Winemaking in Virginia is nothing new. In fact, Jamestown settlers tried and failed over four centuries ago to establish a wine industry in their adopted homeland. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were unable to produce wine from their vineyards in later centuries. Pests and disease were the culprits.
In just the past five years, however, Virginia’s winery count has nearly doubled to over 200, and its viticulture is attracting worldwide accolades and patronage.
“Virginia wine is becoming less of an insider’s secret, and the caliber of experience in visiting the wineries is top-notch,” says Todd Haymore, Virginia secretary of agriculture and forestry. “This has been noted recently with Wine Enthusiast magazine’s ranking of Virginia as one of the top 10 wine travel destinations of 2012. Harper’s Travel and Fodor’s have also ranked Virginia as a top 10 wine travel destination.”
Also, some big names are joining the Virginia bonanza. The Trump Family (Trump Winery), bandleader Dave Matthews (Blenheim Vineyards) and AOL co-founder and former CEO Steve Case (Early Mountain Vineyards) are among the marquee names now contributing to Virginia’s grape renaissance.
Business groups enjoy Virginia’s wine array, along with some exceptional experiences at the wineries, including wine blending and food pairings; team building; and outdoor recreational and cultivation activities. Some wineries also feature signature on-site restaurants, while others offer luxury accommodations, meeting spaces, outdoor activities and festivals that contribute to their warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Throw in the mountains, sea, rolling piedmont scenery and historic sites for which Virginia is famous, and exploring the state’s wineries is even more compelling.
Following are several standout options for groups.
Potomac Point Vineyards & Winery, Stafford County
www.potomacpointwinery.com
Potomac Point’s scenic Northern Virginia location near Washington, D.C., and the National Museum of the Marine Corps makes it a convenient choice for many business groups. Another reason groups select the winery for meetings and events is its array of private event venues, including a ballroom, barrel room, wine cave and conference room.
“We can host just about any kind of indoor or outdoor event you can think of for up to 250 people,” says Cindi Causey, general manager of the winery. “Our ballroom accommodates up to 250 seated guests, while our cave and barrel room are spaces for smaller groups of 30 to 50 people.”
Causey says there is a full-service kitchen on-site that creates varied culinary choices, especially tapas and other dishes with a Mediterranean flair, in keeping with Potomac Point’s architectural style.
Live music is offered Thursday and Friday evenings in the courtyard. Festivals and wine dinners are also regulars on the winery calendar.
8 Chains North, Waterford
www.8chainsnorth.com
Dessert and wine pairings are specialties of this Loudoun County winery. Renshaw family members run a vineyard on their farm as well as the award-winning Mom’s Apple Pie Company bakery locations in the Northern Virginia region.
A tasting room with a large outdoor patio overlooks the vineyard and provides groups of up to 50 with both indoor and outdoor venues. Space for business meetings, lunches on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (when the winery is closed), or evenings after 5 p.m. is available.
Guests may contemplate the rolling piedmont views as they sample the wines, along with small portions of pies and other desserts.
“We grow grapes and blackberries on our farm, so it’s no accident the food and wine go well together, because we use what we grow in our products,” says the winery’s Donnie Renshaw. “Everyone knows red wines pair well with chocolate, and our reds like merlot pair well with blackberry or pumpkin pies. Chocolate brownies call for a bigger Bordeaux.”
8 Chains North’s tasting room supports the local farm community by serving locally grown and prepared foods, including cheeses and locally made corn chips with avocado, hummus, eggplant and black bean dips. PageBreak
Trump Winery, Charlottesville
www.trumpwinery.com
The Trump brand arrived in Central Virginia a couple of years ago when Eric Trump bought an existing winery and transformed it into a sophisticated destination that caters to business groups of up to 200.
An on-site event coordinator designs tastings and meals at the winery, located just 15 minutes from Thomas Jefferson’s hometown, and arranges accommodations and transportation. Tours of vineyards and historic sites in the area (including former U.S. presidents’ homes Monticello and Ash Lawn) are also in the winery’s repertoire.
Kerry Woolard, general manager, says there are several venues available at Trump Winery, from intimate and private spaces for eight to large conference-style venues with big-screen TVs and other tech amenities.
“For more formal occasions, there’s our pavilion with mahogany decor that seats up to 200,” Woolard says.
A recent corporate coaching multiday event for about 80 had people in seminars, tastings and dinner, all on-property, she adds.
True to the brand, there’s VIP service for clients who want it.
“We have a helicopter landing pad right outside our event space, and tethered hot-air balloon rides give participants stunning views of the property, surrounding mountains and lake in conjunction with a tasting and dinner,” Woolard says.
Peaks of Otter Winery, Bedford
www.peaksofotterwinery.com
Roughly 30 varieties of wine and plenty of fun diversions are the highlights at Peaks of Otter Winery, located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway and inside a fruit orchard.
Peaks of Otter beverages derive from an array of fruits, including grapes, apples, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, nectarines and blackberries, as well as from chili peppers.
It’s the chili peppers that pack the wallop in its “Kiss the Devil” wine, and those who are brave enough to sip it at wine tastings get a sticker to say they did. Otherwise guests may experience milder taste sensations from vino products like Sheep Creek Ruby, Dry Peach Peach and The Mango Tango.
For a true Virginia experience, groups can incorporate stops at the dramatic National D-Day Memorial at nearby Bedford.
