By Nancy Bauer Mediterranean Cellars Wins Big Love at Fauquier Wine Awards For years now, it’s been impossible to find a ticket to the annual Fauquier County People’s Choice Wine Awards. They sell out every year, and it’s easy to see why: no queuing in crushing lines, beautiful (indoor) venue at Airlie, tasty wines, and […]

By Nancy Bauer 15 VIP Experiences in Virginia Wine Country Frequent winery travelers are asking more from Virginia. With cupboards full of logo’d wine glasses at home and hundreds of hours of experience logged at tasting bars, serious winos have begun looking beyond the bar for more personal experiences. They want to trade stories with […]

By Nancy Bauer Just Getting to Know Virginia Wine Country? Here’s What You Missed Hartwood Winery celebrates thirty years, and its owner tells some tales When Hartwood Winery owner Jim Livingston opened his doors in 1989, after more than 15 years of growing grapes, there were only a few dozen wineries in the state. Of […]

Hand-crafted Wines for the Holidays by Mary Ann Dancisin, Certified Specialist of Wine Giving a gift of fine wine for the holidays is a time-honored tradition. In fact, the months leading up to Christmas are always the heaviest selling season for wines and spirits. But: not at our local wineries. Visits to wineries in the beautiful […]

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 […]