ROAD TRIP
BOB TAGERT
HITTING THE WINE TRAIL
Barrel Oak Entrance
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Social Distancing at Pearmund Cellars 26 | October 2020
he month of October brings us Virginia Wine Month. Accordingly, we decided to take an extended trip through our favorite wine trails in Virginia for the October Road Trip. Today there are over 300 wineries in Virginia and as many vineyards. When we started the Old Town Crier the most popular wines were Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Seyval and Rose. Today there are more wines available than I can name so…. let’s get on the road. Although we got a late start from Alexandria (10:45 am) we hit very little traffic on Route 66 due to the fact that the road construction has finally created four lanes except for a few merges. If it isn’t a weekday and 5:00 in the afternoon, Route 66 is the quickest way to get to wine and horse country. When we got to Haymarket we took Route 15 south for two traffic lights and made a right
on Route 55. This was the main road before Route 66 was born. Follow the road until you pass under Route 66 again and turn left at the sign for Pearmund Cellars. There will be another left turn in about a quarter mile or less that will get you to the winery. Chris Pearmund is not only wine maker, vineyard manager and owner but he didn’t stop with one winery, he is also involved with Vint Hill Winery, The Winery at La Grange and recently, Effingham Winery. The tasting room is smack dab in the middle of the vineyard with ample seating around the grounds. The barrel room is in the same building as the tasting room and invites a visit to admire the stacked barrels. All pandemic requirements are practiced here and if you forgot your cigars, you can find a good one here. Our second stop was at Barrel Oak Winery and Farm Taphouse. Brian Roeder has created an open space winery that caters to guests with fresh
oysters, pizza and fresh crafted brews in addition to excellent wines. As you will see by their ad in this issue, dogs are almost the preferred guests. There is ample parking here and socially spaced picnic tables. If you plan to go you can log on to their website and check out how to contact them and reserve a table for no more than six... but be on time. None of the wineries offer the traditional tastings but each one has a plan to get the right wine in your hand. Barrel Oak has an outdoor tasting bar set up where you can figure out which wine you would like to enjoy. From Barrel Oak we picked up Route 55 to Markham and then picked up Leeds Manor Road towards Hume. At Hume turn right until you come to Rappahannock Cellars. I might add, Leeds Manor road and Hume road are beautiful this time of year. You will also come to Philip Carter Vineyards on Leeds Manor road, a descendant of one of Old Town Crier