Barboursville Winery, Charlottesville
www.barboursvillewine.net
Barboursville Winery is one of Virginia’s oldest and most honored wineries. Owned by Italy’s Zonin Family, the vineyard, situated in Virginia’s rolling Piedmont region, recalls Tuscan Italian landscapes. Local area resident Thomas Jefferson designed Governor Barbour’s mansion, and its ruins are the property’s brand icon.
Groups enjoy award-winning wines in the elegant tasting room, and upscale Italian cuisine in Palladio Restaurant, where private dinners and receptions are accommodated in an event space for up to 100 people.
The 1804 inn features 11-foot ceilings and hand-hewn wooden floors. English bone china, antique silver and 17th, 18th and 19th century art sets the ambience. Six cottages with a design that recalls another era while featuring contemporary amenities like satellite TV have been created from 18th century servants’ quarters and the estate’s former schoolhouse.
Williamsburg Winery, Williamsburg
www.williamsburgwinery.com
Williamsburg Winery and Wedmore Place offer guests an Old World European ambience near Colonial Williamsburg and the rest of Virginia’s Historic Triangle region, birthplace of America. Belgian native and owner Patrick Duffeler purchased the land in 1983 and has created one of Virginia’s finest destination wineries.
Conie Duncan, event planner at Williamsburg Winery, says property venues accommodate gatherings of up to 180 guests.
“We are designed for small board meetings, executive leadership retreats, that sort of thing,” Duncan says. “Guests may sleep in our hotel, do reserve wine tours and tastings, and engage in team-building exercises centered on tastings and wine blending.”
Indoor and outdoor spaces accommodate everything from formal dinners to casual activities, and a tavern is meant for casual dining or receptions.
Wedmore Place’s 28 guest rooms have a European-style decor that’s themed to varied regions of Europe such as Tuscany, Scandinavia, Bavaria and Venice. Antiques and wood-burning fireplaces warm the decor.
The winery arranges historic tours of Williamsburg, museum tours, private dinners and wine pairings, as well as spousal programs such as shopping and glass blowing demonstrations. PageBreak
Chatham Vineyards, Machipongo
www.chathamvineyards.net
Eastern Shore land at Chatham overlooks Church Creek, and is almost as old as America.
Patented in 1640, Chatham has been a working farm for nearly four centuries. There’s an 1818 Federal-period brick house on the farm and other historic outbuildings that have been renovated by the Wehner Family, who have farmed the land and operated the winery in recent decades.
Jon Wehner of Chatham Vineyards, says the winery partners with Southeast Expeditions (www.southeastexpeditions.net) from March through December to provide groups with Eastern Shore kayaking adventures within an hour’s drive of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
“They start at the last authentic crab picking house on the shore, for a one- to two-hour paddle along Church Creek, an Atlantic byway,” Wehner says. “It’s a large body of water—almost a lake—that’s heavily wooded and home to wildlife such as Blue Heron, egrets and bald eagles. It’s only a short walk up to our tasting room once you get ashore, and you pass historic 200-year-old farm buildings, fields and our vineyards.
“We are pleased to be a part of the growing Virginia wine industry because it’s a creative way to preserve farmland in a sustainable way,” Wehner adds. “And our wines are supporting the huge following for regional cuisine—a movement that has people wanting to drink and eat local product.”
Mermaid Winery, Norfolk
www.mermaidwinery.com
Billing itself as Virginia’s first “urban winery,” Mermaid Winery opened last May in the Ghent historic district. The tasting room offers the Mermaid’s limited production wines from grapes that are sourced from Virginia vineyards, along with produce from other wineries. There are also small plates, large plates, salads and sandwiches that pair well with the wines.
Mermaid Winery is located in a 2,444-square-foot storefront and has indoor and outdoor seating for about 60 people, including the tasting bar, which accommodates 10 people.
Tastings of food and wine, movie nights and block parties are among the events on Mermaid Winery’s calendar.
Chateau Morrisette,
Meadows of Dan
www.chateaumorrisette.com
With a location adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway just south of Roanoke, Chateau Morrisette is one of Virginia’s oldest and largest wineries.
“People come to us for our wines, our scenery, our food and our proximity to lots of outdoor activities like hiking on the parkway,” says Misty Tunstall, a winery event planner. “We are known for our big array of wines, including sweet, dessert wines.”
There are three rustic, casual dining rooms at the winery that accommodate from eight to 75 diners. Additionally, the William Morrissette Room upstairs can host up to 150 guests. For spectacular mountain and garden views, some groups choose the outdoor patio and lawn, Tunstall says.
Besides wine, food and scenery, Chateau Morrisette is also about frequent music events in the Virginia region where American country music was born. Among its annual events are the Black Dog Music and Wine Festival and the Squealing Black Dog Wine and Swine Festival, which offers pork barbecue on the menu. The winery welcomes pets and people to meet its resident Black Labradors.
Cross Keys Vineyards,
Mt. Crawford
www.crosskeysvineyards.com
The historic and beautiful Shenandoah Valley is home to Cross Keys Vineyards near Harrisonburg, where groups enjoy private meetings and events in venues that embrace the surroundings of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Outdoor terraces, a large open courtyard, a ballroom and a boardroom host groups of up to 600-plus amid Tuscan-style architecture.
Winery events include Vineyard Vibes concerts, wine dinners, charity benefits and a Harvest Festival in October.
Virginia-based freelancer Ruth A. Hill is a frequent contributor to Meetings Focus South.
