Virginia Wine Weekend Getaway Towns: Part 4

Continuing with our six-part examination of getaway spots in the Commonwealth where you can partake in Virginia's finest, and explore an interesting town while doing it, we move closer towards the Shenandoah Valley and focus on a town more famous for a cave than the town itself: Luray.

Luray Caverns needs no introduction. The most famous public cave on the East Coast (and some would argue the country), the caverns have left millions of visitors breathless. Virginia boasts several caverns in the state (Skyline, Shenandoah, and Dixie to name three others), and all of them offer photo ops galore. Luray is the most popular mainly due to its relentless advertising since the 1960s, and location other attractions affiliated with the tourist spot, including an auto museum and "Singing Tower Park," which features a carillon, directly across from the caverns.

The town was formerly (as recently as the early '80s) rather downtrodden, but the world popularity of the caverns and a vigorous town Chamber of Commerce publicity campaign starting in the mid '80s has allowed to town to prosper and grow into a best-kept secret destination with art galleries, charming stores, and farm to table restaurants.

If you add nearby Stanley (off U.S. highway business route 340), which has Americana small town charms of its own, you the makings of a terrific holiday weekend (heads up: one such holiday weekend is coming up!) There is a fine selection of restaurants in these two towns. Our favorites include Uncle Buck's, The Speakeasy, Gathering Grounds Cafe, and Countryside in Stanley.

Which leads us to the wineries. The first two are on the other side of Shenandoah National Park from Luray; if you approach Luray from the east, via U.S. highway 211, you can hit these two wineries on your way to the town. If you visit Luray via Interstate 81 on the west, these two wineries are a pleasant (and extremely scenic) 30 minutes from the town.

Sharp Rock Vineyards resides on our list of the most relaxing wineries in the Commonwealth. The Hughes River, which you cross via a one lane bridge leading up to the winery, is a favorite of fly fishermen/women, and the owners (Jimm and Kathy East) offer picnic tables, hammocks, and even an overnight cottage with a balcony over the river, for interested guests. The tasting room resides in a cozy cabin, with a nicely appointed sitting area outside. The views at this winery are, in short, breathtaking. Old Rag Mountain sits behind the winery and hikers gather in the tasting room after day hikes.

Sharp Rock Vineyards - one of the most scenic spots in the state:

Jimm owns one of the original Virginia wineries; we have been visiting his spot since the early '00s. He makes incredible wine. Rosé is our usual choice for our visits, however his Chardonnay, with green apple notes, and "Synergy" (his blend of Petit Verdot and Merlot) are noteworthy. Jimm or Kathy will keep you entertained during the tasting with stories about eccentric neighbors.

Sharp Rock Vineyards is a tough place to leave, but after spending a few hours here, you won't have far to go for the next location: DuCard Vineyards:

DuCard is situated in a "mountain cove," meaning you are surrounded by mountains on three sides. Like Sharp Rock, you are truly one with nature in another irresistible mountain location. The tasting building is eco-friendly green, and a bit slicker than the rustic cabin at Sharp Rock, but the tasting process is equally intimate at DuCard. Standout offerings include the Signature Viognier, with its honeysuckle and melon notes; Gibson Hollow White, off-dry and refreshing and a perfect summer cookout wine; and the Popham Run Red blend, a Meritage-like blend with bold notes of cherry and pepper.

More from DuCard Vineyards:

The final winery in this spotlight is a truly one-of-a-kind location near the town of Stanley. Wisteria Vineyard is a working farm, complete with free-roaming chickens and roosters and several sheep, with a European-meets-Woodstock (New York) feel. Acoustic live bands frequent this spot, which is off the beaten trail but well worth a visit. The property extends through the vineyards to several picnic areas, all with incredible views:

The varietals change here from year to year, it seems. Typically, Viognier and Chardonnay are styles offered. This is also one of the only Virginia wineries that offers a "Carmine" red; peppery and mineraly, similar to a fine Cab Franc, but smokier.

The vineyards give way to remote picnic areas near a creek - if you want to get lost at a winery, this is the place to do it.

As for overnight accommodations, Luray is well-covered. Several national chains have locations here, as well as the original Luray Caverns Motels (two locations in the town). For a "throwback" feel, try the Hillside Motel, a modest, clean motel with a spectacular view, east of town on route 211.

Plan a long weekend trip to these easily accessible (from Washington DC and Northern Virginia) towns and wineries this summer!
And be sure to visit our previous entries on Virginia Wine Weekend Getaway Towns.

Wines from Idaho, Hawaii, Michigan, and Virginia--In One Spot

Little Washington Winery is a unique spot on the Route 211 Wine Way (home of other well-known spots, such as Unicorn Winery, Gray Ghost, and Narmada Winery). Named after the nearby yippie-dominated town of "Little" Washington, VA, this winery has none of the pricey pretention of the town of its namesake. In fact, the owners are incredibly down to Earth people, serious about their new venture, eager to talk about their plans and their wines, and happy to have their guests enjoy their mountain vistas from an assortment of multi-colored Adirondack chairs scattered along their numerous hillsides. What makes their winery unique is their "Dirt Road Wine Club." They wanted to bring something different to the Virginia winery experience, so they dispatch their sommelier Andrew to other states to seek out small batch wineries (and not just nearby states, although he was in North Carolina visiting vineyards when we visited).

Their goal is to bring these wines, which you cannot find in even the best wine shops in Virginia, to the Commonwealth. They offer what appeared to be random samples from their extensive "Dirt Road Wine Shop" when we visited; they change their offerings each day. We tried a semi-dry riesling from Michigan, which seemed very dry to us despite its location in the middle of the dry--sweet scale on the back of the bottle. Next was an interesting, very dry, and perfect summer rosé from Italy, followed by a crisp chardonnay from Long Island, and finally a pineapple and passion fruit wine from Hawaii - no grape base. We thought we would have to spit this wine out, but served on ice cubes, it was very refreshing, not as sweet as it could have been, and tasted a bit like a vineyard version of a pina colada. On their racks are wines from up and coming grape-growing states like Idaho and Arizona, as well as some international offerings from smaller vineyards in Austria, New Zealand, and Spain. You can literally travel around the globe with their wine options. As for their own wine, they have two chardonnays they love to serve back to back, in paper bags, during the tasting process. They call it the "fork in the road" tasting, and ask guests to pick which one is aged briefly in oak, before returning to steel, and which is aged completely in steel (the owner and winemaker is not a fan of what he calls "Parkay buttery wine from California").

In the end, we picked the pure steel variation as our favorite, and it was so crisp it had effervescent bubbles - the true sign of a bone dry wine. Little Washington also makes their own red, something called "George" (an appropriate name given their location). It's a smooth, soft tanins blend of Merlot and Cab Sauv. They have no highway signs yet - they just opened several months ago. But keep a keen eye out for this spot on the way to Skyline Drive or Luray Caverns (or Gadino Cellars, which is about a quarter mile down the road from Little Washington Winery.)