Navy Wives Winery Get Away

So on Saturday, March 7th I went on a winery tour with a few of the wives from the wardroom. No hubbies were allowed on this trip.

Starting from the top it was Kelli, Gabby, Sarah, myself and Jacqueline on this trip. I had scheduled five winery stops with the hope of making four. And that was, in my opinion, a real accomplishment. We planned to stay overnight in Charlottesville and drive home the next day.
Kelli's hubby was kind enough to take a picture of all of us before we headed out. Thanks Brian!

Our first stop was Veritas.

It was by far the most lovely of all the wineries. I wanted us to stop there first because they were the only ones to offer a tour. Plus I know we could get a little something to eat before heading out again.

After we did our tour and tasting we sat out on the deck with our cheese platters. It was a lovely day.
Upon our arrival at Veritas we were able to take a quick bathroom break. Yes I know I have a tiny bladder! And then we were off on a tour. Thomas was our tour guide.

He was very knowledgeable. And really seemed to love doing what he did. Which always makes things nicer. I think we all learned something from him. A tour can be interesting, but not many wineries offer a tour. So if you have the opportunity to go on one, I highly recommend it.
We then went to the cellar to learn what happens during fermentation.

It was quite chilly in there and I'm sure the ladies were glad that I had warned them ahead of time, so they were slightly prepared for the chill.

We also got to see the stainless steel tanks and oak barrels.

After the tour we were seated at a table to do our tasting.

Our pourer, Michelle, was very personable and knowledgeable. She had lots of information on the wines. Kelli and Jacqueline seem to find whatever she's saying here very interesting.

And I think we all had lots of fun here. At Veritas you even got to try their sparkling wine. Which most wineries don't do.
Sadly we did have to leave for our next winery. It was so relaxing we had trouble prying ourselves away.

Our next stop was Afton Mountain. It was just a short drive from Veritas. Down the road really.

Sadly I don't have very much to say about the winery. I didn't even catch the pourer's name until I looked on their website. I won't drag him into this as he seemed like a very nice young man. Unfortunately we couldn't find a single wine that any of us liked. There was a very strange taste to the wine. Almost like a cider vinegar. Very sad.

They did have some very good snacks there though. So we did purchase some goodies to take with us.

Our next stop was Cardinal Point. I just had to get a photo of the ladies at the tasting bar.

There were a number of wines that the ladies liked here.

Only one tiny complaint, it was quite hot in there. But the day was getting progressively warmer, so it wasn't completely there fault. They were very busy and it had just started to warm up.

This fine young lady was our pourer. She was very knowledgeable.

She had lots of energy and made you just want to smile at her cadance.

And she wasn't thrown by the number of tastings in different parts or the numerous questions that she was getting. A true mark of an experienced wine pourer.

Near the end of the tasting our wine pourers switched on us. Which can be a shock when you aren't paying attention. You look down a girl is pouring your wine. When I looked up it was a young man pouring my wine. Color me shocked.

Both did a very good job.

And we left with a number of bottles.

Our next stop was Wintergreen Winery.

We only had to wait a few minutes for our tasting, since the tasting bar was filled up.

So we all wandered around their gift shop. There were a lot of neat things in there, so many of us did a bit of shopping. Our wine pourer was pretty good and their wines are nice. They also had two fruit wines, which were very nice. Plus they mulled their apple wine. Which many people enjoyed.
Our final stop was Pollak Vineyard, which is fairly young. They opened their doors just last year.

The ladies enjoyed their Meritage and we took a bottle home with us.

Sadly our pourer didn't seem to want to work with us. I didn't realize we were such a intimidating group.

Seeing as I used work in a winery, I had no sympathy for her. That's your job. To pour wine. I realize we came at the end of the day, but when you have no enthusiasm for your wines, you really don't make us interested in buying any.

After our final stop we headed to our hotel room and found a place to eat. We went into downtown Charlottesville and had an extremely nice dinner at C and O Restaurant. It was very small and at times we wondered if we were ever going to see any of the wait staff, but it was very good food.

After that we headed back to our rooms for girl talk and more wine!

The next day we had a lovely brunch at a place called Rapture. They have a nice brunch with reasonable prices. We wished we had known about it sooner, because it would have been a nice place to have after dinner drinks at. Ah well maybe next time.

I had a lovely time and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too.