting room is small but their wine has big flavor! I loved and bought the Red table wine. You can serve it with just about anything or it’s good by itself as a before or after dinner drink.
27 Chapel Hollow Road Afton Virginia 22920
434-361-1692 | info@flyingfoxvineyard.com
Tasting room hours are 11-6pm, Friday through Monday.
Hill top berry farm and winery
If you are a big fruit wine lover this is the place for you. They have tons of wines and meads to taste. It wasn’t my favorite stop because there were tons of people and I’m really not into sweet fruit wine without any complexity at this point in my life. They did have a Cranberry wine that was different and I recommend you try it. They also had a wine called Dragon’s Breath made with hot peppers – yuck!
2800 Berry Hill Rd, Nellysford, VA 22958
(434) 361-1266
Bold rock hard cider
This was my favorite place we visited and we bought a case of the Pear Cider. They had a beautiful fireplace to warm up by and you could go upstairs and watch them bottle the cider.
Address: 1020 Rockfish Valley Hwy, Nellysford, VA 22958
Phone:(434) 361-1030
Blue Toad Hard Cider
Great ciders and worth the visit!
462 Winery Lane
Roseland, VA 22967
(434) 760-9200
Open Monday – Thursday 12pm – 5pm
Friday & Saturday 11am – 6pm
Sundays Noon – 5pm
Wild Wolf Brewing Company & Restaurant
This was a great place to eat and was the closest restaurant to our rental house. Definitely worth the stop!
2461 Rockfish Valley Hwy Nellysford, va
434-361-0088
Virginia Distillery
My favorite drink of the trip was the Wintergreen Warmer. It really is Pure decadence, it’s made with infused toasted walnut & vanilla bean Va Highland Malt, hot chocolate, Nutella, chocolate sauce & topped with vanilla bean whipped cream.
299 Eades Lane, Lovingston, VA 22949
434.285.2900
Monday – Saturday, 11AM – 5PM, Sundays 1PM – 5PM
Devils Backbone Brewing Company
Great Craft Beer – put this on your tour list 🙂
200 Mosbys Run
Roseland, VA 22967
434-361-1001
I would definitely like to plan another trip to this area. There were so many wineries we weren’t able to visit. Let me know if you have a favorite winery in the Charlottesville area so I can try it on my next trip.
Cheers – Carrie