When it comes to wineries, American Way is about as different as you can get from your competitors. Not only do they lack vineyards, their wines lack grapes! Every wine is made from fruits or vegetables. If it can be made into a wine, American Way will find a way to do it.

The tasting room is, shall way say, humble – a very non-descript wooden building right off Highway 47. This is strictly a sales room – not a party place. Owner Bill Hill sources his wines from his 15 acres of blackberries, raspberries, apples, pumpkins, strawberries, watermelons, cantaloupe, pear, tomatoes, elderberries and (if that’s not enough) persimmon, making 500-800 gallons of wine a year.

Bill gave me the low-down on his wines as he poured. He started it as a hobby in the 1970s, slowly expanding as he realized he could make a business out of it. Most of his sales comes from festivals, although he takes special orders as well.

18 wines were available for tasting – more than I could possibly try. Instead he guided me through some of his more popular concoctions. A few I tried almost on a dare!

Elderberry: Tart. Cuz your mother was a hamster, and…

Persimmon: Made as an ice-style wine.

Pumpkin: Actually really good; reminded me of a pumpkin donut.

Tomato wine: Yes, really! And it tastes like it sounds.

Sweet plum: Another winner for me.

Sweet blackberry: Very long finish.

Altillo (formerly known as Alta Vista) produces some of the best Virginia wines you’ve tasted but didn’t realize the true source of. That’s because its business model is unique in the state; rather than focusing on selling Altillo-labeled wine to customers, it produces wine for other Virginia wineries – a process called custom crush.

Don’t get me wrong – Altillo DOES have its own wine, and it’s excellent (and at $20/bottle a steal). First planted in 2001, their vineyard has 5 acres of French varietals, including ½ acre of Shiraz. The location is actually an especially nice looking home – just go around the side to access the tasting room.

Owner Bob Schenkel was pouring for several guests and I joined in around half way through their flight. He explained how years ago he tried running it as a ‘regular’ winery but there wasn’t enough foot traffic in the area to keep it profitable, leading him to focus on custom crush. He’s actually luckier than most – there were more than a few wineries in his area that are no longer in operation, so this move saved the business. Now, wineries elsewhere in Virginia reach out to Altillo when they are short of their own estate wine, or lack the ability (or desire) to make wine themselves.

Bob’s son is the wine maker; they only use this building for wine making. Hopefully they also rent it out as an Air B&B, because who wouldn’t want to stay overnight in a winery?

What I tried:

16 Chardonnay: My notes fail me except to say made in oak.

17 Viognier: Made in steel. Full bodied for a Viognier, and not a lot of the honeysuckle notes that often define this wine.

17 Cabernet Franc: Spicy – in a good way. No green pepper notes here.

17 Meritage: Also spicy; my palate fooled me into thinking it was Cab Franc heavy but actually it’s not.

17 Shiraz: One of the rare Shiraz plantings in Virginia; a difficult grape to grow but they do it well here. Earthy.

17 Petit Verdot: I can’t wait for this one to be bottled because it’s awesome! Good balance, bold but not too bold, just all around great.

17 Merlot: 2^nd favorite after the Petit Verdot, with definite earthy notes.

Rose: Semi-sweet, strawberry-cherry notes.

Hunting Creek broke the mold of what was in danger of becoming a very repetitive series of Southern Virginia wine region blogs. In nearly all my previous (and many subsequent) visits to local wineries, the vineyard was either an old farm that turned to growing hybrid or American grapes, or they used sources other than grapes. But Hunting Creek; they are dedicated to wonderful, wonderful vinifera.

Owners Milt and Sandy Ligon first planted in 2002 as a purpose-built vineyard. Unlike their neighbors, they knew early on they wanted to focus on vinifera. Fortunately, they picked a great location for it – a low hill overlooking the nearby farms. I was shocked to hear that Jason Murray – co owner of Arterra Wines and one of my all-time favorite wine makers – was one of their early consultants. I knew I was going to like this place, but my jaw dropped when they mentioned him.

Finding the winery is a bit of a challenge. The road looks like the beginning of a driveway (somehow I missed the big sign saying “Hunting Creek Vineyards”), and your phone signal is likely to be weak. But after a half mile or so, I found the tasting room – a reconstructed barn that was brought here from New York. Sadly they are only open on Saturdays, so plan appropriately.

Sandy (who’s also the wine maker, BTW) brought me up to speed on the wines. Currently they only have 5 acres of vines (plus a pair of local growers including Pinehaven Vineyard) and make 600-800 cases/year. If they wanted to they could expand a little more, but she seems to like it on the small side. And fun fact – her son Jeremy is the winemaker at Creek’s Edge.

