The first time I visited the Finger Lakes I went to whatever random winery that happened to be along my route. The second and third visits were about balancing group itineraries with locations that interested me.

My latest trip I was on my own, so I focused on the wineries that *I* wanted to visit.

I made an itinerary heavily focused on critically acclaimed wineries, plus a few experimental producers. Most of these were new to me, although Forge, Kemmeter, and Hermann J were mandatory revisits.

Now, it’s easy to quibble whether the wineries I selected were the absolute *best* in the Finger Lakes (and that’s completely subjective, isn’t it?). I would have loved to visit Dr. Frank, Six Eighty Cellars, and Weis, but I only had so much time.

Even so, I don’t’ think anyone can dispute these are amongst the best the Finger Lakes have to offer.

Wednesday October 21

1. Forge Cellars (guided tasting)
2. 1487 Héritage
3. Apollo’s Praise (Lahoma location)

Thursday October 22

1. Point of the Bluff
2. Kemmeter Wines
3. Nathan K (at Hickory Hollow Wine Cellar)
4. Trestle Thirty One
5. Element (at F.L.X. Provisions)
6. Once Finger Lakes tasting room (for Heart & Hands)

Friday October 23

1. Hermann J. Wiemer
2. Hillick & Hobbs
3. Osmote

Day 1, Stop #1: Forge Cellars (east side of Seneca)

If I were to shorten my list to a handful of *favorite* Finger Lakes wineries, Forge would easily make the roster.

I love how Forge makes multiple vineyard-specific wines. Tango Oaks, Breakneck, and especially Freese were my previous trip favorites, and I wanted to see if I would extend that streak.

Thera Clark was my guide, and she greeted us with their “Classique’ Riesling. While this is their most distributed wine, she was quick to point out they didn’t sacrifice quality for quantity, as their best fruit usually goes into this wine.

Thera described Forge as ‘both traditional and experimental’, which was a great summation of their role in the Finger Lakes. I lost track of the number of vineyards they work with (and it’s always changing) but suffice to say, it’s a lot.

She poured a wide assortment of bottles, including a Chardonnay that I’ve never tried before. After the tasting I dropped in to the ‘saloon’ for snacks and more samples (they have great snacks here!).

And as a bonus – I got to meet Léana Godard, their winemaker!

What I tried:

1. 2022 Caywood (Riesling): Round and fruit driven. Notes of melon and citrus (especially bruised apple)
2. 2023 Wagner Caywood East Vineyard (Riesling): Mineral-shale notes, and oddly enough, herbs
3. 2024 Caywood (Chardonnay): Bruised apple on the nose and palate. Also had an herbal note.
4. 2021 Tango Oaks (Pinot): Apparently 2021 was a challenging year so this wasn’t as smooth and easy drinking as a ‘standard’ pinot. I found it kinda stemmy, rather than fruit driven.
5. 2024 Breakneck (Riesling): Oyster nose, and notes of saline on the palate.
6. 2024 Willow (Cabernet Franc): I saw more CF this trip than any previous one, and this was one of my favorites. Has the light pyrazine ‘soul’ of a Loire Cab Franc, but it wasn’t green at all.
7. 2024 Railroad (Cabernet Franc): Sorry, no notes!
8. 2024 Bellows (Cabernet Franc): Darker, more tannic and muscular Cab Franc. Probably the most tannic CF of my trip.
9. Bonbon (carbonic Mourvèdre): Not my jam, but interesting to try.
10. 2024 Shale (white blend): 79% Riesling and 14% Chardonnay (no notes)

Day 1, Stop #2: 1487 Héritage (east side of Seneca)

The name “1487” is a reference to the background of their tasting room, a barn that was raised in 1487. The oak frame was dismantled in Champagne and reassembled here, overlooking Seneca Lake.

The facility had only recently opened, but winemaker Sébastien LeSeurre has been sourcing from this vineyard for years. The site was so good they decided to open a separate tasting room to specifically highlight its fruit, rather than fold it under the LeSeurre label (the wines I tried said LeSeurre but were from this site).

The building is really spacious, and their flights have lots of options; so much so it was hard to narrow to just 4 picks.

1. 2024 Riesling “Terroir d’Excellence”: Estate fruit, made from very slate-heavy soil. Very mineral nose; not petrol-ish at all.
2. 2019 Chardonnay No. 5: Interesting! Made with native yeast, which is a style I enjoy but haven’t seen much in the Finger Lakes. Flower-y, barrel tannin
3. 2021 Barrel Select Pinot Noir: Earth palate; reminded me a lot of an Oregon Pinot.
4. 2021 Barrel Select Cabernet Franc: Very expressive on the nose. Ends with a note of plum note at the end, but not overly ‘bright’ outside that.

Day 1, Stop 3: Apollo’s Praise (west side of Seneca)

By a stroke of good luck I happened to make an appointment in between visits from several well-known wine critics. That meant a lot of bottles that aren’t normally open were available for tasting.

Cue happy dance.

The ‘tasting room’ is a non-descript barn at their Lahoma vineyard, but that’s no big deal to me. It’s the vineyard(s) that count, with 35 acres planted here, and another 35-ish planted between several nearby parcels.

Sarah took me on a vineyard tour then a tasting through a very extensive wine list, which included some of the best wines of the trip. Certain wines came from specific blocks.

1. 2025 Riesling: From 3 parcels put together. Flowery palate, a little herbal.
2. 2025 Pentecostal Block Riesling: Very expressive nose. I actually thought it was a Gewürztraminer at first.
3. 2025 The Knoll (Lahoma Vineyard): Grown from their most prestigious block, selected because of its well-drained soils. Several publications including Vinous and James Suckling praised the recent 2024 vintage as amongst their top wines of 2025.
4. 2025 Lovejoy (white blend): Made with Chardonnay, Riesling, and Gruner Veltliner. No notes.
5. 2024 Cabernet Franc: No notes, but I purchased a bottle so I must have liked it a lot.
6. 2024 The Knoll Select Riesling: Made in style of a German Trockenbeerenauslese (the pinnacle of German sweet wines), this was possibly the best Botrytis wine I’ve had in years. It very much reminded me of an excellent Sauternes. This bottle happened to be open so I had a rare opportunity to try it. I promise if you had told me this was a Sauternes, I would have believed you. It was that good.
7. Rosé (Gamay): This is not a weak, ‘drink now’ rosé. This wine has muscle. I purchased a bottle to take home.
8. Gamay: Everyday drinking wine.

Day 2, Stop 1: Point of the Bluff Vineyard (west side of Keuka)

I did a separate blog entry for this visit, so I’ll keep this to a quick summary.

Point of the Bluff is located near Keuka and uses one of few south-facing vineyards in the Finger Lakes. Winemaker Jordan Harris (formerly from Virginia’s Tarara winery, and then nearby Heron Hill) has been doing a great job at this more intimate location.

Jordan produces multiple Rieslings, and I was a big fan of this 2025 Point of the Bluff wine (their 15-acre ‘estate’ wine).

But the wine that surprised me the most was his 2025 Caywood Vineyard Blaufränkisch. Blau isn’t normally one of my go-to wines, but this was soft, earthy, and very drinkable. It’s also the grape that he feels is best suited for the Finger Lakes; even more so that Cabernet Franc, which has gotten a lot of attention lately.

Day 2, Stop 2: Kemmeter Wines (west side of Seneca)

Kemmeter has been a must-visit since I first discovered them. Owner/winemaker Johannes Reinhardt makes top-notch wines, but that’s just part of the experience. I love how he takes time to provide visitors with a wine education; something easily to do given he conducts all the wine tastings himself.

Johannes doesn’t like to give tasting descriptors, since he feels they would overly influence the guest experience. But he does encourage crosstalk with his audience (which is easy – group sizes are capped at 6 guests) and his favorite trick is to play the ‘guess the sweetness’ game.

We tried 5 wines, including a red blend, 3 Rieslings, and a Pinot Blanc (no Pinot Noir this time, sadly). Like all of his wine, the fruit came from his 8-acre vineyard.

I took home two wines:

• Sonero red blend (59% Pinot, 17% Cab Franc, 12% Blaufränkisch, 12% Zweigelt). A soft, light bodied, somewhat earthy red blend. Roasted pepper nose; wet soil on the palate.

• Riesling #2 (Two Notes): I call it ‘two notes’ since he uses musical symbols to denote how much residual sugar he uses. It was still off dry but barely. More pronounced nose. Very subdued notes of petrol on the nose. Orchard fruit on the palate. This was my favorite of the lineup.

Day 2, Stop 3: Nathan K (at Hickory Hollow, west side of Seneca))

While this trip focused on ‘famous’ wineries, I also visited a few new locations, especially ones that weren’t afraid to experiment. Nathan K fit that bill.

Nathan K (short for Nathan Kendall Wines) is a low-intervention producer. That means a focus on native yeasts, limited use of pesticides, and often a preference for hybrids or American grapes. While I came for wines made from his personal label, Nathan also makes the wines at Hickory Hollow, which is where his “Nathan K” wines are served.

The lineup was impressively broad. I tried their Rosé, Pinot Noir, a 2021 Cab Franc, 2025 Cab Franc, a Beaujolais-style red, a Blaufränkisch, Pet Nat, and a Saperavi.

The standout was the Pet Nat, which was also made in the style of an orange wine. It was really tart, with notes of orange peel. What was extra fascinating is it was made with the Delaware grape, a variety I almost never see.

I usually don’t like nouveau-style wines, but that 25 Cab Franc was also really good. I found it a very easy drinking, fruit-forward red.

If you’re looking for easy drinking, well-made hybrids – come here.

Day 2, Stop 4: Trestle Thirty One (downtown Geneva)

I visited a dozen locations but only did blogs on a handful. Trestle Thirty One was so great, it made the cut easily. Read that blog for a more detailed write up.

When planning this trip I admit I was overly focused on locations that hug the shores of the main lakes. But once I read the biography of its winemaker, Nova Cadamatre, I wanted to go.

In 2017 Nova became the first female winemaker in the US to earn the Master of Wine title, one of the most rigorous and prestigious credentials in the wine industry. She’s also the former Senior Director of Winemaking for Robert Mondavi, amongst other cool job titles.

