West Wind Farm – Vineyard and Winery

Did you know that every state in the union has at least 1 winery?  Some of them don’t grow their own grapes and others produce wine from fruit other than grapes…but the last article that I read on this topic revealed that even Alaska has a winery. 

We aren’t true wine connoisseurs but we do like a nice glass of wine from time to time…

Tennessee has quite a few wineries and vineyards.  The problem is that the wines we’ve found in-state to date are either too sweet for our palate or they just aren’t great wines.  We haven’t given up our search in Tennessee yet…

When it comes to the number of wineries and vineyards, Virginia seems to have a big jump on Tennessee.  Virginia’s “2016 Winery Guide” lists 252 wineries, 25 wine trails and 10 winemaking regions in the state! (That number includes a few cideries and meaderies) We’d sampled 3 or 4 Virginia wineries on previous trips through the state and since we were headed home from Roanoke, it seemed like a propitious time to check out a couple of locations in the Blue Ridge winemaking region so we could take a few bottles home…  I’d mapped out 4 wineries for possible visits on our way home to East Tennessee.

Our first stop was at West Wind Farm – Vineyard and Winery near Max Meadows Virginia. 

The first grapes were planted here back in 2003.  The pluses of growing grapes in the foothills of Blue Ridge Mountains are the elevation, cool nights and well-drained rocky soil.  Challenges are the short growing seasons with occasional mid-May frosts and an early October freeze.  

The owners of West Wind Farm have managed to keep the farm in the family for 4 generations. (Since 1914) One of their challenges is to preserve the old homestead while running the farm, vineyard and winery…

The winery produces 4 white wines (Galena Creek White, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Riesling); 4 red wines (Galena Creek Red, Chambourcin, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) and; 4 wines that are listed as the ‘sweeter selection’. (Galena Creek Blackberry, Galena Creek Peach, New River White and New River Red) 

This is the tasting room at West Wind Farm.  It is well stocked with wine of course…and to my dismay, the ‘store’ also features local art, gourmet snacks, wine accessories, gift baskets, fancy soaps, and lots of household gifts.   The wines are made in small batches the ‘old fashioned way’.  Each lot is hand-tended from harvest to bottle and it’s a family operation. 

We usually stay away from the sweet wines but we tried and liked the sipping potential of the 2015 Galena Creek Peach.  In addition we purchased 1 bottle each of the 2015 Galena Creek White, the 2014 Chambourcin and the Cabernet Sauvignon.  In our opinion they were all very competent wines…and we will return for another visit.

West Wind Farm – Winery and Vineyard is located at 2228 Fort Chiswell Road, Max Meadows, VA, 24360.  They aren’t far off of I-81.  Phone: 276-699-2020.  Website: http://westwindwine.com/index.php.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by to see what we’ve been up to!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave