Virginia Wine Month: It’s Virginia Wine Time!

October is Virginia Wine Month … and has been for a while now. In fact, our wine month is the oldest continual wine month in the country.

The recognition goes all the way back to 1988 when Virginia wine marketer Annette Boyd thought that it was time for a month to promote Virginia wines and the people who made them. Boyd and others eventually got then-governor Gerald Baliles to proclaim it. Back then, the state only had about 40 wineries. Today, we have over 350. This Friday, we’re going to focus on King Family Vineyards.

Ellen and David King moved to Crozet from Texas in 1996 and purchased a 327 acre farm. Two years later, someone asked them if he could lease some acres for a vineyard. Intrigued by the idea, the Kings planted some grapes themselves, intending just to sell whatever fruit they could harvest. Of course, the next step was making wine from their grapes. By 2002, King Family Vineyards was born.

Michael Shaps was their original winemaker, and in 2007, he was succeeded by Matthieu Finot of Turk Mountain Vineyards. He is still there as King Family puts out some of our favorite local wines.

This Friday, join guest pourer Robert Gardner of distributor International Cellars as we taste some King Family wines. This tasting is another of our famous free walk-up wine tastings. Please come by any time in the hour and a half.