Wine Tasting or Oktoberfest?

[JA]

Are there any decent wineries and/or wine tasting "festivals" going on in the area this weekend? My husband has been working so much lately, he finally admitted we could use a day out, and we thought visiting a winery would be good. Does anyone have any ideas? If not that, where can we find a decent Oktoberfest?

[asun]

Where are you located? Baltimore's Oktoberfest is this weekend. See link below for more info

Link: http://www.md-germans.org/oktoberfste...

[ART]

Foliage Open House - Peaks of Otter Winery
Black Dog Jazz Concert - Chateau Morrisette
Octoberfest @ First Colony Winery (Charlottesville)
White Wines of Italy Tasting - Villa Appalaccia
Garlic Festival - Rebec Vinyards (Amherst County)
Harvest Celebration - Smokehouse (Sperryville)

[JA]

Wow, these are all great suggestions. We live in suburban Maryland (near Rockville), so all of them appear to be do-able. Joe H., do you know if the foliage colors are worthy of the drive yet, or would another week or two be better?

[JoeH.]

I could be wrong but I think it depends on how high you go. I would actually call Barboursville and ask them. The other post about winery events was excellent-some of those may be in an area where the colors are at their peak. Overall, I'd suggest waiting a week but regardless, this is just an incredibly beautiful area that so few people on this board have even begun to explore. You could go to one area and come back a week or two later for another. From route 28 and 270, on a Saturday, you'd be att route 66 at the Markham exit in about 75 minutes or so. It's not as far as it seems.
I lived in Silver Spring until 1988 when I moved to Reston. It was my experience there that most people went to the Eastern Shore and O. C., not to the Blueridge. In Va. the opposite is almost true. It is rare when someone here explores St. Michael's, Annapolis or Smith Island. But for right now there is no more beautiful place in America than the Blueridge Mountains and the nearby wineries.

[Joe H.]

Two preferences, both equal to what you would find in Tuscany for beauty:
1. Linden Vineyards, Naked Mountain, Oasis and Rappahannock Vineyards with dinner at Four and Twenty Blackbirds in Flint Hill (first choice-must reserve). All out route 66 to the Markham exit where you will start the back roads.
2. Barboursville, Prince Michel with dinner at Palladio in Barboursville. Alternatively dinner in Charlottesville but Barboursville is really impressive. Roughly this is 15 miles north of Charlottesville.
Arguably this is among the most beautiful scenery in America. Barboursville, believe it or not, has very good reds and Naked Mountain and Linden have good chardonnay, etc.
Anyone on this board who has not been to either of these areas is really missing something spectacular. With the FALL COLORS close a trip out to either would be even more special. The timing for mid to late October could not be better.

Link: http://www.barboursvillewine.com/

[John]

There's an Oktoberfest in Shirlington (South Arlington) on Saturday, noon to six. Sponsored by Capitol City Brewing. This is its fifth year, and reports from earlier years indicate that it's a lot of fun.

[Lauryn]

Tarara Winery nr White's Ferry VA has some weekend events this month.

As for Oktoberfests, this Sunday is the Kentlands one & there's one in College Park (at Ritchie Coliseum) this Sunday or next. Not sure how much beer sampling tho. But there's always Blob's Park's Oktoberfests all this month in Jessup. Great beers & live music to boot. Fun place.