Held annually at the Powhatan Courthouse, the Festival of the Grape is an excellent crush, with an accent on crush. Always crowded, the venue actually purported to have sold out tickets to the 2014 event [to great distress all round] and even on the cool October afternoon this year was impressively busy. With thirty wineries, mostly Virginian, there is a lot of tasting to do though it requires some patience to get through the packed bodies around all of the tasting tables to get your glass close enough for pouring. The wineries are outnumbered by the craft vendors and supported by several really solid food vendors who will happily sell you sammiches, kettle corn, and all sorts of other things. All in all, it’s an excellent way to spend a few hours if you’re fond of wine, though the DD tickets aren’t priced at a discount, so I suggest just bringing friends for good conversation while you sober up enough to drive home.
