One of my favorite visits in all of the Blue Ridge AVA wineries I’ve visited. All wineries have a story behind them, but I’d say Iron Heart’s story is among the coolest. The name has a double meaning; it honors the site’s history as a steel mill, as well as the strength of character of the women who once owned the farm.

Their wine labels reflect this background. All of them depict the various ladies who work here or family & friends of the vineyard. It may well be the most feminist line of wine labels I’ve ever seen.

The winery is a bit out of the way. This area isn’t famous for its vineyards (although it could be – this corner of Virginia is choc-full of good places to visit) so you need a bit of motivation to make this trip. It is farm country almost all the way, with a smattering of reminders of SW Virginia’s industrial age.

I visited on a slow day so I had the place mostly to myself. The tasting room is very cozy, and is decorated with little farm tchotchkes on the wall.  My server was kind enough to guide me through the farm’s history as she poured.

Their vineyard has 10 acres of vines. While the focus is on hybrids, they have some Riesling, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc as well. While the winery has only been open since 2016, the vines were planted before that so they’ve had fruit for a while.

I was a little surprised that two Rieslings were available; a dry and a sweet. Fun fact – the high elevation here means this is one of the few places in Virginia that Riesling grows relatively well. But my favorites of the tasting were the dry Chardonnay and the smooth Cabernet Franc (which will go to mom in the future).

New River is a neat little place tucked away in a residential area. It’s still new-ish; only opening in late 2016. The tasting room is the basement/backyard of the owner’s home, and the vineyard (I think they have a total of 5 acres) was next door.

When I visited it was PACKED – people were hanging out on the patio having a few glasses. I got the sense this was a favorite local hangout. And why not? I rather like the idea of a place I can walk home from.

Anthony was my server, and he took me through a tasting of a smattering of their dryer wines. The menu is varied – I saw everything from dry muscadine to sauv blanc to strawberry wines available. Needless to say, they have something for every palate – doubly so if you enjoy sweet wines.

While most of their wines were locally sourced, they also imported some muscadine fruit from North Carolina (a growing wine destination in its own right). They also had a sizable number of fruit wines, and (not tasted) a chocolate mint wine. Most of their wines trended towards sweet and made in steel, although I concentrated on the dryer options.

Across the board I found their wines to be easy drinking. My (surprise) favorite varietal was a hybrid called Leon Millot – a grape normally found in southern France. I’d never heard of it before and was impressed with this choice. But I could go for the semi-sweet Sauv Blanc as well.

They have far more wines than I could have easily tasted, but if you want to expand your palate, try it out.

To get to Giles Mountain, prepared to do a lot of driving. Fortunately this is a good thing, since the scenery here is drop dead gorgeous! Nestled in a small valley in the Blue Mountain AVA, Giles is a farm-turned-winery about 40 minutes away from Blacksburg. Suffice to say, unless you’re a local only people who are really interested in expanding their palate or chalking off names of a very long wine list are likely to visit.

My server explained how this was a passion project that sorta got out of hand (a common theme among wineries, no doubt). The tasting room is just around the corner from the owner’s home. The room was brand new, and takes advantage of the hilltop views.

As with most wineries in this area, they specialize in hybrids. The terroir of this area doesn’t lend itself to your typical Bordeaux varietals, so instead they planted 3-4 acres of Chambourcin and Vidal. All their wines are estate with the exception of some Cabernet Franc.

Given how much Chambourcin they have, they were doing flights of different vintages and ever decided to experiment a bit. What I tried:

“Prelude” Vidal: No notes on this one, although (truth in advertising) Vidal isn’t my favorite grape.

White Chambourcin: Reminded me of a dry rose. It’s called a ‘white’ because it’s made without any skin contact, so it looks like a white wine even though it’s a red.

Duet (Chambourcin/Cab Franc): Not bad, although the Cab really stood out.

2015 Chambourcin: Very fruity, even by Chambourcin standards. I ended up with a glass of this while I enjoyed the view outside.

2016 Chambourcin: I liked it, but not quite as much as the 2015.

Briede is a very different experience than most other wineries. For one it’s small – 5 acres of vines (half Cayuga and half a Cornell University hybrid grape called Arandell), the tasting room is tiny, and it’s a good distance away from…well…basically anything else. That said, I loved my experience.

Owners Paul and Loretta Briede were serving when I visited. They kindly gave me the history of the place, and explained how their love of wine and Champaign in particular encouraged them to build their own vineyard. Afterward Paul gave me a personal tour of his vineyard, including how he wanted to keep it as ‘organic’ as possible (2019 update: because of how bad the 2018 growing season was, they eventually introduced non-organic pesticide to combat black rot).

When I visited, four tasting options were available; 1) wines from the winery’s own vineyard, 2) a trio of roses, 3) an assortment of imported (but reasonably priced) French sparklings and roses, and 4) an assortment of even fancier sparklings. I did options #1 and #3.

