CHARLOTTESVILLE TOURS – WINERIES
Charlottesville, Virginia has become well known for its quality of life. The gorgeous Blue Ridge mountains that surround it offer recreation and rejuvenation (or even just a great view from a tasting room!) There are the usual cultural benefits of a college town. There are also numerous historic landmarks worth visiting, a vibrant downtown pedestrian mall, and a lively food scene. Charlottesville tours abound. Increasingly, though, Charlottesville wine tours are leading the pack. The area around the city is becoming known for the realization of a long-ago dream held by its native Thomas Jefferson that Virginia would be known for its great wines.
CHARLOTTESVILLE AND WINE TROLLEY TOURS
Jefferson cultivated grapes at his homestead, Monticello, but it is only relatively recently that a real “wine country” scene has evolved, and it is a tourism destination that supports thousands of gorgeous weddings and unique visits all year. Creative local family-owned and operated businesses like ours have sprung up to support this boom and offer a safe alternative to driving among Charlottesville wineries and breweries. We offer some of the best wine and beer tours in the area: well-designed, well-priced, extremely customer-service oriented, and just plain fun. A Charlottesville trolley tour with Crozet Trolley Co. means wine, beer, and cider in the company of friends you bring and friends you make.
A TOUR OF CHARLOTTESVILLE’S MOST POPULAR WINERIES AND BREWERIES
Our keynote wine trolley tour, the Saturday Crozet Spirits Loop, covers a handful of the most popular wineries and breweries near Charlottesville. It begins in the thriving hamlet of Crozet, on “The Square,” an area undergoing a complete makeover for pedestrian and retail use. Construction on the exciting new downtown is slated to begin in 2020, and will offer gathering and performance spaces, outside seating for locally-owned cafes, and architecture in keeping with the town’s original “look and feel.” The tour currently starts in front of the bike shop, where there’s plenty of parking. For those who may be based in Charlottesville, we also offer an optional pick-up at Kardinal Hall a half hour before the tour.
KING FAMILY VINEYARD
Our stops vary seasonally. As of this writing, we start with King Family Vineyards, the winery closest to Crozet and most identified with it. King Family offers well-made and critically acclaimed wines, bricked patios with fire circles, a wide grassy field, stunning barn-style buildings and tasting rooms, and polo matches on Sundays during the summer. Good wine, including their signature “Crosé” blush is paired with great views.
VALLEY ROAD VINEYARDS
The wine trolley makes its next stop at Valley Road, another family-owned and operated vineyard. Valley’s gorgeous tasting barn abuts a beautiful lake and hillside, and they offer outdoor seating seasonally too. Visitors can’t believe how scenic and rural the setting feels, given that it can be easily spotted from the Nelson 151 byway.
VERITAS VINEYARD
The third stop on the wine tour, Veritas Vineyard, arguably the best-known vineyard in the region, shares many of the qualities of other Charlottesville wineries – family-owned and operated hospitality, blue ridge views, elegant indoor and outdoor spaces, and excellent wines – but all on a grander scale. The selection of good wine is enormous, the acreage sprawls across some of the most beautiful countryside imaginable, and the venue often accommodates large weddings. Veritas is the peak of the wine-tasting focus; the tour lets you wind down with two casual and more beer-centric stops.
CHARLOTTESVILLE TOURS – BREWERIES
Blue Mountain Brewery and Pro Re Nata Brewery both offer a curated offering of local wines and ciders, and we highly recommend trying them all. But their fun, folk-friendly hubbub is the natural extension of their real expertise: micro-brewed beer. At Blue Mountain, a flight of beers can be paired with your pick of the wide variety of high-quality pub food options, an open air beer garden experience, and a game of corn hole. At PRN, you never know what you’ll find, as a variety of live bands, seasonal entertainment (Irish dance, anyone? Santa?) and ever-innovating initiatives aim at customer satisfaction. PRN is finishing construction on a large music hall, to complement their storage-container bar behind the main tasting room and their large fire circle seating area at the front of the property. Grab a snack from the food truck and make some friends!
THE BEST CHARLOTTESVILLE WINE AND BEER TOUR
The Crozet Spirits Loop ends where it started, in downtown Crozet (or Charlottesville’s Kardinal Hall, for those who chose that option.) Our hope is that every customer leaves with a sense of the abundance of good wine and hospitality Charlottesville has to offer and the desire to experience trolley magic again. With Crozet Trolley Co., it’s the friends you bring, but it’s also the friends you make along the way.
CHARTER A CHARLOTTESVILLE WINE TROLLEY BUS
Our trolleys are also available for private charter or a wedding, and we are happy to help you put together the best wine tour for your group at some of the dozens of beer and wine tour venues the Charlottesville area has to offer. Within easy reach of DC, Richmond, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, and Raleigh/Durham, Charlottesville wineries and breweries are an ideal weekend destination any time of the year. We think you’ll agree: Charlottesville wineries and breweries by trolley should be on your bucket list!