Visiting Virginia Wineries

Visiting Virginia wineries is a great way to experience wine country for a day, a weekend or even a week.

Within the southeastern United States, Virginia leads the pack as a wine touring region. The Virginia wineries are similar to Oregon wineries in the sense that they concentrate on creating premium wine in smaller lots, rather than mass-producing lesser grade or more generic wines.

Due to the summer's high humidity and possibly heavy rains in autumn during the harvest, Virginia vineyards can have a tough time of it. Therefore, local vintners concentrate more on the winemaking process than wine grape cultivation.

While Chardonnay is the most planted grape in Virginia, the wineries tend more towards European styles of winemaking, as in the Rhone varietals of Voignier and Syrah. Some vineyards grow the historic American grape Norton, named after a physician from West Virginia, but thought to have been cultivated by the Cherokees.

Virginia’s Wine Regions and Wine Trails

The Virginia wineries are spread throughout the state into five different sub regions. These sub regions have varied terrains, from mountain vineyards to lowland vineyards. The five wine regions include the Northern Region, the Central Region, the Eastern Region, the Southwestern Region and the Shenandoah Valley Region.

Some of the regions where you'll find wine trails with designated names are the following:

• Southwest VA wineries -- The Bedford Wine Trail


• Central VA wineries -- the Monticello Wine Trail and part of the Heart of Virginia Wine Trail


• Eastern VA wineries -- another part of the Heart of Virginia Wine Trail and the Northern Neck Wine Trail


• Northern VA wineries -- the Blue Ridge Wine Way and the Loudoun Valley Wine Trail


• Shenandoah Valley wineries -- the Shenandoah Valley Wine Trail

If you are touring with a group, please call the winery in advance so they can accommodate you. They may even offer you a specialized tour. Also, if you are touring on a holiday, call and check to see if the winery is open or not, as this can vary.

Though you will find signs with clusters of grapes on them along the way to help point out the wineries, it is highly advisable to keep a Virginia State map with you and a list of the wineries you plan to visit with contact numbers and addresses.

Click on one of the links above for a list of the Virginia wineries in each region. There you will find information on tasting room hours, locations, whether tours are offered and any special features of the winery.