Monticello Wine Trail: Merrie Mill Farm

      I love visiting local Virginia wineries, and it's always a treat to visit one that's brand new to the Charlottesville area. I was so charmed on my first visit Merrie Mill Farm that I knew it needed its own winery review blog post!

Monticello Wine Trail: Glass House Winery

     I am so excited to finally bring you a full review on one of my very favorite Charlottesville wineries! Glass House is not only an incredibly unique and beautiful place to visit, but the wines are phenomenal as well. It's a must-visit in my opinion if you're coming to Charlottesville! 

5 Charlottesville Wineries to Visit in Winter.

     I've become quite the fan of visiting local wineries since I moved to Virginia a couple years ago! While I do think my absolute favorite time of year to visit wineries is in the summer (I love seeing all the grapes growing on the vines!), they are still fun to visit year round. Checking out Charlottesville area wineries in winter also has some advantages- namely the fact that it's not tourist season so they're not nearly as busy in the colder months! Winery visits from December-March are more of a cozy and intimate experience, which is still fun and special in a different way.

     Today I'm sharing five local wineries that I think are more ideal to check out in the winter months! I'm highlighting these five wineries for two main reasons: 1) they're all easy to drive to. Some wineries on the Monticello Wine trail are definitely off the beaten path (think long and winding dirt roads with no cell service), and winter just isn't the best season to attempt getting to some of those. The ones I'm featuring today are all located just off main roads and are easily accessible in all seasons. 2) They all have good sized indoor tasting rooms. On days when the weather is too cold to be outside, you don't want to be cooped up in a tiny tasting room at a winery that mainly has outdoor seating. These five all have fairly large and very cozy indoor spaces for guests to enjoy!

Virginia Winery Review: 12 Ridges Vineyard.

     12 Ridges is a brand new Virginia vineyard that opened less than three months ago! It is one of the most unique ones that I've yet to visit, and I am already dreaming about my next visit back. I'm excited to share more about the perfect fall afternoon I had at 12 Ridges today!

Monticello Wine Trail: King Family Vineyards

     Can't believe it's taken me this long to finally review my favorite winery that I've been to so far,  but better late than never! Time to take a virtual trip over to King Family Vineyards. I hope if you're local you've already had the chance to visit this incredible place. If you live outside of Virginia, enjoy this virtual tour!

The Most Gorgeous Gingham Dress.

     This might very well end up being my favorite outfit post of 2019! I purchased this stunning dress way back in March when I organized a girls' weekend trip to Charlotte with all of my Charlottesville friends. Unfortunately by the time I could get these blog photos, the dress had long since sold out, but I love it so much that I still wanted to share it with you! I'm hoping the brand might bring back a similar version for 2020.

Monticello Wine Trail: Barboursville Vineyards

     Barboursville Vineyards is one of the oldest and largest wineries on the Monticello Wine Trail, and I'm so excited to take you there virtually in today's winery review post!

Monticello Wine Trail: Chestnut Oak Vineyard

     A few weekends ago, my friend Liane came up from North Carolina to visit! On the Saturday that she was here, we were able to hit three wineries in one day- aka my perfect Charlottesville weekend. Today I'm recapping the first of three that we visited, Chestnut Oak Vineyard. 

Monticello Wine Trail: Loving Cup Vineyard.

     Spring is in full swing here in Virginia, which means it is definitely winery season! I've been to a few new-to-me wineries in recent weeks, so this month's Tuesday series on the blog will continue with my Monticello Wine Trail winery reviews.   

Monticello Wine Trail: Grace Estate

Finding the Joy in Winter Fashion.

     Happy Monday! Being honest for a second? This month I've been finding myself feeling pretty uninspired fashion-wise. January has been a brutally cold month here in Virginia, and by this time in the winter, I find it's usually hard to stay creative with fashion. I'm challenging myself for the rest of the cold weather to step it up with my outfits, and still enjoy the looks that I put together!

Monticello Wine Trail: Pippin Hill Vineyards.

     Out of all the vineyards in Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the entire Monticello Wine Trail region... the one that I kept hearing over and over again that I just HAD to visit was Pippin Hill Vineyards! A lot of people that I've met in Virginia will rave on and on about Pippin's scenic location, their wide array of wines, and just the overall atmosphere of the winery. They're also one of the top wineries in the area for weddings and events, which I've heard they do a great job at! I wanted to save visiting Pippin Hill for the first time for a special occasion.

    My friend Anna from Vermont came to visit me last month, and I thought that was the perfect occasion to finally check out Pippin. I'd also heard that this winery was a great one to bring out of town guests too, and it didn't disappoint! Pippin Hill is located about 10 miles from downtown Charlottesville, and it's conveniently located right off of US-29. You're greeted by the scenic grey barn doors (pictured above) as you walk towards the tasting room! There is also an amazing pizza restaurant called Dr. Ho's Humble Pie located less than a mile from Pippin Hill- I highly recommend doing lunch there and then following it up with wine.

