Central Virginia Wine Festival

This festival was a huge hit! I just adored the crowd and the people in charge. There was music, food, and, of course, tons of wine. Everything you could ever want in a wine festival was there and it was magical.
I happened to be there working the Unilocal table, but I did get a chance to walk around as a spectator and experience the festival in that way. This year the sun was beaming down with fury. Around midday you could tell that the heat was taking its toll on folks, but the VIP tent had tons of water so kudos to them for anticipating #TheThirst. My favorite winery in all of VA, Belle Mount Vineyards, was there which made me super happy. No other winery could have shown up and I would have been perfectly fine. But the fact that I could get pepper spray, my favorite sangria from Belle Mount, and clothes from various vendors at the same festival makes it a winner in my book. I also love how it’s always very well-​attended, but never so busy that you can’t move like other festivals in RVA tend to be.
Definitely check it out next year!

I personally was not a fan of this event.
My husband and I arrived at 2 PM on the fairly hot Saturday. The first thing I noticed was that every single wine tent was five or six people deep, shoulder to shoulder like sardines, jostling each other for an ounce of wine. When it’s 80 degrees, I don’t want to jostle with anyone.
We never tasted any wine, mainly because I didn’t want to fight anyone to get a taste.
We bought a bottle of Horton Vineyards Viognier and decided we would take a look around. There were a few interesting tents, but not many craft or other vendors. I think we saw someone selling tasers, a Pure Pleasure vendor, someone selling keychains and someone selling Pampered Chef.
Next, we figured we would get some food and sit in the grass and enjoy our bottle of wine. The food selection was worse. There were three «food trucks» there, but only one was an actual truck. One was Opah, the Greek truck… which is actually Nader’s in the Mobil gas station at Broad and Glenside. Then there was some BBQ joint and another joint selling fried food. My husband got the oysters and fries. He was sick the next day. We’re guessing it was the oysters since that was the one thing he ate that I did not… and I felt fine.
So, you have to fight for wine, there’s no good craft vendors, and there’s no good food. Luckily, I received the tickets complimentary. If I had paid for them, I would’ve been extremely disappointed.
The two things I did like was the Unilocal tent where you could get a fan (MUCH NEEDED) and make a wine charm for your wine glass, and the band.

What a great time we had! Even with a bit of rain, it was a stellar experience. All the people working at the various tents were so friendly and informative, the wine selection was wonderful, and all in all the whole event was just really well organized and put together. After trying several wines, we opted to get some sangria (delicious!) and sit under the group tent they put out and listen to some live music. Really an excellent way to spend the afternoon.

I went to the Central Virginia Wine Festival with friends on Saturday. The festival is held at Innsbrook Snag-​A-​Job Pavilion. You’re giving a nice wine glass souvenir with the CVWF logo. Different wineries let customers sample multiple wines. The people working at the vendors were friendly and down to earth. I like the will call for customers purchasing wine. The staff will hold bottles and cases of wine until the event is over. Some food trucks are located on the ground to fulfill your hunger. This festival is located outside so make sure you check the weather. Also, I highly recommend wearing comfortable walking shoes. It’s a huge Virginia Tech presence at this wine festival. Overall, I enjoyed myself at the festival. I give Central Virginia Wine Festival a 3.5 rating rounded up (4).

This was a GREAT event! I actually worked the Unilocal table but I loved all the people that stopped by the table to play our fabulous game! Because I was VIP, I got two complimentary glasses of wine, a glass and some snacks. However the best thing I ate was fried oysters topped with some hot-​sauce. DELICIOUS! The weather was perfect, the drinks were flowing and I couldn’t think of another way to spend my saturday :)

If you didn’t go to Virginia Tech, you may want to skip this wine festival. The Central Virginia Wine Festival is hosted by the Richmond chapter of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association. 14 wineries are present at Innsbrook, and your ticket ($ 20 in advance, $ 25 at the door) gets you unlimited tasting.
Here’s what I wasn’t a fan of. First off, it’s a really hot, crowded day to be outside at Innsbrook. The wineries are under tents, but the tasters aren’t really, so prepare to sweat. Also, because of the warm weather, most of the wines weren’t cold enough to get a good taste. No one wants to drink warm wine, be it red or white.
Second, along with wine, they were selling beer. This led to lots of non-​wine-​drinking Va Tech grads just hanging out getting drunk. Not my favorite atmosphere when I’m actually trying to taste wine.
There were lots of the usual player wineries here: Grayhaven, James River Cellars, Cooper, Lake Anna, etc., which is nice if you don’t drink much local wine, but if you do, you might prefer to sample these wines at the local wineries or at a festival at a nearby winery with nicer atmosphere.
There were people selling food, but nothing looked too great. We stayed for about 2 hours and then were hot/​bored/​sick of the crowds and left.
Go: if you want to get drunk with a bunch of hokies.
Don’t go: if you actually want to sample wine and find some you like.