This was my first urban tasting room in the Finger Lakes. Fortunately parking was easy. It helped I was already planning on staying in Geneva, plus the tasting for Element Winery was walking distance so I could do a double-header.

My server selected an expanded flight for me, with an emphasis on Rieslings. I liked-to-loved the entire lineup, but the 2022 Dry Riesling took my heart.

Day 2, Stop 5: Element Winery (downtown Geneva, at F.L.X. Provisions)

The combination of Element Winery and Trestle Thirty One should be sufficient for anyone to stay in downtown Geneva. It helps they are easy walking distance of one another.

Element’s wines are served at F.L.X. Provisions, a wine store adjacent to the restaurant F.L.X. Table. The entire enterprise is run by winemaker/executive chef/Master Sommelier Chris Bates.

Provisions is small but cozy. Not content with a single flight, I combined their “IOE” and “Element Winery” flight options. I suspect my server may have given me a few bonus pours as well.

I enjoyed the 2022 and 2023 dry Rieslings, plus the 2019 Equilibrium Chardonnay. But it was the reds that really stood out to me.

The 2021 Pinot had earth and fruit in equal proportions. The 2017 Syrah and 2017 Syrah Reserve were among my favorites of the flights. The first was spicy and juicy, with the Reserve was smoother and still had a lot of fruit in it.

Yet the single biggest standout was the 2010 Riesling, which was the oldest wine I had on my trip. Very full bodied for a white, and shows you how well Riesling can age.

A shout out to the food – I absolutely stuffed myself on multiple small plates, plus that bread!

Day 2, Stop 6: Once Finger Lakes Wine Bar (west side of Seneca)

Once was highly recommended to me, but what really sealed the deal is I learned they serve wine from Heart & Hands (one of the highlights of my previous trip, but too far away to get to). I made sure to make a visit before they closed for the evening.

Once uses self-service wine dispensers to pour their wine. Want a full glass? No problem! Want 5 tiny samples instead? Also no problem! A visit here is a great way to explore the wider Finger Lakes region without having to drive to individual wineries.

The only thing I was disappointed about is they were actually out of Heart & Hands Pinot. But kudos to the team here for giving me plenty of other recommendations, to include some crazy wines I never otherwise would have tried.

Day 3, Stop 1: Hermann J. Wiemer (west side of Seneca)

I’ve praised Hermann J enough times that I don’t feel I need to go into detail about them again. But suffice to say; they were just as awesome on my 4^th visit as they were the first time I discovered them.

Unlike most wineries that provide a ‘pick 4 wines’ wine flight, Herman J gives you the option of building a tasting menu that can be as large or small as you want. The downside is their mini wine carafes are meant to be shared by 2 people.

Fortunately, I lucked out by having Juan as my server. He saw I didn’t need full sized servings, so he gave me half-sized pours while throwing in a few ‘bonus’ wines to my flight.

Juan – if you’re reading this, not all heroes wear capes. Just saying.

Wines I tried:

1. 2023 H.J.W. Riesling: Made in stainless steel, which emphasized its fresh and fruit-driven profile. A cut above their ‘standard’ wine.
2. 2023 H.J.W. Biodynamic: Perfumy nose and flowery on the palate
3. 2023 Magdalena Riesling: Made from a warmer site. More fruit on the palate, more pronounced nose
4. 2024 Joseph Vineyard: Sweet! I was warned but I tried it anyway.
5. 2024 Magdalena Cabernet Franc: It had a sort of raspberry/jolly rancher nose to it, while the wine itself was super juicy. It really stood out amongst the cab francs I had on this trip.

Day 3, Stop 2: Hillick & Hobbs Estate (southern point of Seneca)

This was one of the few locations so awesome I did a standalone blog on my visit. Check it out for the full details.

Hillick & Hobbs provided the best Riesling flight of my 3-day trip. And I say that with all due respect to Trestle Thirty One, Kemmeter, Forge, and Hermann J. Wiemer.

Two flights were being offered; a vertical of 2021-2024 Estate Rieslings (with 2021 added in last minute), and a 2024 vintage horizontal (adding in two oak fermented parcel specific wines). I ended up getting both.

What I tried:

1. 2021 Estate Riesling: The most different of the lineup; probably because it was a wet year in the FLX. More fruit forward.
2. 2022 Estate Riesling: Made in steel. Super balanced and delicious.
3. 2023 Estate Riesling: Used 5% oak fermentation but otherwise done in steel. A close contender with 2022.
4. 2024 Estate Riesling: 100% steel. Amazingly concentrated.
5. 2024 North Ravine (made in neutral French oak): No notes…but wow! Bought a bottle.
6. 2024 Lower Terrace (also made in neutral French oak): Super complex. Easily one of the best of my trip

The 2022-2024 Estate Rieslings were easily cousins, in terms of their shared minerality and precise balance. The 2022 had a slight edge, with the North Ravine as my runner-up.

Until a few months ago, I’d never even heard of Hillick & Hobbs. Now, this location is going to be on *every* trip itinerary. Easily a “Top 3” for the entire region.

Day 3, Stop 3: Osmote Wine (southern point of Seneca)

I think it’s poetic that I ended my trip with a tiny producer who makes most of his wine from hybrid or American grapes.

