Wine; A Financial Goldmine

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 I feel like I literally live in Virginia wine country and one of my favorite things to do is go wine tasting. Not only is it a great time but we are contributing to the booming business that is wine. There is nothing better than a fun afternoon of grabbing lunch and going wine tasting with friends or even with my husband.  

 The adventures of wine tasting can be made even more fun by purchasing a wine package especially from a local bed and breakfast. We are so lucky that many of our local B&B’s have them and they come with some amazing perks.

 One of my favorite things is that they have little tour buses that will take you and your family and friends to different wineries and wait while you have a tasting. Some of the buses provide snacks, entertainment while on the bus for prizes and other fun things. Many even allow you to create your own experience with an overnight stay at a local accommodation with meals and a comfy place to lay your head.

 We are also fortunate in our area to have restaurants and bistros that will pack a picnic style lunch so that you can enjoy the often beautiful scenery that comes with wine tasting.

 Wine brings big business to our area when there are huge festivals several times per year and many have now even started to serve craft beers to draw a totally different crowd.

 A poll in 2016 stated just how big Virginia wine was becoming “the number of new plantings in Virginia has grown 58 percent to 672 acres, up from 425 acres a year ago. In all, Virginia has 3,173 acres of wine grapes, making it the nation’s fifth-largest producer of wine grapes. (By comparison, California, which produces 85 percent of the country’s wine, grows roughly 608,000 acres of wine grapes, according to the Wine Institute.)”

 People look for thrills and a way to just get our and unwind and there are so many places to do that while taking in the tastes of local areas such as Denis Mackenzie’s Winery. I also really love collecting the glasses that you get and other great souvenirs that come with wine tasting in different areas. This is a fun way to showcase your adventures at home and also many people visit the gift shops and other local attractions to collect things along the way. This again brings more business to often small communities such as ours.

 What are some of your most memorable wine tasting adventures? Here in Virginia we have a big festival at the home of President James Madison which is called Montpelier. They have a hat contest at their festival that brings some real beauties. This year they are having a fascinator category which happens to be my favorite.  Bringing a royal tradition right to my little home town is sure a hit but winning gives you a whole new set of bragging rights.