     Pippin Hill offers a large variety of both red and white wines. I'd love to return to Pippin and do a tasting, but on this particular day my friends and I decided to split a bottle of Viognier. I've shared in past winery reviews that since I moved to Virginia, Viognier has become my favorite wine variety. Viognier grapes are also the state grape of Virginia, so a bottle of that seemed perfect to introduce Anna to the Virginia winery scene!


    Not only was the wine wonderful, but there is something truly special about the atmosphere at Pippin Hill. Their tasting room is stunning, and there is so much green space in front of the winery that is perfect for having a picnic! Fun fact: there are even picnic blankets available for people to borrow in the tasting room. Pippin Hill does close early on a lot of Saturdays due to the high volume of events that they host. On the day we were there, we caught a bride and groom taking their wedding photos before their evening reception!


    I already can't wait to go back to Pippin Hill- I think this will continue to be the ideal vineyard to bring out of town guests to.


    Check out more of my Monticello Wine Trail blog posts!



     God Bless,


     xoxo Annaliese

Monticello Wine Trail: Moss Vineyards.

    Continuing my journey of (responsibly 😉) drinking my way through Central Virginia! Welcome back to my Monticello Wine Trail wineries posts. Today's is a bit belated- I visited Moss Vineyards over a month ago, when my mom was visiting me. But better late than never for me to share about a winery, right?

     Moss Vineyards is an intimate, family owned vineyard located in deep in the hills of the northern part of Albemarle County. (Albemarle is the county that surrounds Charlottesville, and it contains a lot of the Monticello Wine Trail vineyards!) Moss Vineyards is definitely off the beaten path from the main roads in the county, but it is for sure worth a visit. My mom and I were actually trying to find Stone Mountain Vineyard, but my GPS got confused on the rural mountain roads, so we ended up at Moss!

    What really sets Moss apart from some of the other vineyards is that they really specialize in red wines. I did a wine tasting during out visit, and I'm pretty sure that all but one wine on the tasting menu were red varieties! They do have their own Viognier, which has become my favorite white variety since I moved to Virginia. Their Viognier was just a bit drier than those of other nearby wineries. I have to be honest- I'm not normally a red wine drinker! In the spirit of trying new things, I enjoy sampling different reds during tastings at wineries, but red wines aren't ever my preference. With that said, I enjoyed trying the red wines featured at the Moss tasting! My favorite out of the ones that I tried was the Architettura Reserva, which is a red blend of a few different varieties. This wine won bronze in the Virginia Governor's Cup this year!

 
     Moss Vineyards seems like it would be a great vineyard for a date. It's a smaller winery and has a more secluded feel to it, and I think that it would be very romantic to sip wine on the porch or in the open air pavilion. Moss really does have stunning views of the mountains- I could have spent hours gazing at them! I'd alsosay this winery is a must-visit specifically to anyone who loves red wine, as this is truly what they specialize in. Moss also has an event venue on-sight to host weddings- and I imagine they are just beautiful!


    I've made it easy for you to browse my past Monticello Wine Trail blog posts- just go to the "Travel" tab on the homepage of my blog, and then click "Virginia Wineries" to read more!



     God Bless,


     xoxo Annaliese

Monticello Wine Trail: Reynard Florence Vineyard.

     Welcome back to one of my favorite new series on Southern Belle in Training! Join me as I drink my way (responsibly of course 😉) through Charlottesville and Central Virginia's most prominent wineries, which are all apart of the Monticello Wine Trail. I still can't believe the fact that I didn't really like wine (!!) before I moved to Virginia in March. Clearly- I just hadn't tried the right wines! Local Virginia wines are just incredible, and I've been having so much fun visiting and reviewing different wineries on the Monticello Wine Trail. 

    In today's post, I'm reviewing one of the smallest and most intimate wineries that I've visited so far. Some of the Monticello Wine Trail wineries (like Veritas and Afton Mountain) are sprawling properties, and have large tasting rooms and event spaces. Reynard Florence is much smaller in size than a lot of the others, but it's actually one of my favorites that I've visited so far. I went here for a solo afternoon adventure a couple weeks ago when it was still really warm outside! It was about 80 the day that I visited- ideal weather for sitting outside with a glass of wine and reading a good book.

