Virginia wine (part 1 of 2)

I spent last weekend back in Charlottesville, Virginia to show off to a few friends the beautiful and booming Virginia wine, beer, and cider industry. Or, as I came to learn, the Virginia wine and beer industry, as cider is legally classified as wine. Because there is just so much about Virginia wine that I'm excited to talk about, I'm writing this blog post in 2 parts: (part 1) the mind-blowing growth of the Virginia wine industry and (part 2) Virginia craft cider and its (possibly) inevitable nation-wide expansion. So...


Part 1: The Mind-blowing Growth of the Virginia Wine Industry

Most (if not all) of you heard me gush over the Virginia wine industry for my mid-term presentation. In summary, in case you missed it, demand for Virginia wine is far outpacing supply. And the number of wineries and vineyards is exploding. When I graduated from UVA 3 years ago, I thought I was experiencing this "crazy demand." But boy, was I wrong.

This weekend, when I walked in the door to Veritas Vineyards, I nearly bowled over a group of people standing in the doorway. "Bad place to stand," I thought, until I saw that they were merely in a line that extended all the way to the door for a tasting. The place was packed. I had never seen Veritas even close to that crowded before, and assumed there must be an event going on. But, according to the staff, that was a "slow weekend these days."

At only $10 a tasting (for 7 wines), wine tasting at Veritas is a great deal. Several of their wines have won top awards recently. Personally, I found most of their wines both unique in taste (versus the rest of the US) and of even higher quality than I remembered. Their current winemaker, daughter of the original owners who moved here from England to open a passion project, recently started to much acclaim. And, the property is beautiful. But, these advantages extend to many of the wineries around Virginia. According to the staff at the property, the massive demand wasn't just a Veritas problem, "it's all of the wineries."

What Virginia may lack in Napa reputation, it makes up with views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and high quality, affordable, and exciting wines. There's also nothing quite like a Virginia Viognier. Don't disregard Virginia wine country - it's on the way up!