Osmote Wine is owned and made by Ben Riccardi. Ben is a believer in low-intervention winemaking. Since low-intervention means limited intervention in the cellar and vineyard, he gravitated towards the use of American and hybrid grapes for most of the wines he uses.

The tasting room is right above Hillick & Hobbs, but the two locations couldn’t be more different. Osmote’s outdoors-only location is entirely seasonal, although a tasting building is in the works.

The wines were generally tasty, drink-now kinds of wines. I think you have to be at least open to hybrid wines to enjoy them. But if you’re on the fence about them, then I recommend a visit to become a believer. It helps the price points were also very reasonable.

My server gave me a full lineup, but a few especially stood out.

1. Cayuga Pet-Nat: Not a ‘natural’ wine, but definitely low-intervention. Very easy drinking. Think of an elevated ‘porch sipper’.
2. 2023 Red Fox: Very fruity nose but was heavy enough to stand up to food.
3. 2025 Cabernet Franc: Super light and juicy.
4. 2024 Purple Rain (Marquette): I was too busy to take notes

I ended my trip with a glass of Purple Rain and enjoyed the view of Seneca.

Highlights

This being my 4^th trip to the Finger Lakes, I still discovered a few things.

1. More Cabernet Franc than ever. Cab Franc is now the most planted red grape in the Finger Lakes. I shouldn’t be surprised by this; it’s grown in popularity all along the East Coast. Yet seeing it firsthand really drove it home for me.
2. Loved the Geneva Wine Bars: Trestle Thirty One and Element/F.L.X. Provisions were outstanding. If you’re visiting the Finger Lakes, do a stop here and try both. I’d also throw in Once Finger Lakes wine bar for another great non-winery experience.
3. Best Single Wine: 2022 Dry Riesling from Trestle Thirty One was the best Riesling, although the Apollo’s Praise 2024 The Knoll Select Riesling and the 2024 North Ravine from Hillick & Hobbs Estate was up there.
4. Best Riesling Flight: Hillick & Hobbs Estate. Several have an argument for best single wine of the trip, but I couldn’t decide between them.
5. Biggest Surprise Favorite: Nathan K Pét-Nat with Delaware grapes (and brief skin contact). Just so easy drinking. Love the added profile that came from the skin contact.
6. Hybrids I Liked: Normally I’m a skeptic on hybrids, but I genuinely enjoyed the Nathan K wine and the Purple Rain from Osmote.

For many Virginians, NOVA is their gateway to exploring local wine. Over 100 wineries are in this part of the state, most within an hour’s drive from DC.

NOVA’s status as one of the wealthiest areas of the United States influences the wine experiences that are available. While traditional farm-style tasting rooms are still the norm, newer wineries are introducing more specialized experiences, including a focus on sparkling wine or food pairings.

The region’s relative wealth also facilitates new winery investment, despite the challenges facing the broader wine industry. In NOVA, even wineries that change hands often find owners willing to upgrade facilities and hospitality experiences.

Here is a summary of wineries that have opened (or are about to open) in NOVA since 2025.

Catamaran Hills Vineyard (39775 Wenner Rd, Lovettsville, VA 20180)

Visitors familiar with Virginia wine country will recognize the intimate, owner-operated atmosphere at Catamaran Hills Vineyard. Owner Harish Kunshetty is likely to personally guide visitors through a tasting of his wines, a rarity in today’s wine industry.

Harish is an avid wine enthusiast who decided to open his own winery in 2025. Knowing he needed an experienced hand in the wine business, he turned to Virginia ‘wine godfather’ Doug Fabbioli for assistance.

Doug helped Harish find his new property, a hillside north of Leesburg. Together, they established several acres of vines, which now form the basis of Catamaran’s wines.

The vineyard is planted with varieties familiar to Virginia wine country. One exciting exception is Carménère, a Bordeaux grape now better known for its new home in Chile.

The winery offers outdoor seating only, so call ahead to confirm its opening status and make a reservation. Be sure to check out their sparkling Petit Manseng and Cabernet Franc, both of which earned Gold at the 2026 Loudoun Wine Awards.

Ovoka Farm Winery (750 Ovoka Farm Ln, Paris, VA 20130)

Anyone who’s hiked Sky Meadows State Park has seen Ovoka Farm in the distance. Situated on the northern end of the park, the farm’s red-roofed manor home and grain silos have long been magnets for local photographers.

Ovoka started as a farm raising Wagyu beef. Wagyu is prized for its fine marbling and tenderness, the result of a low-stress life. Chefs love it, and Ovoka sells its beef to an assortment of local restaurants and through its on-premises food truck.

One drawback of Wagyu is that it’s not easy for non-chefs to cook. To compensate, Ovoka bred its Wagyu cattle with traditional American Angus. Its 400-head herd is now comprised of ‘F1 Wagyu,’ a 50/50 cross with the best traits of both.

In early 2026, Ovoka expanded its operations to include a winery. They don’t yet have vines at the farm, but Bull Run winemaker Kendell Anderson now makes Ovoka’s wine on the property.

Visitors can also enjoy Ovoka’s wines at its wine and produce store or at one of its Wagyu & Wine tasting events.

