And just like that, it’s over. 150 Virginia Wineries in 150 days (and we brought it in three days early!). Five months of weekends of getting up early and driving hundreds of miles, tasting, tasting, tasting. Meeting hopeful winery owners and promising wine makers. Getting seduced by wineries that beckon and warm. Thrilling to wines that stand up to the best, and forgiving those that don’t. And always running late – every single day – because of a view or a person or a taste we wanted more of.
And now, we’ll take a little break from the wine trail for a month or so, giving ourselves some time to finally finish the long awaited Virginia Wine in My Pocket iPhone app – and let our livers regenerate.
Thanks for all the encouragement. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it 
Thanks to Veramar Vineyard for hosting our 150th winery celebration! From left (back): Nancy, Pam and The Geoff, Rick and Joanie, Dave, Rick (middle) Carol and Kurt (WineAboutVirginia), Gigi, Tom (front) Our Readers, Jen and Bryan
View "The End is here: 150 Virginia Wineries in 150 Days Comes to a Close" on its own page.
It’s almost here – the last day. The last winery. The last weekend we spend in the car, driving frantically (yet responsibly!) from one to the next…counting down the clock, crossing fingers that the doors don’t close early.
This Saturday, December 4, we’ll visit the 150th winery on our 150 Virginia Wineries in 150 Days Tour, and we are both pumped and deflated. What will we do with our weekends after this? How will we fill our lonely hours? (“Ha!” says Rick.)
But we’re not finished yet…first, we have to get through Saturday. Here’s the schedule, and we’ve picked up a great little group who’ll be joining us for all or part of the day, including Our Readers (!), Wine About Virginia, and The Geoff.
Want to come by and say hi? At our final stop – the lovely Veramar Vineyards in Berryville – we’ll slow down long enough to celebrate with a private reserve tasting ($15pp). We’d love to have you join us – be sure to give Veramar a call to let them know you’re coming.
1. 8 Chains North, 11:00 – 12
2. Corcoran, 12:15 – 1:15
3. North Gate, 1:30 – 2:15 (appointment only)
4. Veramar, 2:45
View "Saturday: Last Day on the 150 Wineries Tour" on its own page.
Nancy and Clyde Bodie
We had quite the day today, counting up the wineries from #135 to #140, from Hartwood to Bodie. We saw the entrepreneurial spirit of the Virginia wine industry everywhere we went: Hartwood’s invitation to Corky and Nancy from Tomahawk Mill to set up a tasting table at their special fall event; Mattaponi’s owners vibrating with excitement over the awards they’ve won for this year’s batch of strawberry wine; the wedding party filtering in for a big to-do at James River Cellars; at Woodland Vineyards, the owner’s decision to purchase a second farm to expand their operation. Growth was everywhere.
But our favorite part? This: talking with Clyde Bodie. Clyde is slightly older than he looks (we won’t say how much older, but he may have slow-danced to the new hit, Sentinental Journey, at his prom). He made family wine for decades before his kids said, “Dad, you really need to think about opening a winery.” So, five or so years ago, he embarked on the torturous journey of doing just that.
Two years of paperwork later (really, Governor McDonnell, can you help these folks out with that?), he’d officially launched Bodie Vineyards. When asked how many cases he produces a year from his one-acre vineyard, he answers in gallons: 350 last year. That’s about 150 cases–by far the smallest we’ve come across.
He serves two wines in his simple tasting room – Cayuga White and Buffalo, a red. Clyde graduated from Powhatan High School, just down the road, and then Virginia Tech. He spent his life working in civil engineering around Richmond. He has a wife who, Clyde will tell you, has made their house beautiful and who cooks up a storm, and he’ll spend this Thanksgiving with 30 to 40 friends and family. And recently, Clyde barbecued brats and a bunch of grouper for eight folks (and their spouses) from Powhatan High, gathered at his Bodie Vineyards for Clyde’s class reunion. One of the ladies in attendance liked his wine so much she bought nearly a case to take home.
Clyde showed us around the office, where he’s hoping to carve out a little sitting area for visitors, and when I spotted a case of canning, he gifted us a jar of pickles that he put up himself. We bought a bottle of his 2009 Rochette Rouge (the Buffalo) for the very reasonable price of $10.
When we’d arrived, Clyde thanked us for visiting his little winery, and noted that his wasn’t exactly the most-visited winery going. I suspect that’s got something to do with not having made it onto the official map yet, and not having any signage pointing the way in. Because if you like small, simple, personal, and engaging, you’re going to like Clyde’s place.
Rick trying to satisfy his craving for one of Clyde Bodie's pickles. City boy!
View "Virginia farm winery spirit alive and well at Bodie Vineyards" on its own page.