     Reynard Florence Vineyard is located in Barborsville, in Orange County. (Fun fact: I recently learned that the town of Barborsville is actually located in three different counties!! #GeographyNerd) It's about a 30 minute drive away from Charlottesville. Your GPS will probably give you a few ways to find it- I took a different route there than I did leaving. My tip is to take Route 33 from either east or west to access the vineyard- I found that was the easier route. Reynard Florence is a family owned vineyard. I got to meet co-owner Dee when I visited the tasting room, and I also had the delight of meeting Ti-Ray, an adorable Corgi who is often found at the vineyard. (I sadly didn't get any photos of Ti-Ray, but there are some cute ones on the Reynard Florence website!)

    Normally when I visit a new-to-me vineyard, I like to do a tasting and then have a glass with my favorite wine. Since this was a solo adventure and I drove myself, I opted just to do a glass of white wine. (I also brought many yummy snacks so I wouldn't be drinking on an empty stomach!) I decided to go with the Chardonnay, and it was delicious! The perfect wine to sip on during a warm fall afternoon outdoors. I spent the next few hours sipping wine, finishing a good book, and just enjoying the beautiful views! I was one of the only people visiting the winery that day, so it felt like my private paradise. 

     Reynard Florence Vineyard is open Saturdays and Sundays, and on holiday Mondays (I visited on Columbus Day.) This vineyard may be one of the smaller ones on the Monticello Wine Trail, but it doesn't lack in natural beauty and great wine! I'm looking forward to visiting here again, and hopefully next time with friends. This was the first winery in Orange county that I'd visited, and I look forward to checking out more in that area.

     Previous Monticello Wine Trail posts can be found here!

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese 

     

Monticello Wine Trail: Veritas Vineyards.

     My summer of visiting local wineries continues! In today's post, I'm taking y'all on a virtual tour of Veritas Vineyards, as well as their summer weekend event Starry Nights. I had no idea what a big deal Starry Nights was in this area... several hundred people (if not over 1000 people- I can be bad at estimating) were there!! I'm not even sure that my pictures do the crowds that attended any justice. 😊

     Pictured above is the Veritas Viognier wine. Since moving to Virginia, I learned the Viognier grapes is actually the state grape! Viognier wine is my favorite type of Virginia wine -it's a sweet and summery white wine, with lots of notes of fruit. The Veritas Vineyards Viognier (try saying that five times fast!) is great.


     Veritas Vineyards is about 30 minutes from downtown Charlottesville, in neighboring Nelson County. It's a family-owned winery, which was founded in 1999. It's located pretty close to Afton Mountain Vineyards, which I featured in my last Monticello Wine Trail post. To find Veritas, you turn onto a long driveway, and are surrounded by fields upon fields of grapes on both sides, until you near the winery itself. It looks quite magical when you arrive! As I mentioned above, I recently attended Starry Nights, which is a monthly summer event hosted at Veritas. Starry Nights are outdoor concerts at the vineyard, featuring great bands. The band that performed this past weekend was The Legwarmers, an 80s cover band that has quite the local following! I'd heard a lot about The Legwarmers around town, so it was great to see them perform. The first couple hours of the event are for mingling, eating and drinking wine, and the latter part of the evening is the concert.  I was generously given two media tickets for the event, and I invited my friend Eden to come with me. We loved the buffet dinner that was served, and enjoyed a relaxing Saturday evening outside, listening to the fun music from The Legwarmers!


     We also checked out the Veritas tasting room when we purchased our wine, and it is gorgeous! If you visit Veritas on a normal day and not for a Starry Nights event, you can sit in the tasting room on the comfortable sofas, outside under a covered table, or on the expansive front porch. This is a larger winery, so it seems perfect to visit if you're looking for one that could accommodate a larger group.


    I really enjoyed visiting Veritas Vineyards and getting to go to Starry Nights! There are so many different local concert series in the summer all around Charlottesville, some free and some ticketed. I've been trying to go to as many of these as possible, and now I can check Starry Nights off!



     Past Monticello Wine Trail Blog posts:

• Keswick Vineyards
• Afton Mountain Vineyards 

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese 

   

Monticello Wine Trail: Afton Mountain Vineyards

     One of my favorite things about moving to Central Virginia is being smack in the middle of Virginia wineries. Seriously.... this part of the state can be summed up as wineries on wineries on wineries! Some of the more prestigious vineyards are members of the Monticello Wine Trail association, and it's one of my goals as a Virginia resident to visit all 30+ of these wineries. (So far I've been to seven wineries, and six are members of the Monticello Wine Trail!) I've previously shared a review of Keswick Vineyards, and in today's post we're taking a trip to Afton Mountain Vineyards!

Outfit details in this blog post

L to R: Eden, Darian, Kelly and me! These are a few of my sweet friends from community group (bible study) at church.

L to R: Kelly, Darian, Eden, Abigail and me. Love these ladies- wineries are definitely a lot more fun with girlfriends!