When I saw they had Cayuga on the menu, I privately despaired – since I’ve always HATED this grape. Neither did I have high hopes for their Arandell, as hybrids are hit or miss for me. But color me shocked when I enjoyed both! Not surprisingly their wine maker is Matthew Finot, who is one of VA’s best.  

The Cayuga is made in an almost Champaign style, and the Arandell is kinda-sorta like some Italian varietals I’m more used to. It’s hard to describe, but this is definitely one of the best hybrids I’ve ever found.

Yes it’s far, but the chance to experiment with new wines and a great selection of imported sparklings makes it worth the trip.

Williamsburg is one of the oldest, biggest, and most award-winning wineries in Virginia. Opening in 1988 right outside Colonial Williamsburg, it occupies a huge expanse of tasting rooms and production facilities. It even has its own restaurant on premise – which I happily visited after my tasting for some crab cakes paired with Sauv Blanc. And if that’s not enough, they even have their own hotel. How’s this for ‘all inclusive’?

Because they are so busy it’s advisable to make a reservation in advance. Different tasting options are available, depending on if you’re looking to sample their library wines or not. You can also do a tour which includes an introduction to the history of Virginia wine. During my first visit years ago, this is where I first learned about how Thomas Jefferson is in fact the ‘godfather’ of American wines, and also how American vines saved wine production around the world after the phylloxera bug was accidentally unleashed.

At 40,000 cases a year (40 acres under vine, plus some grapes are brought in from California or Washington state) they are a BIG producer. The wines made from local grapes tend to be light on tannins (for reds) or heavy on the minerals (for whites).

I teamed up with a friend and picked different wines from their ‘standard’ tasting menu…although I think my server snuck in a few extra wines on top of that.

What I tried:

Sauvignon blanc: honeydew taste; went well with a seafood lunch.

Chardonnay (American oak): very light and fresh tasting.

“Midsummer” white: Semi dry, tasting creamy with a butterscotch nose

Governor’s White (Riesling): Washington grapes I think; very nice.

Claret: Nicely balanced red blend.

Petit Verdot: Early, not especially heavy.

Adagio: Excellent (and expensive) red blend, really big mouthfeel.

Gabrielle Archer: Very well balanced red

Moscotto desert wine: Too sweet for me, but not bad.

Located on the Delmarva Peninsula separating the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic (and only winery in the Chesapeake AVA), Chatham is a bit out of the way, even by Virginia wine standards. Operated by the Wehner family, they’ve been operating the place since it opened in 2005. Jon is actually a second-generation wine grower himself. I arrived early in the morning, and as the first visitor of the day I had the place to myself.

Visually the place is stunning. The property is right next to the water, so there was always a cool breeze to enjoy. You drive down the road past long rows of vines, passing the historic manor home (where the family still lives) before entering the production/tasting room.

Chatham’s story begins…35 million years ago (work with me here) when a meteor strike created what would become the Chesapeake Bay. The vineyard’s location on a peninsula can be described as a trade-off of different growing conditions; it never gets the heat a California-type vineyard gets, but at the same time it never gets particularly cold. The result is a terroir friendly to a lot of grapes, especially those who like mineral-rich whites.

Bordeaux’s influence is strong here. Today, they have 20 acres of French vinifera and make around 5000 cases/year. They even have a visiting French wine maker!

While I liked the reds, I LOVED the whites. Across the board, they were light and refreshing, often with nice minerality to them. I especially liked the 2017 Chardonnay, fermented in steel.

Next up was the rose was a nice pinkish color.

But a not-distant 3rd favorite was their French oak Chardonnay – it was a perfect example of how to get the most out of your oak barrels but not over-doing it. A bottle of that eventually went home with me.

Bozzo is owned by a ‘retired’ lawyer who loves wine. I say ‘retired’ in quotes because wineries are labor intensive businesses to manage, so he must be a true workaholic to want to do this in retirement!

I visited on their opening day, and it was packed! But having a lot of people waiting in anticipation of your opening day must be a good thing. I actually found them by accident a year ago, and had been on their mailing list since then.

The tasting room is small-ish, at least compared to some other wineries nearby. But that’s not a bad thing at all. The place was still new-ish but everything was running smoothly.

Unlike some newer wineries, Bozzo invested heavily in their wine production before they opened up – they were already on their 2nd or 3rd vintage (depending on the grape) of several wines, all from locally sourced fruit. But their 9 acres should soon yield enough fruit for them to produce 100% estate wine.

They had 5 wines for their tasting, all named for family members. What I tried:

Louise (Petit Manseng): Made in a dry style, although the grape’s natural sweetness still shone through.

Murph (Chardonnay): Made in steel. Very clean, some citrus. Great hot weather wine that I enjoyed a lot.

La Famigila (Merlot heavy red blend): Favorite of the lineup. Plumb notes came out nicely. At $25 this is a steal.

Anthony (Cab Sauv): Only one I wasn’t in love with, although to be fair I seldom find VA Cabs that I really like.

2nd Act (Cab Sauv heavy red blend): Another winner. Incredibly long finish. Snagged a gold at the Virginia Governor’s Cup competition this past year – which says a lot for the owner, who got gold his first try!