Petit Domaine (37938 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro, VA 20132)

Petit Domaine opened in October 2025 with one goal – to make high-quality bubbly. They remain the only Virginia winery tasting room dedicated to traditional-method sparkling wine (although they do sell some still wine from partner labels).

Their focus on traditional-method bubbly (the same process used in Champagne) isn’t a coincidence. Winemaker Shai Van Gelder explained it this way: “Champagne is the world’s gold standard for sparkling wine. Petit Domaine is making wine this way precisely because it’s difficult, not despite it.”

In keeping with its status as a premium destination, Petit Domaine also has some of the fanciest events in Virginia. These range from a test drive experience in an Aston Martin to caviar pairings.

Petit Domaine’s own sparkling wines won’t be ready until 2028, but guests can enjoy traditional-method sparkling wines that serve as inspiration for the winery’s future releases.

Silver Dog Vineyards (139 Feathers Lane, Linden, VA 22642)

In July 2026, Silver Dog Vineyard  joined what is arguably the best ‘winery neighborhood’ in Virginia, with neighbors including Linden Vineyards, Capstone, Crimson Lane, and Accord (former Fox Meadow).

This isn’t by accident. Owner Eric Gronning explained he deliberately picked a site near Jim Law of Linden Vineyards, one of his inspirations for Virginia wine.

Eric purchased this 18-acre hilltop farm in 2018 from a local attorney. Not only did the farm come with steep slopes and higher elevation, but it already had an acre of vines. The winery also plans to add a full-service kitchen.

Silver Dog aims to produce around 1,200 cases/year, using exclusively estate-grown fruit. While their current lineup focuses on more traditional French grapes, one unusual addition for Virginia is Sagrantino, a high-tannin, medium-acidity Italian grape indigenous to Central Italy.

OH’s Vineyard (35246 Leesburg Pike #190, Round Hill, VA 20141)

OH’s is Virginia’s newest winery, scheduled to open in early October (as of the time of this writing).

Husband-and-wife owners Walo Ortiz and Ana Hirsbrunner purchased the former Bogati Bodega space in 2026 while searching for a home for their future tasting room. “We fell in love with the space as soon as we saw it,” Ana exclaimed while giving a tour of the premises.

While the tasting room is still undergoing its finishing touches, their wine is already available for purchase (courtesy of their partnership with Petit Domaine). OH’s also has plans for a line of sparkling wines.

Calling the space a ‘tasting room’ may be an understatement, as their ‘Wine Salon’ will be a winery/restaurant combination. The restaurant wasn’t originally planned, but is a natural extension given Walo’s culinary background.

Guests will be able to sample OH’s lineup, but Walo also wants patrons to enjoy a farm-to-table experience featuring local food and wines from other Virginia producers.

Septenary Winery at Seven Oaks Farm and Blenheim Vineyard are two wineries that, at least at a glance, couldn’t seem more different.

Septenary’s tasting room is a historic manor house, giving it a boujee, Instagram-able vibe. They are still serving reds from the 2017 and 2019 vintage as they prefer to age their wines for an extended time.

By contrast, Blenheim’s tasting room is more casual than fancy, although I do enjoy the alpine-lodge view as you walk in. Their wines use screwcaps instead of corks since they are made to be enjoyed fairly young.

Both have different styles of winemaking, but they do have one thing in common – trailblazing female winemakers.

Kirsty Harmon has been Blenheim’s winemaker since 2008, making her one of the longest-tenured female winemakers in Virginia. She was once mentored by Gabriele Rausse (whose own winery is down the street) but has since become a mentor herself.

One of the many she’s mentored was a young harvest intern named Corry Craighill. You may have heard of her – she won the Virginia Governor’s Cup in 2026.

Corry’s main gig is at Septenary, where she’s made wine since 2020. Corry also makes wine for Wound Tight (her private label) and Valley Road.

Septenary Winery

Septenary’s full name is “Septenary Winery at Seven Oaks Farm”. They originally wanted to brand themselves “Seven Oaks” but that name was already taken. So they adopted “Septenary” as reference to the number “7”.

It’s definitely one of the prettiest wineries in the area. The farm is huge, although the size of the vineyard has fluctuated over time. They are currently replanting older blocks, with plans to go from 3 acres to 9 acres, exclusively focused on red varieties (they source white grapes locally, including Blenheim).

Last year I met Corry pouring her Wound Tight brand at an event at Walsh Family wine. I loved her “Root Chatter” (one of the few Saparavis made in Virginia) and “Little Light” (a sauv blanc with some kick), but I had to ask – when are the reds she made at Septenary coming out?

Turns out, not for a while. But she was willing to give me a sneak peek.

Fast forward a year, and Corry kindly organized a small tasting for a small group of friends.

She poured three 2021 vintage red blends and a 2022 cabernet franc. One of these is currently for sale, while the others won’t hit the tasting room until 2027.

I initially thought the delay in introducing these wines was because of a backlog in their wine inventory. Not so, Corry clarified.

It turns out the owners prefer to age their wines for an extended time (16-18 months in barrel, plus 2 years in the bottle). Besides that, they had no fruit in 2020, so 2021 was actually the first time Corry was able to make wine at Septenary.

