Fall Wine Festivals

Fall Food and Wine Festivals Abound in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. – For folks who love food and wine, fall is the perfect time to visit Virginia. Just as the season change brings an array of beautiful foliage throughout the state, it also brings about the season’s bountiful harvest. From apples, to peanuts to oysters to wine, Virginia produces some of its best products in the fall.  Celebrations of these fresh, local items from Virginia’s farms, orchards, and vineyards offer something sure to please every palate.

Below are some highlights of Virginia’s fall food and wine festivals.  Find these and many more at www.virginia.org/fall.

Music, Mead & Cider at Foggy Ridge Cider – Carroll, September 10, 2011

Experience two originals—enjoy local music and taste award winning cider and mead just two miles apart near the Blue Ridge Parkway in southwest Virginia. At Foggy Ridge Cider, sip cider overlooking heirloom apple orchards. Enjoy mead on the Blacksnake Meadery’s ‘Sippin Porch.

Admission Fee: $5 covers tastings and music at both locations.

The Wine Festival at The Plains -The Plains, September 11-12, 2011

This festival, voted best wine festival in Virginia and one of the Top 20 Events in the Southeast United States, unites two Virginia traditions for a double-header weekend of wine and polo just west of Washington DC at Great Meadow Event Center in The Plains. Taste 250 Virginia wines, picnic with Virginia’s best artisan wines paired with gourmet cuisine and experience world-class Polo, the sport of kings.

Admission Fee: $35; $30 online

Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello –Charlottesville, September 17, 2011

Celebrate the legacy of revolutionary gardener, Thomas Jefferson, during the fifth annual Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello. Taste a bounty of heirloom fruits and vegetables and learn about organic gardening and seed-saving during this fun, affordable, family-friendly festival unlike any other, held on the breathtaking West Lawn of Jefferson's Monticello. 

Admission Fee: General admission $8 in advance, $10 at gate, children under 12 free. Premium lectures $10 each. Combination ticket packages also available.

Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival –Moneta, September 24 - 25, 2011

The Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival is the perfect event for aficionados of wine as well as fans of outdoor concerts and craft festivals. Held at Southwest Virginia’s Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, 28 wineries will participate with 85 juried craft and food vendors. The two-day festival will be held rain or shine.

Admission Fee: $18 taster tickets; $12 designated driver in advance $22 for taster at the gate; $15 for designated driver

Third Annual Rappahannock County Farm Tour –Rappahannock, September 24 - 25, 2011

This year’s farm tour pays tribute to Shenandoah National Park’s 75th Anniversary. Nearly 20 Rappahannock farms, orchards and wineries - as well as farm-to-table student programs and environmental organizations - will participate in this countywide, family-friendly farm tour. Tour-goers can pick up tour maps, buy local products and listen to presentations at the "All Things Rappahannock" market at The Link in Sperryville, which also will serve as the starting point for the tour.

Admission Fee: $5, ages 16 and above

Chesapeake Bay Wine & Harvest Festival at Stratford Hall – Stratford, September 24 - 25, 2011

Visit Stratford Hall for the fifth annual Chesapeake Bay Wine and Harvest Festival. Although the wines and wineries will be the highlight of the event, don’t miss the variety of distinctive arts and crafts, specialty foods, live music, wine tasting tips, hot air balloon rides, Great House tours and the petting zoo. The wineries will showcase a broad selection of wine style, including those suitable for fine dining, casual occasions as well as offering a few novelty styles.

Admission Fee: $15 in advance, $25 at the gate, $10 for non-drinkers, $5 for children and free for children 5 and under

Fall Wine Festival & Sunset Tour at Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens –Mount Vernon, September 30, 2011 - October 2, 2011

Enjoy live blues and spectacular views of the Potomac River while sampling wine from 16 Virginia wineries. Visitors learn about the successes and failures of our Founding Father’s wine endeavors, enjoy live blues music, and meet “George and Martha Washington” on the Mansion's piazza. Guests experience an evening tour of George Washington's home and are invited to visit the rarely-open basement where he stored his wine. Ticket sales begin September 1 at the Ford Orientation Center or at http://www.MountVernon.org.

