Barboursville Vineyards — Attraction in Hollymead

Finally, I made it to Barboursville. I had heard about this winery while going to school nearby but never made the trek till now. My friends and I rented a house in Elkton and decided to check out Barboursville Winery for a day. The winery is spacious and looks pretty driving in, especially with the rose bushes at the end of every row of grapes and the backdrop of the mountains.

Tasting is only $7 and you get a fair share of wines to taste. 2 sparklings, 7 whites, 6 reds, and 4 dessert wines. My favorites were the Chardonnay 2013, Riesling 2013, Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Cabernet Franc Reserve, and pretty much all the dessert wines (Cabernet Blanc, Rosato, Phileo, and of course, the Passito). Incidentally, my boyfriend and I were at the Mount Vernon Spring Wine Festival just a week ago and Barboursville was there, so we were able to sample and purchase some of their wines there including the Chardonnay, Cab Sauvignon, and Passito. I enjoyed being able to taste the other wines that weren't at the festival though. I thought the Riesling was a nice floral character, and the Cab Franc Reserve was fantastically well-balanced with notes of berries and plums. I also liked tasting the other dessert wines. Aside from the Passito which I've had, I thought the Rosato and Phileo were both incredibly rich, fruity, lovely dessert wines.

The tasting room is open every day of the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Open Monday through Saturday from 10am-5pm and Sunday from 11am-5pm.

Tours of the winery are offered on Saturday and Sunday from 12-4pm on the hour. We started outside the tasting room and ended at the Octagon Barrel Room, a permanent exhibit of their signature wine. The tour was relatively quick and unlike most wine tours I've been on, devoid of tasting wines. The majority of the time spent on the tour was in the production area.

On this 800+ acres estate, you can also take self-guided tours of Barboursville Ruins. This historic landmark (on the National Register of Historic Places) is the remains of a mansion designed by Thomas Jefferson. It's just a short walk from the tasting room to the ruins. When we went, there had previously been a wedding held there, so there were rows of chairs and flowers, making it a very picturesque setting.

Additionally, there is a restaurant, Palladio, and an inn located on the estate. The grounds are beautiful and the view is spectacular. Barboursville Winery is considered one of Virginia's elite wineries, having won five Governor's Cups (2012 Octagon, 2008 Malvaxia, 2010 Nebbiolo, 2010 Octagon, 2009 Octagon 12th Edition). If you're in the area, I would highly recommend...

Sometimes in life you have an experience and attempt to replicate it later, and fail. We have made our trip to the Barboursville Estate an annual sojourn for many years. Each and every time it has been magnificent. It has been so special that for the last several years, we have brought friends with us. We once again stayed 3 nights in the awesome 1802 Inn (separate review) and dined at the world-class Palladio Restaurant twice (also separate review). Everything was exceptional.

The Estate is a beautiful respite in a busy world. Everything about it is pristine and friendly. Here we must give proper credit to Luca Paschina who is celebrating his 35th harvest at Barboursville as its Wine Maker and General Manager. Luca’s touch can be felt everywhere on property. From the immaculate grounds, the amazing Library tastings, to the incredible Staff that we see each and every year.

About the wine…A disclaimer…We are French wine snobs having lived in Europe for 15 years. Luca’s handiwork is the exception in our cellar. Whether you enjoy White or Red wines, Luca’s passion for the vinyards he cares for comes through in every bottle he produces. Barboursville wine for our palate is as good as any of the great Grand Cru Estates. This is particularly true in the case of his Octagon Red wine. Octagon is a blended red wine that is only made when the harvest is exceptional. It was not produced in 2011. The 2020 vintage of Octagon is out and while it will be better when it lays down a bit, it is wonderful . We are fortunate that we were able to add it to our cellar as it has joined its superb cousins 2016-2019 that grace our cellar. We also had the 2019 White Nascent wine. Wow!

As always, we enjoyed our tastings in the Library. Alyson Foldvary and her staff are amazing. We’ve done wine tastings all over the world. Alyson knows what she is doing. The food during our tasting was over the top good. We were especially blessed to witness some of the harvest while we were there this time. So much fun. Luca has trained an amazing team that exhibits care for the grapes and the land in a spectacular fashion.

If you are thinking about a trip to the Virginia wine country, you simply must stop and refresh yourself at the Barboursville Estate. Truly a first class experience. Cheers to Luca in his 35th year at this...

I find the review question pretty ironic considering the only thing mildly appealing was the scenery. My friends and I travelled there based off word of mouth in hopes of a pleasant experience. Sadly to say it was contradictive to our preconceived notions. Before I explain take into consideration we are all in our mid-20's, highly educated and well-mannered adults. Now to begin, we were met at the door by a friendly hostess who informed us of their more secluded section of dining in their so called "Library" where we would be met by a higher end of exclusive reserves, cheese/meat platter, etc. We were impressed and willing to pay the price of leisure as it was for my birthday. We walked through the passcoded doors to a gorgeous room and with a balcony that was lightly occupied by fellow tasters. But, this is where it began going down hill as we stood for 10 minutes waiting to be seated when there were open tables and more servers than customers. We were patient and waited, eventually to be seated by a friendly hostess who brought our menus and waters and informed us in detail of our choices then leaving us to make our decisions. Unfortunately that is the last time we were even acknowledged before we finished our waters and quietly walked out. Multiple workers quickly attended everyone else promptly and with haste. Also all the other more "tenured" in their years tasters gave us disgruntled glances as if to say with their facial gestures "why are you here?" Now I have plenty more I could say but will refrain from doing so. To sum this up we were discriminated against and neglected all due to our age/youthfullness based off of obvious and pretty blatant preconceived notions that we were in someway not customers deserving of equal service or assumed that we were not financially able contrary to reality. So in conclusion enjoy the views! And the wines, but only if your over 30 or atleast appear to be and if your demeanor as well as attire portrays that of the more entitled higher class portion of our society. Thanks...