Memorial Day weekend was an undoubtedly busy weekend for most places. Since most people were off work that weekend, they flocked to locations where they could have fun. The wineries just outside of Northern Virginia were no exception.
Cheri and I took a trip out to two wineries that weekend. We visited Three Fox Vineyards & Winery in Delaplane, VA on Sunday afternoon and Piedmont Vineyards & Winery in Middleburg, VA on Monday. The two wineries gave us two completely different experiences.
Three Fox Vineyards & Winery
Driving up to this winery, it was easy to tell that it was going to be busy. Cars filled the small parking lot to the point where people were parking in the grass. Going into the tasting room, we knew that it would be a few minutes until we could have a tasting as both bars were completely full.
But it was when we had our tasting that we experienced some really poor customer service. The owner, who was our pourer, rushed us the entire tasting, barely taking any time to explain the wines to us. But she was friendly and patient with the others around us. It was easy to tell that she was trying to get us to finish quickly so that there would be room for some friends of hers that showed up after us.
After we left the tasting room, I took a few quick photos before we left steaming about how crappy we were treated. The photo at the top came from their vineyard grounds.
Piedmont Vineyards & Winery
Our second winery visit was the next day, and we were hoping for a better experience. But as soon as we pulled up to the tasting room, we again encountered a full parking lot and tasting room. Our hopes quickly diminished.
But when we got to the bar for a tasting we were surprised. The service was much better. The two pourers (who I think were also the owners) explained the wines and answered our questions happily. I think what might have made this winery a better choice was the fact that their wines were also much better than Three Fox. If you visit, get some of their Sangria, it’s amazing.
After the tasting, Cheri and I had a picnic and then I took some shots around the grounds. The photo here is of their stainless steel wine tanks.
Both photos in this post were taking on Kodak Tri-X 400 film and then pushed to ISO 1600 when developed. If you are interested in a print of either of these photos, you can purchase them at my SmugMug site.