Admission Fee: $35 per person

Fall in Love with Virginia Market – Suffolk October 1, 2011

Fall in love with Virginia's finest products. Enjoy handmade, homegrown, fresh goods from the Old Dominion at the fourth annual "Fall in Love with Virginia Market" in Northern Suffolk. Located off of Route 17 at Governor's Pointe, The Shoppes on the Village Green are hosting this free, family-friendly market in conjunction with Smithfield Gardens' Annual Fall Festival. The Market features Virginia-made products, peanuts, wine, seafood, cakes, salsa, relish, jams, woodworking, pottery, jewelry, photography and more.

Admission Fee: N/A

Suffolk Peanut Festival –Suffolk October 6 - 9, 2011

Every October, Suffolk celebrates its peanut history with a four-day family-oriented festival. The popular event offers a variety of activities for the entire family including regional and national entertainment, fireworks, a shrimp feast, a demolition derby, peanut butter sculpture contest, carnival rides, craft exhibits and more.

Admission Fee: FREE; parking: $10 

Taste of Brunswick Festival & Cook-Off – Alberta, October 8, 2011

According to legend, Brunswick Stew was invented in Virginia in the 1830s as a concoction of squirrel, onions and stale bread. In today’s version chicken has replaced squirrel and the stew is rounded out with corn, tomatoes, butterbeans, and other vegetables. Each year in Alberta (Brunswick County, Va.) some 20 stewmasters vie for top honors – to the delight of thousands at this family-friendly World Championship Brunswick Stew cook-off.  Live Bluegrass bands will entertain all day along with arts and crafts, kid’s rides, wagon rides, a car and antique tractor show, Civil War reenactment, museum display and so much more.

Chincoteague Island Oyster Festival – October 8, 2011

Help promote the seafood industry and mark the arrival of the oyster season. Savor these little Virginia delicacies fresh out of the Chesapeake Bay with all-you-can-eat oysters (steamed, fried, fritters, raw), crabs, hush puppies, clam chowder, hot dogs and much more. There will be live entertainment, souvenirs, raffles, and contests.

Admission Fee: $35 for anyone over 5 years of age (plus $5 s/h) and are advanced sales only.

Taste of Culpeper – Culpeper, October 9, 2011

Taste of Culpeper offers live music and festivities for the entire family with the very best in Virginia wineries, microbreweries, local cuisine and treasures by local artisans and crafters.

Admission Fee: $10 advance; $15 gate; $7designated driver; Free ages 12 and under

Historic Long Branch Hot Air Balloon Wine & Music Festival –Millwood, October 14-16, 2011

A fun-filled, action-packed, three-day family celebration unfolds with the 15th anniversary of the Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon, Wine & Music Festival. Held on the spacious lawns and rolling fields of Long Branch in Clarke County, the festival brings balloonist and their colorful airborne craft from far and wide to delight spectators of all ages. In addition to the balloons, the annual event provides a wide variety of entertainment over the weekend.

Admission Fee: Varies

Loudoun Farm Color Tour –Leesburg, October 15 - 16, 2011

Fall is a beautiful time in Loudoun County in northern Virginia. The colorful trees of the Blue Ridge, Short Hill and Sugarloaf Mountains set the stage for this free self-guided tour of several farms in Loudoun's countryside. Visit horses, sheep and alpacas in their natural environments. Pick-your-own apples and pumpkins; tour a nursery; or visit a winery. Enjoy the colors, people and products of Loudoun during these two days of fun, education and entertainment.

Admission Fee: N/A

Urbanna Oyster Festival – Urbanna, November 4 – 5, 2011

Urbanna Oyster Festival "A Salute to the Oyster," the Official Oyster Festival of the Commonwealth, includes food, arts and crafts, fireman's parade, oyster festival parade, waterfront educational activities and entertainment. The Saturday parade of the Urbanna Oyster Festival has become the focal point of the weekend. It has grown from an event featuring antique cars and floats to a parade encompassing a large Shriners contingency, numerous marching bands and beauty queens from across the state. Meet the Oyster Festival Queen, Little Miss Spat and watch oyster shucking contests.

Parking Fee: Friday parking is $10 and Saturday parking is $20 

Love is at the heart of every Virginia vacation.  Visit www.Virginia.org for more information or call 1-800-VISITVA for a free Virginia is for Lovers travel guide.

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