Guests on our Dec. 12 public wine tour, for instance, can enjoy fine wine and fine jewelry at The Winery at La Grange’s showcase featuring Debra Fabian’s unique creations. The wine tour begins at Pearmund Cellars, followed by a visit to its sister winery, The Winery at La Grange. Visit our online Reservations page to book your seat!

But you don’t have to wait for one of our public wine tours to enjoy the wineries’ daytime or evening events; Reston Limousine also provides private wine tours that cater to parties from couples to large groups. Please call 703-478-0500 and press 1 for sales to inquire about private tours.

Following are some of the most inviting winery events coming up this month:

Saturday, Dec. 12
Annual Champagne, Sparklers, & Hors d’oeuvres
Willowcroft Farm Vineyard provides gourmet hors d’oeuvres to compliment its fine champagnes and sparkling wines. Please call 703-777-8161 to make reservations.
Time: Noon-4 p.m.
Cost: $12 per person

Hunters Run Wine Tasting Barn

Santa comes to Hunters Run!
Santa will be at Corcoran Vineyards’ wine tasting barn, Hunters Run, for pictures with the kid; parents can enjoy a glass of wine by the fire while the kids chat with Santa and receive a treat.
Time: 1-4 p.m.

Brogue Rogues – Live Music!
Notaviva Vineyards hosts perennial crowd favorite The Brogue Rogues, a high-energy band that performs traditional Celtic music with a Blue Ridge Mountain flavor.
Time: 2-5 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 13
Barrel Tasting
Sunset Hills Vineyard offers guests the opportunity to join winemaker Nate Walsh to sample future award-winning wines developing in the barrel before anyone else. The barrel tasting will be followed by a private reception in the upstairs loft (food and wine will be provided).
Time: Tastings take place at noon, 2:30 and 5:30 p.m.; limited to the first 25 guests.
Cost: Tickets are $39 per person.

Sundays Dec. 13, 20 and 27

Sunset Hills Vineyard

Rockin’ Holiday Sundays
Sunset Hills Vineyard offers live holiday music, complimentary samples of Amish Cheese, warm oven baked chocolate chip cookies, and their special holiday mulled wine every Sunday this month. Holiday gift baskets available for purchase.
Time: 2-5 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 18
Chili Night
The Winery at La Grange will help you beat the chill with a bowl of steaming hot chili and a glass of one of their classic wines. Bring family and friends to play games, or if you just can’t leave work behind, bring a laptop – they offer free Wi-Fi. For adults.
Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Cost: $15 per person includes one glass of wine and all the chili you can eat!

Saturday, Dec. 19
Christmas Around the World Wine Maker’s Dinner
Pearmund Cellars celebrates the holidays with Ms. Clause, Kristen Parsons.
Time: 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Cost: $99 per person, plus tax and tip

David La Fleur Photo by Cheryl Mansley/Scott Anderson

Saturday, Dec. 26
David LaFleur – Live Music!
Notaviva Vineyards hosts David LaFleur, who has been performing his unique mixture of folk, Appalachian, blues, and bluegrass for more than 20 years.
Time: 2-5 p.m.

At the 2009 State Fair of Virginia Wine Competition, for example, Chrysalis Vineyards, Pearmund Cellars, Sunset Hills Vineyard, and the Winery at La Grange took gold and silver ribbons in a blind tasting of 239 wines from 48 Virginia wineries.

Gold Ribbon
Pearmund Cellars – Ameritage 2007
Sunset Hills Vineyard – Reserve Cabernet Franc 2007
Sunset Hills Vineyard – Petit Verdot 2006
The Winery at La Grange – “Fletcher’s” Chardonnay 2007

Silver Ribbon
Chrysalis Vineyards – Mariposa 2008
Chrysalis Vineyards – Viognier 2008
Pearmund Cellars – Old Vine Chardonnay 2007

Other wineries on our Public Wine Tour also won in the label competition: Hillsborough Vineyards took 1st place for its Bloodstone label, and Notaviva Vineyards and Fabbioli Cellars took 1st and 2nd, respectively, in overall winery presentation. Sunset Hills Vineyard received an honorable mention in that category as well.