When you do that math, it makes sense that only now is Septenary introducing their 2021 reds blends, all named from parts of the property.

And I’m here to tell you – they are worth the wait. All of them were good to exceptional, leaning towards a lighter style.

• 2022 Cabernet Franc: A little bit herbaceous with a spice note. Red pepper but no bell pepper. A lighter expression of cab franc, and very yummy.

• 2021 Cloverplains (61% Merlot/23% PV/15% Cab Franc): Approachable, but still Old World in style (actually, this can be said for many of her wines). Sweet/confectionary note on the nose. The kind of wine you bring to an event and everyone will enjoy it. It turned out to be very food friendly as well (thank you Greenwood Grocer).

• 2021 Carriage House (50/50 Merlot and PV): Flashier than the Cloverplains but still graceful, silky. Slightly more oak treatment than previous wine.

• 2021 Deacon (58% Tannat/42% PV): Notes of purple flower on the nose, and plum on the palate. This was a ‘big’ wine, although not quite as heavy as some other PV/Tannat blends (which is meant as a compliment).

Blenheim Vineyards

Next up was Blenheim.

Kenny Bumbaco had won a group tasting from the We the Wine People auction and graciously invited a group of other friends to join him, myself included. It turned out that Kirsty was guiding our tasting herself.

Kristy has been working in Charlottesville for a while, although she’s also spent time in New Zealand. Her time there inspired her to adopted screwcaps for her wines.

Screwcaps get a bad rap from wine snobs. While the technology behind using them has advanced considerably, they still are primarily used for wines not designed to age.

That said, they make sense for Blenheim, since most of their wines are meant to be enjoyed young. This also allows them to make some of the most affordable Virginia-made wines out there.

Kristy’s extended tasting also showed us that at least some of these wines have aging potential, at least from better vintages.

I don’t have extensive notes on everything, so I’ll summarize what we had instead

1. 2023 “Blanc de Blenheim”: 100% Chardonnay, aged 1 year on the lees. Nice brioche nose despite the relatively short aging time.
2. 2024 Sauv Blanc: This was a dead ringer for a NZ sauv blanc, a style that I find rare in Virginia. Super aromatic.
3. 2024 Chardonnay (made in steel): Bright and crisp. Lots of orchard fruit notes
4. 2023 Chardonnay (oak and steel): More weight, a little creamy
5. 2022 Blenheim Farm Chardonnay (oak and steel): Nutty; my favorite of the 3.
6. 2021 Painted White (blend of Chardonnay/Vio/Sauv Blanc): Very aromatic and a little viscous
7. 2023 Painted White (Chardonnay/Roussanne/Viognier/Sauv Blanc): Complex, but can be enjoyed on its own
8. Dry Rose’: Grenache and some other grapes I didn’t catch. Loved the orange/salmon color. Savory
9. 2021 Farm Red: Juicy! Jolly rancher notes. A good candidate for a chill-able red. Funny story; Kristy originally named this “Table Red” but ‘a chef’ recommended she change that name. That chef was Jose’ Andreas.
10. 2025 Merlot: Fresh and fruity, with lots of acidity. Made in steel.
11. 2024 Painted Red: Too many grapes in here to name. Very crushable
12. 2012 Painted Red: The surprise of the day. Kristy brought this out as a special treat. Still good, despite everything I said earlier about screwcap-topped wines not being age-able.

It’s not difficult for Virginia wine lovers to find a headline that reads, ‘Winery for sale’. Between slowing wine sales internationally, climate change creating difficult conditions for viticulture, and invasive insects which damage vineyards, saying ‘these are tough times for the wine industry’ may undersell the challenges local wineries face.

The momentum that propelled the industry for decades is indeed shifting. The Virginia wine industry has grown non-stop since the 1980s. Between 2005 and 2025 alone, the number of local tasting rooms grew from 100 to nearly 300.

This growth stalled in 2025. For the first time in the history of the modern Virginia wine industry, there were more winery closings (10) than openings (3).

It would be easy to blame these shifts on the wine industry’s wider downturn. Between tariffs and extreme weather events, local owners may be more inclined than ever to look for an exit plan.

The overall picture is far more complicated.

A Rebalancing in the Virginia Wine Industry

For starters, there is a generational shift in winery ownership.

Owners have traditionally preferred sales to be kept private until the last moment to avoid alarming their regular clientele. The increasingly public nature of recent transactions may indicate there is less of a stigma over having a ‘for sale’ sign than in the past.

While there is very real economic pressure on the wine industry, the number of wineries for sale has increased only modestly in recent years, according to Janine Aquino, a Virginia-based real estate agent specializing in winery acquisitions.

“5 years ago, there were maybe 30 wineries for sale. Today, there are around 40, mainly from legacy owners wanting to retire. It’s a shifting of the guard, not the doomsday that everyone makes this out to be,” Aquino explained via email.

Aquino points to another trend. Many of today’s wineries have been in business for more than a decade, often under owners who retired from a previous career or continue to run another business.

This suggests the perceived surge in winery sales is at least as much about legacy owners wanting to move to the next chapter of their lives as it is about financial stress. The issue can be particularly acute for owners who do not have children willing to take over the family business.

