Posts

River Dog Winery

Image
May 30, 2025.   Less than twenty minutes’ drive from Upper Shirley Vineyards, you come to River Dog Winery in Henrico County, probably the closest winery to the city of Richmond and a world away from Upper Shirley.   River Dog is many things that Upper Shirley is not.   It’s a small operation where Chris Ziolkowski works the vineyard in between his day job in banking while his wife, Debbie, serves as the face of the winery by managing the tasting room, organizing events, and doing whatever else is needed.       The River Dog tasting room feels very much like someone’s living room because it used to be.   The Ziolkowski’s, who live next door, had their eye on acquiring the homey 1950’s farmhouse for years before the former occupants left.   The old kitchen is still intact behind the tasting bar.   They have added nice sofas and tables to fill the room and the anterooms.   It’s a comfortable place to spend the afternoon with board games ...

Upper Shirley Vineyards

Image
May 30, 2025.   Upper Shirley Vineyards in Charles City County sits at the eastern edge of the Virginia Peninsula AVA along the James River.   Hill Carter of the famous King Carter family split off Upper Shirley from the main plantation in 1866 and built the manor house in 1868.   It is in the National Register of Historic Places.   The current owner of the vineyards is Susan (Suzy) Dameron who opened the remodeled house as a restaurant in 2015.      The main building is classic low-county architecture – horizontal to the ground with wide verandas framing the outside.   When you come through the door, the tasting room and restaurant is to your left and the cavernous banquet room is to the right.             Tasting Room                                                        ...

Domaine Fortier Vineyards

Image
May 10, 2025.   Domaine Fortier Vineyards is in many ways still a baby in the wine world.   Stephen and Jennifer Fortier opened their winery to the public less than a year ago out in a field, minutes south of the town of Lovettsville in Loudoun County.   The operation is surrounded close by to its vines and bounded in the distance by Short Mountain to the North, the Furnace Mountains to the South, and the Catoctin Range in the further distance.   A greenhouse serves as their temporary tasting room with two sofas and table seating for eight to ten people.   The openness of the glass ceiling with hanging wisteria gives an intimate feel.   The bar can accommodate maybe five people if they’re all very close friends.   Even on a mild day, the green house was warm.  I expect it gets uncomfortable in there in the summer.  Our server Christian, ran a small fan on the counter to keep him cool.  You might consider taking your glass of wine or yo...

Southwest Mountains Vineyards

Image
April 13, 2025.   When Southwest Mountains Vineyards opened in 2023, it completed a little triangle of newish wineries with Keswick Vineyards and Merrie Mill Farm, all near the junction of scenic routes 22 and 231 and the crossroads at Cismont in eastern Albermarle County.   The famous Keswick Hall is a short drive south on Route 22.   While Keswick and Merrie Mills are close to average sized Virginia wineries (see note below), Southwest Mountains is the newest and by far the largest of these three with 72 acres under vine and between 16,000 and 19,000 cases annually.   We're told there is no gap in those vines. The winery and vineyard sits inside the Castalia farm estate that once belonged to Meriwether Lewis.   They renovated and expanded a 1903 pole barn into a cavernous two-storey lodge.   I call it a lodge because on the inside, this barn more resembles a large hunting lodge.  The owner, Paul Manning, appears to have spared no expense in either ...

Lovingston Winery

Image
April 12, 2025.   On our way back to Charlottesville, we decided to stop at Lovingston Winery south and west of the town of Lovingston off Route 29 in Nelson County.   Wes Roberts, his wife Tessa Riley and her parents, Bill and Shelley Riley, purchased Lovingston Winery from the Puckett Family in 2021 and with it a winery that originally opened to the public in 2003 and Josie’s Knoll Vineyard, named after Josie Stevens, whose family resided here back in the early 1900’s.   Lovingston Winery occupies a nice new barn amid the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge range.   You will drive past a barn and farmhouse area and then past the tasting room to parking in the rear.   The farmhouse used to be the tasting room when the Puckett’s owned the winery.   Now it can be rented for overnight stays and the barn is the tasting room.   Inside the new barn is one open room which would be dark if the sliding barn doors were closed.   A fireplace sits at o...