I loved the rustic signs in the Grace Estates Vineyards!
Minnie’s Take:
We had a nice, crisp fall day for our most recent wine trip, where we did a tasting at one winery in the Northern Monticellio wine trail, and one on along the Western cluster. Our original plan for this trip was to re-vist a few vineyards that we had not been too since very early on in our wine tasting-hobby days. But then, I found out about a new winery in Crozet from a beloved teacher of Billy and JJ’s. Her daughter has just settled on Grace Estates as the venue for her upcoming wedding, and after hearing about her rave reviews, I was surprised Grace Estates had not popped up on our radar before. Then, upon doing a little research on their webpage and seeing the beautiful views this winery offers…..we just had to alter our plans, and check it out. And, we were not disappointed.
Turns out, Grace Estates is now established on the Mt. Juliet Farms in Crozet, VA. We had been in the vicinity of this property a few times before,when it was just a vineyard, and not a winery. The property had been very visible to us as we traveled to both White Hall Vineyard and Glass House vineyard on trips in the past. For the past 18 years, Mt. Juliet Farms has been churning out grapes for a number of VA wineries. They boast 63 acres of grapes, which sticks out on the road as you travel by. And then the sheer size and beauty of the estate high on the hill makes you do a double take! In both of our drive bys, we had been interested in the property, so we were delighted when we arrived at the winery and made the connection.
Grace Estates from the road
Once we got up the long winding road to the estate, we saw that the view from that side was even better.
The view and the grounds are reason enough to visit Grace Estates. The employees are another. They were prompt in greeting us and worked very hard in keeping up with many number of tastings they had in progress. In between pours, we were able to garner some really interesting information from them. First off, the winery has only just opened this past June. However, from the history of the farm, they have well established grapes, and now about 20 % of their grape to bottle wines under the estate name. The name of the vineyard and the logo come from the Grace Family of the WR Grace Company which is a chemical conglomerate. One of the three brothers, John Grace recently brought the property, as it is a replica of the Kilarney Estates in Ireland which has ties to his ancestors. Even though the house looks quite old from the road, it is actually a pretty new residence, and that is evident once you get up close and personal. Mr. Grace’s primary residence is in Switzerland, and thus the basement of the house has recently been turned into a nice tasting room. On the first ‘chilly’ fall day we have had so far this year, we were greeted with a toasty fire and some beautiful paintings of the vineyard. It provides a nice backdrop to a tasting. Afterwards, we enjoyed a glass (Mickey a Vioginer, and me their Chardonnay) outside on the porch taking in the view.
Looking back towards the tasting room and porch of Grace Estates.
Our visit to Grace Estates was most enjoyable, and we look forward to seeing how this vineyard develops in the coming years. With a beautiful setting and friendly employees, they are off to a promising start.
Cardinal Point’s LOVEworks sign is wonderful!
From Grace Estates, we veered back to our original plan of visiting one of our early forays into the Virginia wine world: Cardinal Point. We had a few of these to chose from, but I had an ulterior motive in picking Cardinal Point: they have a Virginia LOVE works piece made out of wine barrels. That in and of itself was reason enough to pay Cardinal Point a visit. Turns out, that was all we got. The tasting room was busting at the seams, and we were a bit pressed for time, so we decided to head up the road to Afton Mountain Vineyards.
Afton Mountain Vineyards was just up the road, and Mickey had wanted to go there instead of Cardinal Point the in the first place, as he had been reading about all the upgrades Afton Mountain has made in the past few years and was excited to check them out. But, I insisted on Cardinal Point for the LOVEworks. In the end, I was so glad we check out Afton Mountain. (But, we also got a cute picture…..so it all worked out!)
First, there is the view…..
The amazing view at Afton Mountain….even on an overcast day!
Pretty much backs up their claim that ‘grapes don’t grow in ugly places’! 