Even wineries that are at the top of their game are looking to sell or close.

Warrenton’s Granite Heights Winery is among them. Owners Toni and Luke Kilyk’s 2024 Humility earned a Top-12 spot in the 2026 Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition. Yet soon afterward, the couple announced they were closing the winery.

“Luke and I started this business 18 years ago from the ground up,” Toni explained. “For a mom and pop winery to have been in the Governor’s case twice in 10 years implies we are doing something right.

Though we still have our other jobs, we decided to retire from the wine business to have more free time to travel and visit with friends and relatives.”

The Kilyks are hardly alone. Many of Virginia’s most famous brands are not just changing hands; their new owners are also looking for opportunities to expand.

In 2024, RdV Vineyards was purchased by Château Montrose, a high-end winery in Bordeaux. Two years later, both Barboursville and Veritas Vineyards went under new ownership.

At Barboursville, the new ownership group has pledged to continue investing in the property’s wine, hospitality, and historic grounds. Veritas’ new owners are likewise expanding their overnight lodging program, which Aquino described as a critical component of the winery’s future success.

Even the 2025 reversal may be a blip. In Northern Virginia alone, 2026 has already seen the opening of Silver Dog Vineyards and Ovoka Farm. Wildkind Estate, OH Vineyard, and others are not far behind.

Ownership Isn’t the Only Thing Changing

This generational change is affecting Virginia wine in other ways. New owners are increasingly choosing to rely on contract winemakers for production. Other wine brands are opting to forego a physical tasting room altogether.

The rise of ‘wine incubators’ such as Common Wealth Crush, The Virginia Wine Collective, and Walsh Family Wine demonstrates this trend.

These incubators fill a crucial role by giving new wine brands access to space, equipment, and winemaking expertise without the expense of building a winery of their own. This has been especially beneficial for communities that have traditionally had limited representation in the wine world.

Incubators have also helped fuel the rise of ‘micro-brands.’ These ultra-small production brands primarily sell their wine through pop-up events and retail rather than through a traditional tasting room.

There are benefits to keeping a wine brand small. Unlike larger brick-and-mortar wineries, these micro-brands don’t have the expenses associated with a physical tasting room. Limited inventory also reduces their exposure to the financial risks of an industry awash in unsold wine.

Perhaps most importantly, the small-batch nature of their model means these owners can take stylistic risks that larger brands may shy away from. Wines made through Common Wealth Crush, for example, have focused on lighter, more approachable styles (many using hybrid grapes) that have resonated with younger drinkers.

Change is nothing new for Virginia wine. The pioneers who helped establish the modern industry in the 1970s largely started with mom-and-pop wineries that relied heavily on hybrid grapes. Over time, the industry learned that vinifera grapes capable of producing fine wine could thrive in Virginia. More recently, wineries have pivoted toward event-based models and added non-alcoholic options to meet changing consumer demands.

This latest generational change is not just inevitable; it may be healthy for the industry. Business models that worked 20 years ago may be increasingly out of sync with the demands of today’s wine market, particularly as the industry’s traditional clientele gets older.

So raise a glass to what this latest generation of winery owners will bring.

Lucie Morton and DuCard Vineyards are one heck of a combo. An event with either would interest me. Combining them is enough to make me giddy.

This past weekend Lucie gave a presentation that ranged from how she got into ampelography, her research proving Norton and Cynthiana are different grapes, to her upcoming documentary Immigrant Grapes: The Odyssey of Forbidden Wines which documents the diaspora of American hybrid grapes, and Cunningham in particular, in the late 19th century.

If that’s not enough, I was able to get a sample of DuCard’s 2023 Norton and his sparkling Norton/Vio blend, Dorothy’s Slippers (although my favorite of the day was the excellent 2023 Triskele red blend).

I don’t recall this event being named, but I’d like to think of it as “hybrid-palooza”. And BTW -this was the latest in long list of great events hosted by DuCard.

For wine lovers who’ve never been – you’re missing out on a place that’s one of my Top-10 wineries in the state. Not only do I love the wine, DuCard has hosted everything from guest speakers like Lucie, “Dark Sky” astronomy viewings, and chocolate pairings with a Master Chocolatier who works with Lindt.

But I digress. Let’s talk about Lucie.

Lucie gave an informal lecture to a packed room, starting with a recap of her career as an ampelographer; a specialist who studies and identifies grapevines. So rare is this field only a few people are recognized as practicing it, and Lucie is perhaps the most famous ampelographer in the world.

Her accomplishments are too numerous to mention them all, so I’ll just list some highlights:

• It was Lucie who first translated Précis d’Ampélographie Pratique (A Practical Ampelography: Grapevine Identification), a seminal work on the subject

• She helped prove California nurseries were inadvertently selling plant material that was already infected with undiscovered diseases, thus saving vineyards down the line from planting diseased vines

• Lucie also helped popularize the practice of planting vineyard rows tightly together. She understood early on that such dense plantings reduced the water available to the vines, forcing them to struggle. Since struggling vines produce better fruit, that resulted in better wine.

But you know what accomplishment she’s most thrilled to discuss? That she got to name one of the diseases she discovered. 