I forget how it got started, but most of the wine names follow the same theme; Decadence; Innocence; Repentance; Indulgence; Confession; Forbidden; Seduction. It’s like going to church, but with better wine! Actually the barn doors did come from an old church, so maybe there’s something to that.

What I tried:

Pure Luck (Viognier & some Chardonnay): Liked it a lot; very dry.

Pinot Gris: Very flowery.

Innocence (Traminette): One of only two hybrids they utilize. I liked it even though I’m not usually a fan of this grape. Kudos for lacking the overpowering nose I’m usually accustomed to.

Rose: Made of Chambourcin (the second hybrid they use).

2017 Indulgence: Signature red blend. Good body, big mouthfeel; I liked it so much I bought 2 bottles. That little bit of Malbec went a long way!

2017 Decadence: 95% Petit Verdot and – unusually enough – 5% Viognier. Unlikely any other PV’s I’ve had recently; very soft.

Repentance: Light, semi-sweet Merlot and Cab Sauv blend (probably from 2018). Not my style, but I bet my sweet-wine drinking friends would go for this.

2016 Seduction: Chambourcin port-style.

Three Sisters is Virginia’s most Southern winery – in geography and character. Once you experience their hospitality, you’d understand why I make that later statement.

Susan – one of the “Three Sisters” – was my wine pourer. She explained how the extended family were long-time tobacco farmers and decided to open a winery to keep the farm going when the tobacco trade died out. Her brother in law Ed is the wine maker, although various family members all help out.

All of Three Sisters’ wines come from their 2 acres of Muscadine and Scuppernong (a white version of Muscadine), along with acres of blackberries and apple orchards. You’ll most likely find them at festivals south of Richmond. That said, a few out of towners also dropped by during my visit, mostly likely traveling to Virginia Beach or local campgrounds. They are otherwise open on Saturdays – “Or whenever you call!”, according to Susan.

Susan praised Muscadine for being easy for wine making and a good fit for the area’s drinking palate – the locals here seem to enjoy their wine on the sweet side. No food is sold on site, although they have a BBQ grill with picnic tables next to the winery.

What I tried:

2016/2017/2018 Muscadine wine flight: Definitely for sweet wine lovers. The 2017 was the fullest bodied, while the 2018 was least so.

2017/2018 Scuppernong. Super clear – which might make you think its light on alcohol. I’m sure it’s a trap to get you to drink a lot without realizing the bottle is already gone.

Pomegranate/Muscadine blend: The pomegranate notes definitely shine through.

Blackberry wine: Very nice! Had a natural sweetness to it.

Apple wine: Tastes like apple pie.

Tomahawk Mill Vineyard wins the award for coolest tasting room – a 19^th century flower mill that looks like it can get right back into operation. Winemaker and co-owner Corky Medaglia was already pouring for a visitor, but other than that I had the place to myself. I wandered around the lovely grounds first before I headed inside.

The Medaglias purchased the mill in 1996 in what must have been a pique of madness – the same madness that seems to overcome many aspiring wine makers when they lay their eyes on a piece of historic property that also has a vineyard. Currently they have 4 acres of vines and make around 800 cases/year.

Corky was unintentionally hilarious. A Navy vet who spent some time in Greece, he obviously spends a lot of time chatting up his patrons. While he originally wanted to put the mill back in operation, Corky seems content to let it be while he concentrates on the wine. Tomahawk is open nearly year round, but festivals seem to be where they move most of their wine.

The wines were an eclectic mix of sweet, dry, plus a few outliers. What I tried:

Anister: A Greek-inspired wine that was gin-like. Made of Chardonnay but fermented in pine. Saying it was ‘different’ is an understatement, as that pine really came through.

Non-vintage Chardonnay: Oaked, light with an almost honey flavor.

Chambourcin: Very fruity.

Tobacco Road blues: Chambourcin and Cabernet Sauvignon blend; reminded me of the 100% Chambourcin but not quite as fruity.

Apple wine: Favorite of the lineup. This tasting continued a trend of fruit wine being some of the biggest hits during my visit to this area.

Vidal Blanc: No offense to anybody, but this is just not my grape!

Sweet Concord: Sweet but actually had some bite to it.

Mead: “Old Style” mead; nothing but water and honey.

The Homeplace Vineyard is a small family business / local hangout / winery all wrapped up in a log cabin. The vines were planted in 2005 so they’ve likely been selling wine for a bit. While I bet they do brisk business at festivals, they also have a large event space that seems like a good place for a party. Even after only visiting for a short while, you could tell the place had a laid back, home-away-from-home vibe.