We’ve been wanting to pick a special place for the final visit on our 150 Wineries in 150 Days Tour of Virginia wineries. The Tour, as you no doubt know, is part of our research for our upcoming Virginia Wine in My Pocket iPhone app/travel guide to Virginia Wine Country.
We wanted a winery that summed up the last five months of our lives – pretty views, good wines, fun people. But how to choose? The challenge of picking a winery to visit that you haven’t yet visited to is that…you haven’t been there yet. So we put the question out to the experts on Twitter and Facebook. “How shall we end it?,” we asked.
“Veramar!” they said.
“Corcoran!!” they said.
“8 Chains North!!!” they said.
Then we heard from Jim Bogaty at Veramar, who mentioned that they offered a special reserve tasting on Saturday afternoons, and that was good enough for us (along with the rave reviews about the location).
So, Veramar it is. Since then we’ve heard from the bloggers at WineAboutVirginia, and they plan to join us to celebrate our 150th, and we’re hoping The Geoff can make it as well. (Maybe we should call this a practice session for our Colossal Bacchanalian Feast & Wine Festival? If only Our Readers could make it…!)
We’d sure love to have you join us. Maybe you can fill us in on the handful of Virginia wineries that we haven’t been to yet? Be sure to let Veramar know soon if you’re planning to attend the reserve tasting (they only do it Saturdays between 1 and 4) - we’re planning to get there by 2:45 (after visiting Corcoran, 8 Chains North, and – hopefully – Crushed Cellars). Is there anything more fun than hanging with people who are just as obsessive as you?
P.S. – Welcome Karin to the Bacchanalian Feast invite list!
PPS – We’re confirmed for a private reserve tasting ($15) at 3:00 on December 4 at Veramar, to cap off our 150 Wineries Tour! Bloggers from WineAboutVirginia and TheGeoff will be joining us. We’d love to have you, too! Just let Veramar know if you want to tag along, and leave a comment here or send an email, and we’ll keep our eye out for you!
View "Veramar it is: The end of the 150 Wineries in 150 Days Tour, December 4" on its own page.
Help these heads go out with a bang
Even thought we dawdled on Sunday and only reached four of the five on our list (sorry, Vino Curioso), we still think we can wrap up the 150 Virginia Wineries in 150 Days Tour a few days early, on December 4! You could knock us over with a feather; the last few weeks have been one big obstacle course of conflicts, and we’d resigned ourselves to having to refer to our five-month jaunt as “150 Wineries in 150 Days (plus three days)” forever after. Not what you’d call mellifluous.
But John Stewart didn’t need us on the Mall after all, and my sister said don’t come to the hospital because no one’s allowed to see her without her makeup, so we’re still on track. And now, we need a slam-bang finish.
We need a beautiful winery, some fun people to pose with, and a really excellent glass of wine when it’s all over.
Here are our choices – let us know what you think.
Where shall we put an end to the madness?
View "How Shall We End It? The Virginia Winery Tour Comes to a Close" on its own page.
And how did you spend YOUR Veteran’s Day holiday?
We thought it might be novel to go visit a few wineries. After all, as my friend Marcia says, you can sleep when you’re dead.
Nothing like starting the day with some bold reds...so off to Fabbioli...
Ran into Doug Fabbioli, testing out his new boiler turned firepit. Said he found it in a junkyard, and just knew...
- The new, beautiful Bogati Bodega is right next to one of the region’s favorite places for pie – Hill High County Store on Route 7 in Round Hill. What’s the rule? Red with pecan but white with pumpkin?
- The sitting area at Bogati Bodega. Little popcorn, some nice jammies, and a fire in that fireplace and we’re home.
The patio at Lost Creek is pergola-icious!
Lost Creek has either the biggest oyster crackers we've ever seen, or...can it be..crostini?! Oh, grazie!
- Been trying to write something witty about our wardrobe mash-up, but the picture says it all: Nancy and Clyde Housel, Hiddencroft owner/winemaker.
Great spot for a little party at Hiddencroft - and no fee for use!
- No words necessary at Bluemont Vineyards. But here’s one anyway: wow.
The framed view at Bluemont
Nancy and Bluemont co-owner Bruce Zurschmeide talk apps
Meanwhile, Rick finds his own friend, and deploys - yes - the secret scratch.
View "Wineries #122 – #126 aka Veteran’s Day" on its own page.
I thought I’d finally nailed him. Rick, that is. Not in the biblical sense. In the I’ve taken back the mantle of power sense.
Last night, Rick had a Friday Night Rebellion. After we finished our dinner of leftovers and the remains of a bottle of Quattro Goomba’s red on the basement couch, I headed up to start on the pre-winery weekend chores. A half-hour later, passing through the kitchen, I notice a Barrel Oak cork lying on the counter. Hmmm. New bottle’s been opened.
