2023 Edition: 240 Wineries Covered
Virginia wineries — well-known destinations to Virginians, over two million of whom visit annually. A little-known secret to millions of Washington visitors. Growing so fast they’re hard to keep up with…
The BS Guide to Virginia wineries can help you find more wineries, anticipate how good the wine will be, and learn more about their spectacular and historic surroundings. Written by a wine-loving, Virginia resident historian, the BS Guide helps you find in one place whose wine is getting the most buzz, who has 1,2 or 3 star scenery, and the stories / history all around the wineries.
Life for Virginia wineries was highly disrupted in 2020 and 2021 by the COVID pandemic. Wineries had to close for different periods of time, and on re-opening (about 20 wineries decided to call it a day and close permanently) had to re-organize the experience they offer to visitors. Luckily growing, harvesting, and bottling were able to continue apace. Now winery life has returned to its pre-pandemic normalcy, and new wineries are appearing again, especially in Northern Virginia. Winemaker choices have also been evolving across the state, and we’re seeing now more bottlings of Virginia-suited single varietals — notably Petit Manseng and Vidal Blanc in the whites, and Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Chambourcin in the reds — and more creative blending (in both reds and whites) by winemakers. Relatively speaking, we’re seeing less of the formerly ubiquitous Meritage blends, and of Viogniers, Chardonnays, Merlots, and Cabernet Sauvignons.
The 2023 edition of this guide — our sixth year — contains updates based on the February 2023 Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition (as well as the preceding seven years), as well as results from multiple years of the San Francisco Chronicle, Finger Lakes , and San Francisco International Wine Competitions, the Monticello Cup, and Best of Loudoun competitions, and now also the Atlantic Seaboard Winery Association wine competition. This year we have expanded our ratings to rank the Top 100 wineries in Virginia, and the Top 50 wineries in Northern Virginia. The page for each winery will help you see whether and where a given winery stands in our rankings. Check out our updated Top Ten Wineries of Virginia, as well as our updated Top Ten Wineries of Northern Virginia.