Tired of Boxed Wine In Quarantine? Go Local! A Beginner's Guide to VA Wine

If you’re like me, you have mainly three groups of friends when it comes to wine:

1. Friends who are very particular about their wine (I use the term ‘wine snob’ lovingly because they probably have drank a lot more wine than me);

2. Friends who drink wine because it’s fun with other people, they prefer it over beer, and they have some general knowledge about what they do and don’t like (that’s me); and

3. Friends who drink wine because it’s in their house, or want as many types of alcohol as possible and grab the cheapest bottle (or box) in the store.

There’s nothing wrong with any of these categories as long as you are liking what you drink (and are doing so responsibly, which isn’t too hard if you’re supposed to stay home!)

However, you may be reaching the point that you’re getting a little tired of boxed wine, or you have wanted to try new wine but get really intimidated when power walking the wine aisles of the grocery store or looking up ‘Virginia wine’ on Google. Not to worry!

Now is a great time to try Virginia wine, not only because you are guaranteed to find something you like, but you are also supporting small business. This is normally a boom time of year for Virginia wineries as the weather gets warmer and new wine releases abound, so every purchase you make now (even if it’s just one bottle) ensures they can stay in business and give you more wine to try!

Here are 5 steps to help you get started:

1. Where do I order Virginia wine?

It’s easiest to look up the wineries close to you on Google maps - it’ll be easier for you to go back for a tasting, plus a lot of wineries are doing free local delivery or curbside pick-up.

You can also check out the list of wineries that I’ve visited and choose from there!

Shout-out to Virginia Wine in My Pocket’s Nancy Bauer who regularly updates a list of wineries across Virginia that are offering discounts, free shipping, and delivery. It’s really easy to do, and most wineries will bend over backwards to get your wine to you quickly!

2. How much does Virginia wine typically cost?

It will be more expensive than just going to the grocery store, because there’s a lot of costs associated with making wine on a small scale than what’s in big-box retailers. Many Virginia wineries started as just a family that wanted to grow grapes! In my opinion it's totally worth the cost.

Most Virginia wines retail between $20 and $35. The older the year on the wine, the more expensive it normally is because the wine has had time to age and the flavors mature.

If you’re willing to spend a little more, some wineries are doing virtual tastings that involve you buying 3-4 bottles of different types of wine.

A case is 12 bottles of the same wine, soooo a little different in price than a case of beer!

3. How do I know which Virginia wine I might like!?

Virginia wine is unique: keep in mind that just because you like or don’t like a

type of wine that you’ve bought in a store or restaurant (usually California if you’re on the more economic end of things) doesn’t mean it will taste the same in Virginia.

Besides just your typical wine, there's also sparkling wine, fruit wine, wine in a can, and much more!

This is an EXTREMELY basic listing to helping people new to wine or differentiating

between wines to get started.

• Blend vs. Single Varietal: If you see names on a bottle that don’t sound like types of grapes, that means it is a blend of two or more types of wine.

You’ve probably heard of Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigiot - those are

single variety/varietal wines.

• White or Red? And what is a rosé?

White wine is typically sweeter, but there ARE drier white wines and fruitier red wines. In my experience, the further south you go in Virginia, the ‘less dry’ the wines are in general (especially the reds) purely because of the climate.

This is VERY over-generalized, but below is a spectrum of white and red wine from

typically more ‘fruit-forward’ (aka you can taste fruit flavors in the wine) to more dry based on the more common grape varietals that are provided at Virginia wineries. For beginners, I hope it’s helpful if you’re just looking at a winery website that may or may not have descriptions of how a wine tastes and have no idea where to start.

White: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Petit Manseng, Viognier, Traminette, Riesling

Red: Norton, Chambourcin, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah

If you see a rosé, this is a wine typically made with red grapes that are processed more like a white wine in that the skins don’t stay in contact very long with the juice and create a pinkish hue - I know that’s a mouthful! While I love rosé, if you’re just trying out wine I would stick with a red or white single grape varietal that you can build upon and try at different wineries.

If you see a dessert wine, that is a very sweet wine that' great to sip with dessert but not something I can normally drink a whole glass of!

4. I kinda got the vocab down….where do I go from here??

If a winery has a type of wine that you’ve had before and liked, start there!

If you’re not sure, look at more than one winery site. Take a look at the descriptions that most wineries have and see if any of the flavors they say you should taste would be something you’d like. You may not necessarily taste those flavors when you try it (and that’s ok!), but it does give you a hint of whether it’s a drier or sweeter wine (or the description may straight up use those terms)

When I first started drinking wine, Riesling and sometimes Chardonnay were my go-tos, and I could only drink red if it was a blend. Now, I’m still a Chardonnay fan, but I also like Cabernet Sauvignon too!

5. How do I serve and store the wine?

• Most white wines should be chilled before you serve them.

• Reds are normally served at or near room temperature. I would suggest leaving the bottle open for about 10-15 minutes after you uncork it, just to allow the oxygen to interact with the wine and the flavors to be more distinct. Otherwise, your wine may taste a little more ‘acidic’ than what you’re expecting!

• I would suggest buying some bottle stoppers off Amazon before you open your wine - you can get them for as little as $10. One, it keeps air out of the bottle longer if you want to keep it for a while. Two, you never know when you’re going to destroy a cork when you’re trying to open a bottle (it still happens to me on occasion!)

• If you want to just stick the cork back in when you’ve had your fill your wine will last 3-5 days in most cases.

I hope you feel ready to tackle the wonderful world of Virginia wine! As always, feel free to leave feed and/or comments if you’d like me to make any recommendations or need more advice!