I first went to Afton Mountain Vineyards in April shortly after moving- here's a shot from that day! 

      The slogan for Afton Mountain Vineyards is "Grapes Don't Grow in Ugly Places" - and I think that's a fitting way to describe the beautiful and unique scenery at this winery!  Afton Mountain Vineyards is located in neighboring Nelson County, in the fittingly named village of Afton. It's about 30ish minutes to get there from downtown Charlottesville. You do have to drive either up or down a very steep and narrow mountain road (depending on where you're coming from) to access Afton Mountain Vineyards, so this probably wouldn't be the best choice winery to visit in the case of inclement weather. However- both of my visits have been on beautiful sunshine-filled days, so driving to the vineyard up and down the mountain roads was no problem! 

     My first visit to Afton Mountain Vineyards was just a few weeks after I moved to Charlottesville- when my friend Alicia from Alicia Tenise and her boyfriend took me out for a full day of winery visits. We did the tasting at Afton in their tasting room, which included several of their most popular reds and whites. Tastings at Afton Mountain Vineyards are $10. During my second and more recent visit, my girlfriends and I went to Afton for the afternoon to celebrate our friend Darian's birthday. We purchased a couple of bottles of wine from the tasting room, and then took the afternoon to enjoy the vineyard and wine at our own pace (and of course take photos!). 

      

     I've now been to six wineries on the Monticello Wine Trail, as well as the annual Taste of Monticello Wine Festival, held each spring in downtown Charlottesville. (I've also been to one additional winery not on the Trail.) When I moved to Charlottesville a few months ago, I wasn't really a wine drinker and knew nothing about wine. I've been enjoying developing a taste for it, and learning about the different varieties of wine that grow at each vineyard! I also enjoy the fact that generally speaking, winery visits are a responsible social drinking experience and everyone acts mindfully... no one that I know wants to get wasted at a winery out in the country or mountains on a Sunday afternoon for example! I can't wait to keep checking our more local vineyards in months to come.




      God Bless,


      xoxo Annaliese

Monticello Wine Trail: Keswick Vineyards

     Charlottesville, Virginia, my new home city, is famous for many things. Some very good things, like being home to the prestigious University of Virginia. and some not-so-good things, like the white supremacist rallies that happened here last summer. Something to add to the list of GOOD things that this area of Virginia is known for are the incredible wineries! Charlottesville is located smack in the middle of Central Virginia's wine country, and the region is actually home to 33 wineries that comprise the Monticello Wine Trail. I've made it one of my goals since moving here to visit all of these wineries at some point! Not sure I can get to them all in my first year here, but I'd sure like to try. 😊Anyways, a couple weekends ago when my friend Caroline was visiting, we went to Keswick Vineyards! This was my 5th winery visit on the Monticello Wine Trail. I thought it would be fun to share a few details from the day:

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My outfit details: Top {similar} // Skirt c/o // Boots //

     Unfortunately, the weather wasn't too great on the day that Caroline and I headed over the Keswick. But the clouds in the sky didn't dull the fact that we had a great time! We started our time there with a wine tasting. The $12 wine tasting option includes a variety of white and red selections, and we both enjoyed it. We then went on a walking adventure to explore the beautiful grounds! While the wine tasting room at Keswick is very nice, the prettiest part of the winery is by far the manor home that is used for weddings and other large-scale events (the large white home pictured above). The architecture is absolutely stunning, and the fountain in front of it makes it picture perfect! Gazing at the white fences and endless fields of wine grapes make Keswick Vineyards seems something like a dream. Driving through the small village of Keswick from Charlottesville to get to the vineyard is very picturesque as well- you'll pass miles of farms and rolling hills. 

    Both Caroline and I wore our Hunter boots for this day's adventure, since the ground was still pretty damp from rain the night before. I styled mine with this embroidered jean skirt, which is a little out of my fashion comfort zone, but I really liked how the end look turned out. Winery style is really fun- you can wear something a little dressy (like a nice sundress or fun skirt), and I'd pick your shoes based on how much walking you anticipate doing. If your main goal is to sit and enjoy the wine tasting, heels or wedges would probably be fine! But if you want to walk the grounds and explore the winery in full, flat sandals or cute sneakers would be your best bet (or rain boots in case you have weather like we did!). 

     I loved visiting Keswick Vineyards, and hope to go back when the weather is nicer. I'm so excited to see the remaining 26 wineries on the Monticello Wine Trail!

  

     Are there any wineries where you live? I don't know of any in Southern Maine (where I'm from). Vermont had a couple, but they were very tiny. North Carolina has a lot, but they're in the northern part of the state, so none by Charlotte. Charlotte however is known for its extensive craft beer and brewery scene!

   

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese