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James River Cellars

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June 1, 2025.   Anyone who has driven the Interstate 95 corridor knows what a disaster it can be.   Regardless of the time of day or day of the week, mile-long stretches of stopped traffic are the norm.   Weekends and rush hour times are even predictably worse.   So, it is something of a relief to find James River Cellars just 20 miles north of Richmond and just a mile or so from the interstate, open seven days a week for chilling out from the highway. The late Ray Lazarchic opened the winery in 2001 originally as an outlet from his irrigation and ground management company, with an aim to make Alsatian wines such as Gewürztraminer.   After Ray passed away last November, his daughter Mizi and her husband James Batterson have taken over operations, with Mizi adapting her pharmacology and biology a background to winemaking while James handes the business side of the place.   Their winery label sports a sailboat even though neither of the Batterson’s sail. ...
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Everleigh Vineyards and Brewing Company

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May 31, 2025.   If there are natural progressions in the wine world, then Everleigh Vineyards in Louisa County, near the town of Cuckoo, is one example.   Joe Evers became interested in wine during his medical education and fellowship at Georgetown.   When he moved to Richmond to establish his practice, he started his own wine club.   Barb and Joe bought their property in Mineral in 2014 and planted their first vines in 2015.   Over the next few years, they sold their grapes to other wineries including what was then the neighboring Cooper Vineyard.   In 2020, they endured the Mother’s Day Frost which killed much of their plantings.   They had no insurance for this.   Persevering, they replanted and were able to open to the public in 2022.   Today, according to Barbara Evers, Everleigh’s five acres of vines produce around 9 to 11,000 cases of wine.   All of their wine is estate-grown.   She said that it’s normal for Joe to be worki...
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Fifty-Third Winery and Vineyard

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May 31, 2025.   Between the winery saturation of Charlottesville and the winery dessert near Richmond, we discovered a winery along Interstate 64 that has quickly gone to the top of our recommended visits – Fifty-Third Winery and Vineyard in Louisa County.   Kim and I met with owner Dave Drillock over several glasses of wine in the 53 rd tasting room which overlooks the vineyards.   The tasting room is housed in a sleek wood faced modern building with tenting over the elevated deck, reminding us of a large treehouse, with windows providing a panoramic view of the vines.   The deck is wide and shady.   A serpentine tasting bar is backed by floor-to-ceiling fieldstones.   There is a small fireplace for the cooler times, but no sofa in front of it.     Across an open lawn from the main tasting room is an enclosed pavilion where the winery can have larger groups.   Dave was dressed in a blue polo shirt and cinched-up blue jeans.   H...
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