Raise your glass if you’re ready for riding boots, flannels, and apple pie everything! Now that I’m not in school anymore, there’s nothing stopping me from willing summer to end so I can frolic in crunchy leaves and trade my iced coffee for pumpkin spice lattes. We caught a whiff of fall in the air with a few unusually cool evenings last week. It was such a tease. There’s nothing like closing out summer by checking another Virginia winery off the list, though! Sarah and I hopped in Helen’s new car for a short roadtrip to Bluemont Vineyard last weekend. The absolutely gorgeous vineyard is just over an hour’s drive from DC, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Northern Virginia.
Down the road from the vineyard is a pick-your-own apple orchard called Great Country Farms. We had originally (over-ambitiously) planned to go apple picking too. Alas, the weather on Sunday ended up being muggy and gross. Given the breathtaking view though, it was fine by me to relax and catch up over wine and cheese instead of sweating buckets and trampling through muddy grass to pick apples.
Surprisingly, the place wasn’t packed on a Sunday afternoon! We had no trouble getting a table with this panoramic view. The tasting room has two levels, plus a spacious patio with board games and corn hole. There were families with young kids, couples with dogs, older folks and everyone in between…all of whom looked like they were enjoying themselves. My roommate said she had been to a wedding there recently, and I can definitely see it. Bluemont Vineyard would make a fantastic wedding venue!
While I wasn’t super impressed by any part of the cheese board we ordered, I definitely want to come back for the brunch menu. Apple cider donuts, apple cider mimosas, chicken & waffle sliders? Sign. me. up. They also serve flatbreads that looked amazing. (They were cheaper than the cheese board, too.) Just another excuse to return, right?
The vineyard is nestled in the village of Bluemont, which happened to be hosting the annual Bluemont Fair when we visited. We only caught a glimpse as we drove through, but it looked to have all kinds of fun vendors. From arts and crafts to beer and cider from the local Dirt Farm Brewing and Wild Hare Hard Cider, there would have been something for everyone. That said, with a winery, cidery, brewery, and apple orchard, this small town is truly a one-stop shop for all kinds of fun weekend escapes!
Sipping on rosé and talking about living our best lives (among other things) with these two lovely ladies was definitely a highlight of my weekend. The weekends go by way too fast these days, but I’ve been loving having something to look forward to at the end of the daily grind. A couple weeks ago we did a day trip to Annapolis, and we’ll have to come back to the idea of apple picking soon. What other easy day trips from DC should we add to the list?