The competition, which took place in Montepelier, featured wine varietals of Chardonnay, Viognier, Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

“We had the most wines entered this year than ever before, and it is nice to see the industry grow and really go forward even from just five years ago,” senior judge George Davis says. “National industry trends reflect lighter, less tannic wines and less use of oak. We saw more un-oaked wines this year and the submissions of un-oaked Chardonnay is a perfect example. Among the reds, the Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot wines had less oak exposure as well. They all were well-made wines.”

The State Fair of Virginia will announce the top winning wine – “Best in Show” – on Sept. 23. The winning wines will be displayed at the 2009 State Fair of Virginia, which returns September 24 through October 4 at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Virginia.

Ready for your own tastings of these and other award-winning  wines? Visit www.restonlimo.com for a schedule of the wineries on our upcoming Public Wine Tours !

Your visit begins at Pearmund Cellars, which boasts a 7,500-square-foot geothermal winery in the foothills of eastern Fauquier County. Here, you’ll enjoy tastings of classic and reserve wines with for $5 and $7 fees, respectively; both come with a souvenir glass. New on the tasting menu will be the 2008 Viognier, scheduled to be bottled on May 10. High hopes rest on this delicious varietal, as the 2007 vintage garnered a gold medal in Vineyard and Winery Management Magazine’s Great Harvest competition.

Judging by the long list of Pearmund’s regional, national and international awards on its Web site, guests on this tour are in for an amazing experience that will continue at the next stop, the Winery at La Grange.

Tastings take place in an 18th century manor house, where guests can choose between a Classic Tasting for $5 that includes nine wines or a Classic Plus Tasting for $8 that includes two special reds and a taste of the Snort, a Port-style red. As at Pearmund, you’ll leave with a souvenir glass with either tasting.

Among the winery’s portfolio of award-winning wines, the Fletcher’s Chardonnay stands out as a front-runner. The white Burgundean style wine which won a Best of Show and gold medals at the 2008 State Fair of Virginia Wine Competition.

At either of the wineries, be sure to ask about one of Chris Pearmund’s latest projects, a “brother winery” to Pearmund Cellars and Winery at La Grange. At Vint Hill Craft Winery, individuals or groups will work with expert winemakers from grape to bottle to create a barrel of their own of their choosing. After a year of “hands-on education,” the new winemakers will be rewarded with the juice of their labors – about 25 cases of wine.

Cost: $35 per person (does not include tasting room fees or gratuity)

For other lunch options, tour schedule, and other information, visit Reston Limousine’s Public Wine Tours page.

To book this tour, please call 703-478-0500 Option 1.

You can book a Reston Limousine Private Wine Tour to be the first to explore the new route that takes you through 10 wineries from Bluemont to Linden!

“These are all family wineries with high quality, handcrafted wines,” Jim Bogaty, owner and CEO of Veramar Vineyard and president of The General’s Wine & History Trail. He notes that while other wine trails are confined within county lines, the wineries along the new are located in seven different counties.

He also offered suggestions for visitors in approaching a complete circuit of the trail:

Part 1: Veramar Vineyard, Bluemont Vineyard, Sunset Hills Vineyard and Lost Creek Vineyard & Winery
Part 2: Three Fox Vineyards, Swedenburg Estate Vineyard and Winery at La Grange
Part 3: Philip Carter Winery, Fox Meadow Winery and Gadino Cellars.

“We have the beauty of Virginia scenery, great wines, and all of our 10 wineries have a unique history,” Mr. Bogaty says. Those Civil History notes are included in a distinctive wine trail passport (they call it the Campaign Journal) that you can pick up at any of the wineries or download at www.thegeneralswinetrail.com.

Visitors earn stars at each winery they visit and can return the journal at the end of the year. Winners will be randomly drawn for a grand prize of a night’s stay at the celebrated L’Auberge Provencale in Boyce, as well as a second prize of a $75 gift certificate from The General’s Wine & History Trail.

Ready to book your Reston Limousine chauffeured tour of The General’s Wine & History? Please call 1-800-LIMO-141 (1-800-546-6141) or book with us online.