Wineries in Virginia

Williamsburg Winery at Archers Hope, where Gabriel Archer wanted to locate what became Jamestown
(click on images for larger versions)

Wineries have popped up across the state in the last 25 years, but are not a new phenomenon. The English colonists at Jamestown tried to make wine from the local grapes. The French Huguenots at Manakin produced "a Noble strong-bodied Claret, of a curious flavour from wild grapes. Three years after settling at Manakin, a traveler in 1702 noted:

I have seen there the most awful wild grapevines, whose thickness and height are incredible. There are several kinds of grapes, the best are as large as a small nut. They make fairly good wine, a beginning has been made to graft them, the prospects are fit.

grapes were plentiful in Virginia, but colonial efforts to make wine failed
Source: National Park Service, Wine Making: A 17th-Century Enterprise (Sidney King painting)

The Fairfax Herald reported a visit to Manassas in May 1895:¹²

Mr. Wagener has a large wine cellar, and brother Meredith, who is a connoisseur in such matters, pronounced the quality very fine, which opinion was subsequently ascertained to be entirely correct. Mr. W. has a large vineyard, and makes about 2,000 gallons of wine a year. He went to California in 1849, but for many years has been a resident of Prince William. Manassas has a beautiful location, and, with her splendid railroad facilities, should soon become a large and important town.

Grape Production and Acreage, 1999-2000

District and County	Tons Produced 1999	Tons Produced 2000	Bearing Acres 1999	Bearing Acres 2000	Non Bearing Acres 1999	Non Bearing Acres 2000
Northern
Culpeper	96.1	89.4	23.1	36.0	19.5	19.5
Fauquier	336.1	197.7	169.4	125.0	39.8	11.8
Loudoun	432.1	418.9	141.5	166.9	57.0	58.4
Madison	502.5	700.5	96.3	164.6	10.3	3.8
Rappahannock	114.1	69.3	47.7	36.7	22.3	18.5
Rockingham	61.5	52.2	19.5	19.7	0.5	2.8
Shenandoah	94.8	123.0	39.7	52.7	31.1	15.5
Warren	54.6	29.2	19.0	18.5	1.8	6.0
Other Counties	78.8	74.2	37.2	39.4	4.3	28.4
District Total	1,770.6	1,754.4	593.4	659.5	186.6	164.7
Western
Augusta	155.5	155.1	33.0	37.7	8.0	16.5
Roanoke	69.7	65.4	22.9	31.1	3.8	2.0
Other Counties	70.6	101.0	26.3	30.9	14.0	17.0
District Total	295.8	321.5	82.2	99.7	25.8	35.5
Central
Albemarle	528.5	546.2	185.0	201.1	86.8	85.2
Bedford	37.0	17.7	16.5	8.8	5.5	7.1
Greene	57.9	42.4	23.5	23.3	7.9	11.4
Nelson	102.3	87.4	43.8	40.4	19.3	46.7
Orange	860.1	816.9	159.1	245.0	55.7	14.8
Prince Edward	7.9	2.8	6.0	5.0	0.3	1.0
Spotsylvania	38.4	26.5	13.0	19.2	11.6	3.5
Other Counties	69.3	42.4	47.8	56.3	32.6	42.5
District
Total	1,701.4	1,582.3	494.7	599.1	219.7	212.2
Eastern
Essex	81.2	87.9	26.2	31.3	4.8	--
King George	73.5	47.7	25.6	25.7	3.4	7.2
Westmoreland	197.1	167.4	52.4	47.2	31.0	20.0
Other Counties	278.0	148.0	94.8	84.0	24.2	45.7
District Total	629.8	451.0	199.0	188.2	63.4	72.9
Other District
Total	165.9	121.6	65.0	70.3	34.0	44.2
State Total	4,563.5	4,230.8	1,434.3	1,616.8	529.5	529.5

SOURCE: National Agricultural Statistics Service,
Grape Production and Acreage By District and County, 1999-2000

United States Grape Production, 2015
Source: Virginia Wine Board, The Economic Impact of Wine and Wine Grapes on the State of Virginia - 2015 (Table 5.2)

the La Grange winery in western Prince William County is located in a historic, and once-derelict house
Source: Library of Congress, La Grange, State Route 681, Haymarket, Prince William County, VA (c.1933)

Grapes and Wine in Virginia

References

1. Wm. J. Hinke, "Report of the Journey of Francis Louis Michel from Berne, Switzerland, to Virginia, October 2, 1701-December 1, 1702. Part II," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 24, Number 2 (April 1916), p.123, https://www.jstor.org/stable/4243509 (last checked August 10, 2021)
2. Fairfax Herald, as quoted in Prince William Reliquary, Vol. 1, No. 3 (July 2002), p.57

Virginia and Alcohol
Virginia Places