The name is a callback to how the tasting room is on the original location of family’s homestead. Built from the logs of an old tobacco barn, it now looks like a camping cabin. That actually sounds like fun; who wouldn’t want to spend overnight in log cabin on a winery!

The land around us was once produced tobacco, although that industry has long faded away. In need of a way to keep the land productive, the family set up a vineyard instead (another common theme for the area’s wineries).

Penny was my server, and she adeptly talked me through their wine selection. Most of their 9.5 acres of vines are hybrids, although they have some Cabernet Sauvignon as well. This continued a trend in this area of focusing on varietals that are both weather resistant and don’t need expensive chemical spraying. It’s a smart move for smaller operations, especially if their target crowd leans more towards sweet wine.

The wines tended towards sweet, which is a preference in this area. What I tried:

Vidal: Semi sweet, light and easy drinking.

Viognier: Light, but unusual as it lacked the overpowering honeysuckle I find on the nose.

Traminette: Sweet but almost overpowering nose to it, as is common with this grape.

Old Green Tractor (white blend): Traminette heavy, but also with some Viognier.

Strawberry wine: Made from local fruit; great nose and very yummy.

Rockn’ Rose: Tart!

Old Red Tractor: Chambourcin and Cabernet Sauvignon; the biggest bodied red of the bunch.

Chambourcin: Fruity and light.

Cabernet Sauvignon: Light but with some spice.

Sans Soucy (pronounced “San Soo-see”) means “without worry” in French. It’s a somewhat tongue-in-cheek proclamation since farming is a profession full of worry. But owner/winemaker Paul Anctil seemed worry free during my visit – likely in part because the weather had been fairly good recently, so 2019 had the makings of a good harvest.

This is one of the larger and older operations in the area. Vines were first planted in 2000, while the winery opened in 2008. Their 7 acres of vines are enough to supply around 2000 estate cases/year. While that seems small-to-medium for most places, in this area is was positively huge!

Sans Soucy is also one of a handful of locations that has both a winery and brewery on the premise. A growing trend in Virginia, Paul explained it allows him to capture a larger portion of the local crowd. He and his son share brewing duties, although his son focuses on the beer while Paul takes care of the wine making.

Paul was kind enough to give me a quick education about Virginia’s ABC laws. While it was becoming more flexible regarding beer, there still seemed to be some silly regulations – including how (depending on your license) you can take wine anywhere on the property but the beer has to stay in a much more confined space. Still, this was an encouraging trend so hopefully we’ll see Virginia relax these rules further.

The tasting room reminds me of drinking in a man cave – especially if that man cave had a keg and extensive wine rack. A picture of John Wayne and the USMC emblem were on the wall. OK I admit – I liked this guy’s style!

Sadly I didn’t get a chance to linger here; this was stop #2 of 4 (and it ended up being 5) for the day, so off I went to my next destination.

What I tried:

Viognier:  Heavy; honey-ish on the palate.

Traminette: Very spicy!

2013 Cabernet Franc: Baking spice notes; very good.

2013 Tempranillo: A very finicky grower, Sans Soucy is one of the very few places to have it – and sadly, they are likely to tear it out because of it’s difficult to grow in this terroir. Also had spice notes, although different from the Cab Franc.

Oak N’ Berry: This is what I call a ‘fun wine’. Blend of Petit Verdot and blackberries. I bet you didn’t see that one coming! Paul called it a ‘red on training wheels’. Tannin structure of a red but with sweetness.

2014 Petit Verdot: Medium body, long finish, soft.

Blackberry wine: Easy drinking.

Winery #1 of my 3 day trip! Not coincidentally, this was one of my longest visits – entirely due to the hospitality of the owners, Boyd and Shirley Archer.

Bright Meadows Farm looks humble from the outside, but the Archers were very generous with their time. They explained to their farm’s history, including how they opened in 2005 as ‘retirement’ gig after Boyd left the FAA as an air traffic controller. Boyd’s mom taught him wine making (using Muscatine grapes no less), so I suppose the wine itch never left him.

“American wines from American Vines” is their motto. The farm has 10 acres of vines, plus patches of blueberries and blackberries. They grow hybrid (Norton, Vidal, Chambourcin, and formerly Steuben) and American (Catawba, Cayuga, Concord and Niagara) grapes, plus a small test plot of Petit Verdot. Bright Meadows also sells fruit – especially the Norton – to other Virginia wineries, so you may well have tasted their grapes even if you didn’t know the source.

