White Girl wasted
Here we go Charlottesville part two all about wine and beer!
Wish Wish Wine Tour
To start this post I am going to take you through the Wish Wish Wine Tour. We went with the Hop- On Monticello Tour which took us to 4 wineries over a 5 hour time frame for $79 a person. If you have a bigger party or want to customize your tour you can order a private car for $250+.
The tour took us to Jefferson, Bienheim, First Colony and Pippin Hill, all very different but equally amazing. If you don't know much about the wineries in Charlottesville this is a perfect tour for you to get your feet wet! There were three pick up locations, we went with the downtown location and you can pay a little extra for a specific drop off. The tour does offer lunches you can pre-order or you can bring your own! Our tour guide was funny and informative, but also didn't overwhelm you with facts. This was such a great experience and if you have a day to dedicate to drinking great wines I suggest you take advantage of it and book on of their tours, we already plan on going on another one of their other tours next we are in town!
Jefferson
Our first stop was Jefferson about 25 minutes from the downtown area. This is my favorite winery to visit in Charlottesville. Their wines are amazing and the scenery isn’t too bad either! My favorite wines were the Viognier , which we actually bought a bottle of, and the Meritage.
A tasting was $12, which got you 8 wines to try and you got to keep the glass! Also if you wanted to retry something at the end before the dessert wine they allowed you which I thought was really nice and don't think that's ever been offered to me during a tasting! I got a glass on top of the tasting and kinda wish I had saved some alcohol space for tastings later in the trip. Drinking that much at 11 got me a nice head start, but by the last winery I was like okay I’m a little wined out, but hey that’s just me... a beer drinker in a wine world.
Blenheim
Second on the tour was Blenheim, owned by Dave Matthews which is a fun fact, about 10 minutes from Jefferson. The view here was beautiful and the facility is bigger than Jefferson so you had a lot more indoor and outdoor space to explore and drink. I went with the rose since I figured I didn’t know if I was going to continue my day red or white so I went in the middle! It was really good, but honestly in terms of wine all I can describe it as semi-sweet, tart, and alcoholic! A big perk about this winery is they often have a food truck available! We brought our own snacks, but in a previous visit I did sample the food trucks cuisine and it was top notch! This is a must visit in my opinion as well, the wine is good, the view is even better and it’s a large space perfect to go to with a big group!
First Colony
The third stop on our tour was a smaller winery, small in the sense of the tasting room area, but the property itself was huge. Tucked into the woods it was a nice change of scenery, it was shaded which was perfect on a hot summer day and I can only imagine how beautiful it is in the fall with all the changing leaves. Again I stuck with Rose and at this point I was a bit tipsy so any wine knowledge goes out the door and they all tasted great! This is where we had our picnic lunch, they had an outdoor patio with plenty of seating. They actually distribute some wines to our last stop, so it was fun to taste test somethings before making decisions at Pippin Hill. Again I’m no sommelier, but the two wines I tried, rose and cabernet sauvignon, went well with my cheese and crackers so no complaints here!
Pippin Hill
Our final stop on the wine tour was Pippin Hill. This is actually not a winery, but more so an event venue and I can understand why. The place is gorgeous! The also had a full kitchen and I wish I hadn't had dinner reservations right after the tour or I would have ordered something, everything looked and smelled fabulous. Even though they do not produce their own wine, they do have grapes on the premises (apparently a law or something) and you can walk through them like a maze. They had a diverse wine menu and offered tastings as well. I went with a sparkling rose and it was a nice switch up from just wine. I don't think any of the other stops had anything sparkling. This place gets very crowded since it’s close to downtown and is such a gorgeous venue so be prepared for large groups and little seating.
South street brewery
In part 1 I talked a lot about the food you can get at South Street now it’s time to talk beer! I went with the sour beer, don't remember the name SORRY!! I’ve become kinda obsessed with sours and drank a lot of them on this trip. But I also tried their Lemon Shandy both hit the spot! Especially with wings it was the perfect marriage of food and beverage. Again being so close to the Historic Mall area there are plenty of stores to explore while you walk off your beer and pizza!
Hardywood Pilot Brewery & Taproom
Off main street close to the UVA campus you can find the Hardywood Pilot Brewery & Taproom. Their main brewery is located in Richmond, but because of their popularity I guess they decided to open a taproom in downtown Charlottesville. I’ve had so many of their beers and it’s one of my favorite breweries so I was happy to take a trip here! I went with a flight and had two of my new favorite summer beers a pineapple upside down cake sour and a cucumber sour . Both of these were game changers. The cucumber was so refreshing and light, but I will warn you the cucumber flavor was strong so if you don’t like cucumber than you may not be into this. Personally any alcohol that counts as a veggie I’m into! On to the pineapple upside down cake, I mean I just can’t. I was so damn good, kinda sweet , but sour, a nice hint of pineapple but not overpowering. Just a perfect fruit sour beer! I also went with a creme ale and a pilsner just to even it all out. The creme ale was great to counter balance the sours and honestly I wish I had just gotten another pour of the sour cause the pilsner was just okay, it didn't have the effect I was looking for. I'd advise you to so with one of their specialty beers. If you go towards the end of fall you must get one of their gingerbread stouts that are to die for!
Bold Rock at Carter Mountain Orchard
My final stop of the trip was to Bold Rock at Carter Mountain Orchard. They have two types of tastings, one with all the basic apple ciders and their seasonal flavor. I went with the premium tasting which featured their dry ciders. I also got a sample of their seasonal blackberry. I've had some of the other Bold Rock ciders, but never the vintage dry and it was by far my favorite. I was a bit nervous since they are describes as dry, but they still had a light sweetness that I enjoy when drinking hard cider. Not only can you try every Bold Rock cider under the sun here you can also by apples, peaches, non-alcoholic ciders, donuts, wine and more. As previously stated in the first post this is heaven on earth and I plan on making a trip during the fall cause I can't imagine how beautiful the view is with all the changing leaves.
There are so many other places I didn't get to try this trip like three notches and champion brewery. There are only so many hours in the day you can drink!
Check out my Instagram izzababy9 as well!
Wish Wish Wine Tour
To start this post I am going to take you through the Wish Wish Wine Tour. We went with the Hop- On Monticello Tour which took us to 4 wineries over a 5 hour time frame for $79 a person. If you have a bigger party or want to customize your tour you can order a private car for $250+.
The tour took us to Jefferson, Bienheim, First Colony and Pippin Hill, all very different but equally amazing. If you don't know much about the wineries in Charlottesville this is a perfect tour for you to get your feet wet! There were three pick up locations, we went with the downtown location and you can pay a little extra for a specific drop off. The tour does offer lunches you can pre-order or you can bring your own! Our tour guide was funny and informative, but also didn't overwhelm you with facts. This was such a great experience and if you have a day to dedicate to drinking great wines I suggest you take advantage of it and book on of their tours, we already plan on going on another one of their other tours next we are in town!
Jefferson
Our first stop was Jefferson about 25 minutes from the downtown area. This is my favorite winery to visit in Charlottesville. Their wines are amazing and the scenery isn’t too bad either! My favorite wines were the Viognier , which we actually bought a bottle of, and the Meritage.
A tasting was $12, which got you 8 wines to try and you got to keep the glass! Also if you wanted to retry something at the end before the dessert wine they allowed you which I thought was really nice and don't think that's ever been offered to me during a tasting! I got a glass on top of the tasting and kinda wish I had saved some alcohol space for tastings later in the trip. Drinking that much at 11 got me a nice head start, but by the last winery I was like okay I’m a little wined out, but hey that’s just me... a beer drinker in a wine world.
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| This is the larger tasting room for big parties. If you just go on your own their is another tasting room you go to. |
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| I could totally taste the pineapple flavor its was life changing and I don't even like white wine that much! |
Blenheim
Second on the tour was Blenheim, owned by Dave Matthews which is a fun fact, about 10 minutes from Jefferson. The view here was beautiful and the facility is bigger than Jefferson so you had a lot more indoor and outdoor space to explore and drink. I went with the rose since I figured I didn’t know if I was going to continue my day red or white so I went in the middle! It was really good, but honestly in terms of wine all I can describe it as semi-sweet, tart, and alcoholic! A big perk about this winery is they often have a food truck available! We brought our own snacks, but in a previous visit I did sample the food trucks cuisine and it was top notch! This is a must visit in my opinion as well, the wine is good, the view is even better and it’s a large space perfect to go to with a big group!
