Before I moved to London and fell in love with the world, I lived in Northern Virginia for essentially my entire life and did not really leave the area all that much. Now that I am temporarily back as an adult, it’s crazy to see all that was going on around me! Specifically, in my lifetime, an incredible wine region was building up around me and I barely knew it.
As a total wine lover, I made it my mission to visit as many of the wineries as possible while staying in Virginia – I mean, hey, if I’m planning on doing it in Europe, I should definitely try to do it at home. I’ll be posting a series of posts recapping 2-3 wineries at a time (so you don’t get too thirsty reading). Note – I’ll sum up my thoughts on each winery by rating the wine (quality for price), tasting experience, views, and atmosphere out of five stars.
For my first weekend of wine tasting, I visited Stone Tower and Willowcroft with one of my oldest friends. We made the most of what felt like the first warm day I’ve experienced in a year with the stunning views and delicious wine!
Stone Tower Winery
Tasting: $15 for six wines
I had heard great things about Stone Tower, so it was at the top of my list when deciding where to start. We made the mistake of going to the family area first, which was extremely crowded and loud. When we eventually found the adults only area, though, the experience was completely different.
We sat out on the terrace with a bottle of rosé, some brie and bread, and golf course-like views. I felt a bit cheated when it came to the prices – of the wine, tasting, and the cheese – but at the same time it’s not something that I wouldn’t do again! The building that the adults-only room is in would be amazing for events and it looks like they offer a ton of outdoor seating in the summer. Add a little live music and you’ve got my dream day!
Wine – 4/5 | Tasting – 3/5 | Views – 4/5 | Atmosphere – 4/5
Willowcroft Farm
Tasting: $10 for seven wines
To be honest, I’m not even sure how we found Willowcroft Farm because it definitely wasn’t on my radar when I started out the day. As we pulled up, it didn’t look like anything special and I honestly thought this would be one of those wineries we tried just to tick it off the list. Oh, I was wrong!
Every detail about this place was absolutely adorable, from the fairy lights in the entryway to the signage in the tasting room to the incredible views. The woman who did our tasting was on her first day on the job, but she had the best attitude and knew a surprising amount about the wines – oh, and wasn’t afraid to ask for help when she didn’t know something (total opposite of a wine snob)! My favorite part, though, was that they offered a Gewurtztraminer wine extremely similar to the ones I tasted in Alsace.
Wine – 5/5 | Tasting – 4/5 | Views – 5/5 | Atmosphere – 5/5
If you liked this post, check out more Northern Virginia wineries we visited in Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Also, for the real wine lovers out there, we built the ultimate wine bucket list!
What was your favorite wine tasting experience?
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