This winery isn’t exactly close to…anything…so you’re more likely to find them at festivals than as a visitor. Fortunately, Sans Soucy and Hunting Creek Vineyard are nearby, so this is one of the few places in the Southern Virginia AVA that could be called a winery cluster. As I drove by, I passed a horse-pulled buggy – no doubt owned by some of the local Amish. Hopefully, the rest of the locals are wine drinkers!

Shirley took me on a tour of the vineyard, explaining how while they aren’t certified organic (too much paperwork!) they try to be as organic as possible. Fortunately all their grapes are hardy varietals, so that allows them to minimalize chemical intervention.

While 10 acres of vines & over 1200 cases/year is a lot (all made in steel), they seemed especially excited by their fruit wines. Their blackberry has been a huge hit, and they were awaiting ABC approval of the label for their blueberry wine. This was a trend I noticed all over this AVA; nearly all the smaller wineries made fruit wine, which thrived in their terroir and was welcomed by their local customer base. I suspect it’s also easier to manage than a vineyard, so it was a good practice all around.

The tasting room is on the small side. They have some tables in back, but this isn’t exactly a party place. But as an old barn renovated into a wine room, it had a charm of its own – sorta like drinking in someone’s living room. Boyd even sat down with me outside as I enjoyed my lunch with a glass of the Sunrise.

What I tried:

Sunrise Surrender: Steuben blend.

Bright Meadows White: Sweet, made with Niagara.

Apple Wine: Made with Macintosh apples; I liked this one a lot.

Bright Leaf White: Semi-sweet Vidal; had a thickness to this that was heavy on the tongue.

Rambling Rose: White Norton, made possible by pressing but not crushing the grape. I found this took away the ‘foxy’ taste of the Norton, so this may appeal to those who don’t usually enjoy this grape (including me).

Concord: Light, semi-sweet and easy drinking.

Blackberry: Tart, light and very yummy. I get it why so many locals like the fruit wines from here.

BAG (Blackberries Apples Grapes): Fruit wine made with a blend of Concord.

Dan River: Semi-sweet Chambourcin.

Halifax red: Tart, dry…maybe raspberries on the palate?

Burley Red: Full bodied Chambourcin.

Rebellion Red: Norton, which had spent 5 years in the barrel.

Even if you’ve never visited Grace Estate Winery, you’ve probably enjoyed their product – the grapes that is. At 50 acres of vines (and 1,500 cases/year) they sell a considerable amount of fruit locally, using only a portion for themselves. In fact, the majestic house on the hill surrounded by acres and acres of vines is the very first thing you notice as you drive by.

The vineyard has many of your standard Bordeaux grapes (including Malbec!) plus a few other varietals you don’t see as often, including Sauvignon Blanc, Tannat, even an experimental row of Chenin Blanc. The only hybrid they grow is Vidal Blanc, which tells me these people are definitely not taking any ‘easy outs’ in their vineyard.

The Grace family is all about history; not only are many of their wines named after different historical family members, their family tree is on display as you walk in. Today the owners split their time between Switzerland and Charlottesville, in addition to traveling everywhere else. A home in Switzerland plus a 450-acre Virginia mansion surrounded by vineyards? I’d call that ‘living the dream’.

General Manager Peter Dimmick was nice enough to grand me an interview despite being an exceptionally busy summer day. While he was proud of his wines, he seemed just as excited to talk about the vineyard. That’s always a good sign! He explained how over the past few years Grace had carefully replanting parts of the vineyard to maximize its potential, although they still retained some of its oldest vines (going back to 1995, way before the tasting room opened).

While the tasting room near the road is nothing to sneeze at, I still miss the one they had in the mansion. The views from there were amazing.

The tasting menu was expansive, but Peter let me sample a good cross-section of what was available. The only one that I wish I could have tried (but was unavailable) was their Malbec, which they have a considerable planting of.

2017 Sauvignon Blanc: Some citrus notes, made in neutral oak.

2016 Chardonnay: Toasty nose made in French Oak Burgundy-style. Excellent! My favorite style of Chardonnay.

Le Gras (Malbec Rosé): This was unusual; I almost NEVER see Malbec in Rosés. Very fruity, with low acid and strong strawberry notes.

2016 Cabernet Franc: Pepper and leather notes

2015 Tannat: My favorite! Elegant, not overly bold, great balance. I’d put this against any Tannat in the state.

Ice wine (made with Vidal): This was a treat! Made in a true ice wine style, as a few years back they took a risk and let the fruit hang on the vine just long enough to get frosty. Great acid and a refreshing change of pace.

Not tried was their vineyard tour, which sadly I didn’t have time for. Maybe during my inevitable follow on visit?