Virginia

Vineyard Hopping in Charlottesville

May 11, 2018

Erick and I took the day off to go gallivant around Charlottesville and vineyard hop. We started the day by making a last minute decision to go to Barboursville Vineyards since they open early and we would be arriving at 10:30 am. I had heard it was really nice and I wanted to see for myself. As is typical for vineyards in this area, it has gently sloping hills of vines with mountain views surrounding. They have a large tasting room and terrace and several decks. They also have a pretty fancy restaurant, that was not open while we were there. A fun fact is that the author, Patricia Cornwell, flew down in her helicopter to have lunch here.

Let me tell you – 10:30 am on a Wednesday is definitely the time to go visit. We had the entire place to ourselves, which I prefer since I don’t care for crowds. I had a nice glass of sauvignon blanc on the terrace overlooking the vines and then we set off to the the ruins on their property. The ruins are a mansion that Thomas Jefferson designed for James Barbour, who was Virginia’s governor at the time. The home was completed in 1821.

Before heading to our next destination, we stopped at another vineyard just down the road from Barboursville called Horton Vineyards. We popped by for a quick visit and strolled through the vines. It was beautiful outside, but the allure did not carry through to the tasting room, which looked dated. I ordered a glass of rose, which was served in a glass that said, “It’s not drinking alone if the cat is home.”

We left to head to Pippin Hill, which is my favorite vineyard in Virginia (or anywhere perhaps). We arrived and contrary to our visits thus far, Pippin Hill was packed at 12 on Wednesday, so you can only imagine how it is on the weekends. We had time so we opted to wait for a terrace table instead of eating indoors. We took a walk around, stopping to see their new chicken coop, which was more of a chicken chateau, and the chef’s gardens.

We ordered a cheese board and then as usual, we had a delicious lunch. I had cauliflower gnocchi and Erick had the beef sliders. (Oh, thank heavens that they have something “normal” on the menu for him!)

On our way home, we took a different route so that we could pass through Lynchburg to visit the Grave Garden at Old City Cemetery. It was established in 1806 and they have the largest public collection of antique roses in the state of Virginia. We enjoyed it even though we didn’t have much time to spend and we definitely would like to go back. They have several museums, including a chapel, a Columbarium, a mourning museum, a medical museum, a hearse house and an old train station. This depot was the C&O Railway Station at Stapleton, Amherst County, Virginia, from 1897 to 1937.