Finally, I went to new wineries!

Late harvest grapes at Breaux Vineyards.

Yeah, I was stuck in a rut. I had been hitting up the wineries down Hwy 9 far too long without venturing elsewhere. Granted, Breaux Vineyards is still my favorite spot to visit, I have a new set of runners-up!

This past weekend Dawn and I made our way out to BFE (read: Haymarket) to grab her some shoes for her Halloween costume from her friend Jax. Since we were already down Hwy. 15 I figured we might as well hit up a couple of wineries around the area.  As such we first

Nearly the entire flight at LaGrange was dellectible.

headed to LaGrange Vineyards near Haymarket. Being Halloween there were decorations out and the entire staff was dressed in costume to celebrate the day. The grounds are very nice and the house where the tastings are done has a very nice setup inside. We decided to have the full flight to taste and we were both surprised to find that Dawn’s palette is FINALLY coming around to something other than ice wine! The most intriguing selection was by far the Port-style Snort which will definitely find its way into my wine rack soon! The knowledge and hospitality of the staff during the tasting was what really set this place firmly behind Breaux as me second favorite vineyard in NOVA.

Next we decided to forgo Quattro Goombas in lieu of Chrysalis and we were not disappointed. Though it was a windy day they still had several tasting stations setup outside. The weather was gorgeous so I didn’t mind, but the wind was really borderline for doing such. Eventually we began the tasting and I was again impressed by the quality of the

The patio wines are something you can enjoy with anyone in the afternoon.

wines here. They’re very proud of their use of the Norton grape, the only indigenous wine grape in VA. It’s actually refreshing to see them take some local pride in this and also that they offer some wines that aren’t at the normal boutique prices. Overall I enjoyed the tasting, especially the two patio wines are not only refreshing, but very well priced for anyone to enjoy.

If you’re planning on heading out for a couple of new wineries then I definitely suggest putting these two on your list! These are two places you will definitely not regret visiting!