By Nancy Bauer Loudoun County Wine Awards 2018 – Fabbioli Cellars Gets Top Honors   I stopped going to the mega summer wine festivals many years ago. Back then, I loved the energy, the crowds, and the novelty. Now, they just make me grumpy. The sweaty scrum pushing for tiny pours, the blasting sun and […]

By Nancy Bauer Three Days in Spotsylvania Wine, War, And Where in The World Is Stonewall’s Arm? Spotsylvania is peaceful now, but it wasn’t always that way. Union and rebel soldiers fought hard and often across these lands, and Stonewall Jackson suffered the shots that would cause his arm to be amputated and buried here, […]

By Nancy Bauer Rose’ All Day in DC’s Wine Country Explore Loudoun County Through Rosé Colored Glasses So much for the notion that rosé wines are suited only to summer drinking. As the fastest growing wine in the U.S., and one of the most versatile, rose’ has stepped up to take a permanent place at […]

By Nancy Bauer Three Days in Madison County: Five Wineries and A Taste of Old Country If you’ve spent any time exploring Virginia Wine Country, it’s likely you’ve met Madison County, maybe without even realizing it: her farmlands fall on either side of Route 29, the road between Charlottesville and Northern Virginia and her western […]

By Nancy Bauer Wine Finds in Fauquier County With nearly 30 wineries less than an hour’s drive from the DC Beltway, Fauquier County is a quiet powerhouse in Virginia Wine Country. A favorite trek for in-the-know fine wine lovers, Fauquier is home to the state’s most acclaimed winegrower (Jim Law, Linden Vineyards) and best high-end […]

By Nancy Bauer Loving Cup Winery Growing Organic in Virginia Loving Cup Winery outside Charlottesville is an organic winery in a climate that doesn’t care for organic wineries. At any given time, a dozen grape-growing trials are underway, and a tour of the vineyard turns up surprises, like a field of 4-foot sticks standing at […]

By Nancy Bauer Don’t Be So Serious……It’s just wine Who cares if you drink your whites too cold, can’t taste the peach in a Viognier, or didn’t know that Meritage is actually supposed to rhyme with heritage? Wine can be a fascinating journey, but it doesn’t always have to be an epic quest. Sometimes, it […]

By Nancy Bauer Warm up in wine country 5 Loudoun wineries that will warm your soul this winter Steve Carell’s hot wax scene in the 40-Year-Old Virgin is an apt metaphor for 2017, but it wasn’t all misery: Finally, Virginia’s long-suffering grape growers were rewarded with a copious crop and, for many, a vintage year. […]

By Nancy Bauer Gleeful Gifts of Virginia Wine Unusual bottles from Virginia Wine Country, for the wine-o who has it all. For wine loving-Virginians, day trips into our backyard Wine Country have become as common as Chardonnay and Cab Franc in tasting rooms. So even though your wine-loving wife or BFF might welcome a gift […]

By Nancy Bauer Cider Week Rules Back in the eighties, I took a seat at the bar in a London pub. This was before pubs got all tricked out with pendant lights and scrummy snacks. Smoke was thick, beer was warm, and wine was for tossers. I was stymied on a drink choice, but the […]