And best of all, she named it “Black Goo”.

So yeah – she’s pretty much the most down-to-earth person you could meet.

After her introduction, we did a deep dive on one of her favorite subjects – hybrid grapes. 

Norton and Cynthiana – Not the Same Grape!

She set the tone with one of my favorite quotes of the day: “Immigrant grapes were discriminated against, as all immigrants are”.

Hybrid grapes are almost by definition immigrants, as they have both American and European DNA. This combo makes themvery weather and disease resistant, traits that winemakers love.

Unfortunately, wine snobs have traditionally looked down on such grapes, making them less commercially appealing. This is despite her insistence that “young consumers don’t want snobby vinifera”.

Lucie doesn’t have any tolerance for wine snobbery. She quoted one winemaker who said “There are no bad grape varieties. Only bad winemakers,” which summarizes her views on the subject.

Norton is one such ‘immigrant grape,’ although to this day its exact DNA ancestry isn’t clear. But it’s not just the ancestry of Norton that’s confusing, its identifying what grapes are *actually* Norton.

Norton often referred to by another name – Cynthiana. Many places use the names Cynthiana and Norton interchangeably.

But some years ago, Lucie realized something – Norton and Cynthiana are in fact two different grapes that were mistakenly mixed together. And she’s been fighting to get this fact recognized for years.

From what I’ve gathered so far, Norton juice is somewhat darker and more rustic, while Cynthiana is a little more graceful. Unfortunately, plantings of the two are now so mixed together around the state it’s almost impossible to separate them.

Lucie is so good at her job she can tell the two apart just by examining their leaves:

• Norton: According to her, Norton leaves are ‘shaped like a bat’. It also has a rougher underside

• Cynthiana: Has a smoother underside, and no ‘bat wings’

• While I originally thought these two varieties might be cousins, apparently, they are more distantly related than I originally thought. Maybe not cousins at all, in fact.

She even did a little show-and-tell. Not sure if you can tell in the photos, but the leaf on the left is Norton, while the right one is Cynthiana.

Immigrant Grapes: The Odyssey of Forbidden Wines

Our chat about Norton was a natural segue about hybrid grapes in general, including an upcoming documentary called The Odyssey of Forbidden Wines.

The documentary is spiritual successor of another film she participated in; Vitis Prohibita. But whereas the former was specifically about French American hybrid grapes that are ‘forbidden’ in France, Odyssey is specifically about the Cunningham grape, and broadly about the journey of largely forgotten American grapes that found their way overseas.

It turns out that Cunningham is something of a ‘spirit grape’ for Lucie in particular. You might say it’s part of her family history.

Her ancestors are Huguenots (French Protestants) who she can trace back to the 16th century, from the Champagne region of France.

Religious oppression forced them to flee their homeland. And their means of escape?

To hide in wine barrels during their crossing from France into Holland. Because of course that’s how a relative of Lucie Morton would escape to freedom.

She has another connection to this grape. Lucie believes these same ancestors took with them seeds of a French cultivar named Meslier Petit, which today is a minor white grape still used in Champagne.

Those ancestors eventually immigrated to Virginia, where she believes they planted Meslier Petit. Those French vines in turn pollinated an unknown American grape, leading to the creation of a red grape known as Bland.

Bland in turn is the parent for the source of Lucie’s current fascination: Cunningham. This grape originated in 1812 in Prince Edward County (also home to Lucie’s family farm) and was a popular varietal in 19th century American winemaking.

This timing is important. The worldwide spread of phylloxera devastated European vineyards, forcing winemakers to rely upon American grapes (including Cunningham) for several decades before the widespread use of grafting. Once grafting took off, those grapes dropped in popularity.

Dropped – but didn’t disappear. While France eventually banned the planting of American hybrids, some rural farmers hid their hybrid grapes and continued to make them in secret (I can’t recommend Vitis Prohibita enough to learn more).

It’s fortunate these farmers secretly kept their vines, because Cunningham disappeared when Prohibition forced US farmers to tear out their vineyards.

That backstory led to Lucie’s most recent mission – to bring back Cunningham to the USA. 

I won’t narrate the entire film, but the short version is not only did she find Cunningham in France, but she also found it on the Portuguese island of Madeira. 

It turns out that Cunningham’s leaves are so distinctive she recognized them immediately shortly after arriving on the island. Lucie even knocked on a stranger’s door to ask if she could inspect a vine she saw in his yard (she has a running joke she can recognize grapes from the passenger side of a car going 30 miles an hour).

You’d think Madeira is an odd choice for Cunningham, but there is a logic to local farmers continuing to use it even after other options became available. Cunningham is a high-sugar grape, which Lucie noted makes it especially useful in making fortified wine (Isabella is another grape she discovered on the island). 

Suffice to say Cunningham’s journey back to the US has been arduous – but ultimately successful. Lucie finally got her vines and planted them at her family farm, Morland, along the bank of the Potomac.

Immigrant Grapes: The Odyssey of Forbidden Wines is still being shopped around at film festivals and awaiting a distributor. But I’m really looking forward to it, and DuCard owner Scott Elliff suggested he might host a viewing party.

Go see it. And pair the viewing with a 2023 Norton…or Triskele.