I move to the basement to finish up some laundry, and Rick asks if I mind if he smokes a cigar in the house. I give my usual answer – not as long as I’m not in the room – and head back upstairs to pack and finish up our Tour schedule. Shortly thereafter, a whiff of Romeo & Julieta. Boys Night is in full swing.
In bed, I enjoy my customary three-quarters of the mattress, but begin to get worried about the emptiness next to me around 2 a.m. We have a long weekend ahead of us, and I can’t drive Rick’s stick shift. So I slip downstairs and find him, TV blaring, slumped over his desk…playing Civilization.
This morning, I rolled out of bed early for a walk before we set out. I quasi-invited him to come along – “Want to go for a walk of course not because you’ve only been in bed for a few hours.” During the walk, I thought up this great blog post, all about Here I sit and he’s still in bed and who’s the one with the stamina now (me).
Instead, when I get home, I find him sitting on the steps, lacing up his shoes.
The man’s unstoppable.
- Us, at a previous Bacchanalian feast
By now, you may have figured out that Rick and I are reinventing our mid-life selves by growing an empire in Virginia wine travel, one that will make us fabulously rich, fat, and happy. First, the app. Then, the world. What you may not know is that, when we achieve that pinnacle, we’ll throw sprawling, wine-soaked, bacchanalian feasts daily – free! – for those who’ve lent us a hand or a kind word along the way.
We’ll bring in jesters and serving wenches and spit-roasted wild boar on platters so big they’ll require twenty strong men to carry them. We’ll swig cider from Foggy Ridge and Albemarle, and mead from Hilltop Berry Farm Winery and Blacksnake Meadery. And wine! Barrels and barrels of that heralded vintage (2010), aged slightly in French oak and cellared for however long it takes us to become rich, fat, and happy. (Well, rich, anyway; after four months of winery “research,” we have arguably reached fat and happy already.)
Anyhoo, we have already begun to compile our Colossal Bacchanalian Feast & Wine Festival guest list.
Our Readers, of course, will be invited. And we’ve now added TheGeoff, who recently said nice things about us. And MyVineSpot is generous about retweeting us, so he’s in. DrinkWhatYouLike sends encouraging notes about our 150 Days of Virginia Wine Tour, so we can’t leave him out. And everyone at Fauquier County Tourism, because they link to all our Fauquier County Wine Trail reviews.
I’m sure the list will grow, because one thing we’ve noticed on the Tour is how, in the Virginia wine community, everybody helps everybody out.
We hope to see you there! We’ll keep the flagon filled for you!
Oh, wait! How could I have left out Wine About Virginia – the first website to link to us? Or Cameron at Sans Soucy Vineyards in Brookneal for promoting our app? And my friend Joyce! You guys are on the list, too!
Yikes, we’ll have to get a bigger boar!
“Matched Pair“
Keswick Vineyards is different from the vast majority of Virginia wineries; they have swans. We saw the pond (and the swans) when we entered the property. There were two pairs of swans: one black and one white. I approached the pond on foot and settled into a crouch by the bank. The swans serenely approached and hung around near me for a while. They were probably hoping to be fed.
Nancy and I are now up over 110 Virginia wineries in our “150 Wineries in 150 Days” tour. Keswick is the second winery we’ve visited that has swans living on the property. (The other we’ve found is Lexington Valley Vineyards, just outside of Lexington Virginia.) If you’re counting, that means so far 1/55 of Virginia wineries have swans on premises.
“Lookin’“
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It seems wrong to head out on yet another day of wineries this Veteran’s Day before reporting on last Sunday’s visits. But there’s this rock, and then there’s this hard place, and we’re somewhere in between at the moment, so how’s about just a few photos instead of a long report filled with all those cumbersome words? As always, we promise to post full reviews of all wineries soon, with more words than you can count. And by soon we mean before next year. Deal?
I'm guessing this is a light day at Pearmund Cellars. Only tasty wines here.
One of several species hanging out in the barrel room at Pearmund.
The siren song of the pergola, at Mediterranean Cellars
Mediterranean knows how to party, and has just the room for it.
Marterella's pizza oven, a sunny patio, and a gorgeous view - what more do you need in life?
Everyone loves Jerry Marterella.
Two decades of wine-growing history, right here in the Gray Ghost wine library
The upscale lounge at Gray Ghost - not just for members (surprise!)
The tasting plate at Aspen Dale Winery
The coziest member's hangout we've seen, coming soon to Aspen Dale Winery.
View "Wineries #117 – 121 on the 150 Wineries Tour" on its own page.
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