What a gem Afton Mountain Winery is……and they are doing so many things right. First off, they have moved from their original tasting room into what used to be the house of the previous owner. That tasting room and patio have then been expanded upon a few times, and an additional patio/ weather proof pagoda has been added on to the premises. The facility is only overshadowed by the view:
And then, there is their service…..as soon as we stepped in the door, we were greeted by a friendly employee who asked if we wanted a tasting, and directed us to a couch to wait while a space was created for us in a tasting. Shortly thereafter, we were added to one already in progress. Interestingly enough, the other couple in our group had seen us at Cardinal Point, and left for the same reasons. They were a fun pair, and combined with a hilarious pourer, we had the best time making our way down the enjoyable list of wines at Afton Mountain. You have the choice here to taste just reds, just whites or both. Our friends left after the whites, which left us to chat up our pourer for the rest of the tasting. She had been at Afton Mountain through all of the expansion and gave us some nice history and fun anecdotes during her time working at the winery.
We are quite smitten with Afton Mountain Winery, and already have plans to head back next month with friends for our fall ‘un-win(e)d Friday!’
One other side note from this trip through the Monticello wine region is this: weekends in Virginia wine country are getting busier. There is much more traffic on the roads, and the tasting rooms are bustling. At the outset, we thought we would meet small crowds since it was a home UVA football game. But, it was noticeably busier than last fall. It’s no wonder….as it is a great hobby, and a really great way to spend the day. We are thrilled to see the industry booming, and hope that the vineyards will keep in step with the growth so wine tasting in the Old Dominion remains a pleasant pastime.
Mickey’s Take:
This past weekend, we decided to take a trip to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage while sampling some great wine. We left Harrisonburg with a plan to visit Grace Estates Winery in the Crozet area and then perhaps check out Cardinal Point Winery and/or Afton Mountain Vineyards on the way back home. Our visit to both Grace Estates and Afton Mountain were spectacular, as I will discuss in more detail below.
Grace Estates Winery
The tasting room for this winery is located in the “walk-out” basement of a very large home, located on top of a ridge, in the White Hall area of Albemarle County. There is a patio and sizable yard area behind this home that are amply furnished with comfortable chairs, couches, etc. which are perform to enjoy both the wine and the view. The view faces to the east and is absolutely spectacular. Similar to Stone Mountain, but without the crazy drive.
The service was great. We were greeted at the door and promptly seated for our tasting as the bar was full. The servers were obviously busy, but they did not appear harried nor did they rush us through our tasting. They were professional and friendly, but also very efficient. My only criticism is that they did not seem extremely knowledgeable about wine.
I did not keep tasting notes on each wine and my memory is now fading (this happens when you approach 40). However, the wines were not memorable with the exception of the Viognier and the Chardonnay, but for different reasons. I found the Chardonnay to be very weak and over-oaked, very disappointing. In contrast, the Viognier was medium bodied and full of a bright fruit flavor. An excellent wine that can be enjoyed with a light meal or by itself. The other wines were all average. Not great, but not bad either. Drinkable.
All in all, Grace Estates Winery is spectacular. Definitely a “must see” if you are in the Crozet area. You will love the view and service while probably finding at least one wine that you enjoy.
Afton Mountain Vineyards
In a word, “awesome”! We first visited Afton Mountain Vineyards approximately six years ago when we were first beginning our journey to become accomplished winos. Our recollection of the visit was vague, but we knew the tasting room was small and we heard bad things about their service in subsequent years. Recently, I had heard that new owners had totally revamped this vineyard and that it was a great place to visit. What an understatement!
The spacious new tasting room is in a renovated home with views to match those from Veritas (which is located just a few miles down the road). Additionally, there is a large outdoor seating covered seating area that you can enjoy if you wish. We were greeted at the door by an employee who immediately seated us and then directed us to the first available server. Our server was extremely friendly, engaging, and knowledgeable about wine. Definitely one of the top servers which we have encountered at our many (although not enough) vineyard visits.
The covered seating area is a great addition to the grounds at Afton Mountain
As at Afton Mountain, I did not do a good job keeping tasting notes. Bad, Mickey! With that being said, my recollection is that all of the wines are good. However, the Pinot Noir and Cab Sav, were much better than average. Very tasty and better than most.
The next time you want to a visit a vineyard in the Charlottesville area, I’d recommend that you skip the crowds at King Family/Veritas and visit Afton Mountain Vineyards!
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