Done the Wine Trail!

After almost three continuous weeks of driving and wining, and months of trips, the great wine expedition has come to a close. I should probably sit down and total up the miles I've driven and wines I've tried, but there's just too many and I think my brain cells need to time to recover anyway. When my friend's book is published, I'll let you know.
I have realized a couple things:
Virginia is beautiful. From the Shenandoah Valley down the Blue Ridge, from quaint towns like Staunton, Abingdon and Middleburg, all the parks and forests and the thousands of miles of winding back country roads that connect it all... after living in the NoVa DC suburbs for seven years, I've finally discovered the beauty surrounding me and wished it had been sooner. Oh, I knew it was out there - I took some great hiking trips and a wonderful romantic long weekend driving my open-top jeep down the Blue Ridge Pkwy to a B&B at the height of the autumn colors, but there was so much more that I never knew! I'll never regret all the travel I did farther afield, but there was great beauty and experiences in my backyard, too! These past two months I've said over and over that I want to come back and just drive and explore all these out of the way places from a convertible, just enjoying the ride and the view...
Virginians are some of the friendliest people anywhere. Everywhere we went, talking to fellow tasters, getting help or directions, or just trying to find a good place to eat or a safe place to go running in a tiny town - I encountered nothing but helpful friendly smiles and a genuine interest and willingness to share.
Here are my favorites, (please remember I like big, dry, vibrant reds and try to avoid the sweet and blush wines.)
In no particular order - Valhalla, Pearmund, Fabbioli Cellars, Villa Appalaccia, Linden, Horton, Abingdon, Gabrielle Rausse, Gray Ghost, Gadino, DelFosse, and Savoy-Lee. Some others were really pretty or friendly, but these had my favorite wines!
If you want to find them, check here:
http://www.virginiawines.org/
But don't worry if you like the sweet stuff - every winery had at least a couple of these to "satisfy the locals."
Right now, I'm back in Charlottesville and heading to DC tomorrow for a DC United game and a vaccination visit as I prepare to head to Asia.
More on that later...