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| To the left is the large tasting room. |
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| Tasting room interior. |
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| There is this cute little barn, I've never been inside and don't even know if you can go inside. Perfect for a picture if nothing else! |
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| This is the lawn area you can picnic on as well. |
First Colony
The third stop on our tour was a smaller winery, small in the sense of the tasting room area, but the property itself was huge. Tucked into the woods it was a nice change of scenery, it was shaded which was perfect on a hot summer day and I can only imagine how beautiful it is in the fall with all the changing leaves. Again I stuck with Rose and at this point I was a bit tipsy so any wine knowledge goes out the door and they all tasted great! This is where we had our picnic lunch, they had an outdoor patio with plenty of seating. They actually distribute some wines to our last stop, so it was fun to taste test somethings before making decisions at Pippin Hill. Again I’m no sommelier, but the two wines I tried, rose and cabernet sauvignon, went well with my cheese and crackers so no complaints here!
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| This is the outside of the tasting room. |
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| On a cool fall day this place would be very cozy! |
Pippin Hill
Our final stop on the wine tour was Pippin Hill. This is actually not a winery, but more so an event venue and I can understand why. The place is gorgeous! The also had a full kitchen and I wish I hadn't had dinner reservations right after the tour or I would have ordered something, everything looked and smelled fabulous. Even though they do not produce their own wine, they do have grapes on the premises (apparently a law or something) and you can walk through them like a maze. They had a diverse wine menu and offered tastings as well. I went with a sparkling rose and it was a nice switch up from just wine. I don't think any of the other stops had anything sparkling. This place gets very crowded since it’s close to downtown and is such a gorgeous venue so be prepared for large groups and little seating.
South street brewery
In part 1 I talked a lot about the food you can get at South Street now it’s time to talk beer! I went with the sour beer, don't remember the name SORRY!! I’ve become kinda obsessed with sours and drank a lot of them on this trip. But I also tried their Lemon Shandy both hit the spot! Especially with wings it was the perfect marriage of food and beverage. Again being so close to the Historic Mall area there are plenty of stores to explore while you walk off your beer and pizza!
Hardywood Pilot Brewery & Taproom
Off main street close to the UVA campus you can find the Hardywood Pilot Brewery & Taproom. Their main brewery is located in Richmond, but because of their popularity I guess they decided to open a taproom in downtown Charlottesville. I’ve had so many of their beers and it’s one of my favorite breweries so I was happy to take a trip here! I went with a flight and had two of my new favorite summer beers a pineapple upside down cake sour and a cucumber sour . Both of these were game changers. The cucumber was so refreshing and light, but I will warn you the cucumber flavor was strong so if you don’t like cucumber than you may not be into this. Personally any alcohol that counts as a veggie I’m into! On to the pineapple upside down cake, I mean I just can’t. I was so damn good, kinda sweet , but sour, a nice hint of pineapple but not overpowering. Just a perfect fruit sour beer! I also went with a creme ale and a pilsner just to even it all out. The creme ale was great to counter balance the sours and honestly I wish I had just gotten another pour of the sour cause the pilsner was just okay, it didn't have the effect I was looking for. I'd advise you to so with one of their specialty beers. If you go towards the end of fall you must get one of their gingerbread stouts that are to die for!
Bold Rock at Carter Mountain Orchard
My final stop of the trip was to Bold Rock at Carter Mountain Orchard. They have two types of tastings, one with all the basic apple ciders and their seasonal flavor. I went with the premium tasting which featured their dry ciders. I also got a sample of their seasonal blackberry. I've had some of the other Bold Rock ciders, but never the vintage dry and it was by far my favorite. I was a bit nervous since they are describes as dry, but they still had a light sweetness that I enjoy when drinking hard cider. Not only can you try every Bold Rock cider under the sun here you can also by apples, peaches, non-alcoholic ciders, donuts, wine and more. As previously stated in the first post this is heaven on earth and I plan on making a trip during the fall cause I can't imagine how beautiful the view is with all the changing leaves.
There are so many other places I didn't get to try this trip like three notches and champion brewery. There are only so many hours in the day you can drink!
Check out my Instagram izzababy9 as well!
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