James River Cellars Winery

The options abound.
The cellars produce so many different blends and wines it is hard to believe how well each one goes down. Usually most vineyard have a couple throughout a tasting that have too much licorice, or too much pineapple, or just too much. I have tried almost their whole line and I would/​do serve them to guests regularly. To summarize their tastes, I would say they remind me of the wines served with dinner everyday in Italy. James River Cellars is a great boutique family-​owned vineyard I highly recommend. Just go and try it out.

Loved chatting wine with the very knowledgeable owner. Nice scenery — if you have time, take them up on some cheese and sit on the upstairs patio a while — and several enjoyable wines. Especially enjoyed the chambourcin, and drank my entire bottle of blush the same day.

Excellent service. Excellent wine. Awesome value. And beautiful scenery. I recommend getting a bottle and cheese plate and bringing upstairs to the balcony. If Meredith is working, she will hook you up. She was the sweetest and kindest person working (everyone was great though!) love this place!

We stopped by James River on Tuesday 4÷19÷16. We were traveling home from Richmond to the Northern VA area. We were up early and actually arrived about 10 minutes before their scheduled opening time but they were already open, which was a nice surprise, although we were prepared to walk the dog around while we waited.
Outside — in front there are a number of tables in the grass, some are close together and others are spread out a bit which is nice. You can easily put a couple together if you have a group or sit away from a group if you don’t want to be right on top of someone else.
Inside — Very neat, clean, and nice, but a tad small at the tasting bar inside. We were the only people there though so it didn’t affect our visit. We brought our dog with us, as they do allow well behaved, leashed dogs in the tasting room. I love tasting rooms that allow dogs inside, especially if they don’t have an outdoor tasting bar. Our pourer was funny, friendly and knowledgeable about the wines. We tasted 11 wines for only $ 5, you can’t beat that price.
I thought James River had a nice mix of sweeter, light wines and wines for folks who don’t like the sweet wines. None of the sweet wines were overly sweet like a dessert wine. I think the highest amount of residual sugar in what we tasted was 2%, in my opinion, I have had way worse. The two Chardonnay’s are nice. One is done in oak, and it’s pretty light, not oaky or buttery, the other is done in stainless steel. I enjoyed them both. The Cab Franc, is not your typical peppery cab franc. Fairly light for a Cab Franc. I think the only wine I didn’t really enjoy was the petit Verdot, but I’m not a petit Verdot drinker as it is, so I’m not the best gauge.
We ended up taking 3 bottles with us, for a good mix. If we are ever down in the Richmond area, I would go again.

This Winery really is a gem off route 1! You wouldn’t know it passing by but my good friend Ashley took me here for a sunny afternoon on 03/​24/​2016. We sat upstairs on the balcony and it was wonderful. The wine tasting are get this, only $ 4.75 each! And you sample like over 10 wines!!! The bottle only cost me $ 16.00 and we got the Chardonel which was wonderful! I live in Northern Virginia and the closest winery I got too is Clifton and their cheapest bottle is $ 25.00 and wine tastings are expensive as well. I want to come here every single time I come to the Richmond area. Loved it!!!

Nice small wine cellar. You get to taste all the wines (13!). Didn’t love all of them but my favorite was the Hanover Red, a new release. The staff was very friendly and welcoming and knowledgeable. Great value! Would like to return when it’s a bit warmer to enjoy the grounds.

A really nice winery. We were served by MK who was wonderful and friendly. For a tasting, they provided a tasting if 8 different wines.

My honey and I gauge everything against Veritas as the 5 star winery. We were thoroughly impressed with James River! We added it on to our day since it opened at 10 am. We bought 3 bottles of wine! We have only done that at Cooper and Veritas, so that is saying something for sure!
Please go and check out this winery! Not everything is great, but you WILL find multiple options you love!

We were on a wine and beer crawl on 95 N on our way from Jacksonville to DC (via myrtle beach). This was about a 2 mile detour for us and worked out great. We were surprised on how busy the place was. It costs 5 dollars to taste all their wines (14 when we visited) which is a good deal. The girls working here were volunteers and seemed happy and welcoming. We did feel rushed a bit during our tastings probably due to the crowds and being close to end of day.

We finally were able to check James River Cellar of our bucket list yesterday and had a great time! I cannot believe for $ 4.75 we tried 12 wines each (even got to try a few again to compare tastes!)!! Carol was our pourer/​wine connoisseur and she was amazing. She was able to explain to us all about the different wine processes, residual sugars, and so much more. The collection of wine here will suite any tastebud and everyone will walk away finding something they just need to have one more glass of! Definitely looking to return here again!

went there during wine festival with other wineries in the area (new kent, saude creek, and williamsburg) I have been to New Kent and Saude Creek. New Kent has the best chardonnay and merlot and can’t get enough of BBQ and awesome scenery at Saude Creek.

We went on a Friday afternoon and it was still cold outside and rainy. We did the wine tasting which was so much fun and then got a bottle and went upstairs with some cheese and crackers! We loved having the whole upstairs to ourselves and had such a wonderful time. It’s a beautiful location and wonderful staff!

I’ve never just dropped in at random to the winery, though in retrospect I’m uncertain why, but I have now been to several members’ events and loved every minute of my time there. Not only is the winery pretty solid when it comes to their vintages [the meritage is probably my favorite] but they are not shy about sharing the spotlight, and they throw a mean party. I’ve had some excellent food there, as well as booze from other places featured right alongside the wines from JRC. The most notable experience so far has probably been the End of Prohibition party [a yearly event], which involved people from local breweries and even Blue Bee as well as tons of delicious noms [though somehow we ran out of macarons, and before we ran out of shrimp, no less]

Great staff, decent local wine at a reasonable price. My favorite is RAD Red and the wine slushy! Plenty of parking, bring a blanket to spread out on the lawn and enjoy a bottle with your loved one.

I think the main attraction to this place is the wine slushie, which I did try to recreate at home but it wasn’t as good. we did the wine tasting which was only $ 5 and you get to try like twelve wines, such a good deal! none of them stood out enough to buy a bottle but we did enjoy some wine slushies and cheese after the tasting.
I plan to go back here for the slushie alone. overall a great time and we got out the door spending only like $ 35 for two tastings, cheese, and wine slushies!
I went back the other day (Wednesday) just for the wine slushies. turns out they only have them on the weekend. the older man working there was extremely rude to us about it, so just beware of him.

For a Richmond-​area vineyard, this is a fantastic place to go for a tasting. My boyfriend and I went yesterday for a tasting and our server was very knowledgeable and super sweet. We really liked almost every wine we tasted and decided to buy a bottle of Chambourcin. We brought a picnic, but it was a bit chilly, so we decided to sit in their super cute room upstairs. We were pretty much the only people there, so it was great for a romantic picnic. The winery itself is adorable and really great considering their location. On the way out we bought two more bottles and our server gave us 5% off since we bought three. The only thing I found odd was there was no tip option on my credit card receipt and no tip jar, our server really deserved one.

A large group of us stopped in for one of their wine festivals on a Sunday and even though it was very cold outside, we had a great time. The grounds were laid out nicely to accommodate the large crowd they had, as well as various vendors, food trucks and the wineries being represented.
The wines were decent and the staff was welcoming and accommodating. We look forward to going back for another event!

Excellent knowledgable staff guided us through a tasting that included robust and spicy reds, a seasonal favorite with cinnamon notes and Chardonnay that can stand with a fruit plate or a hearty red snapper. The backstory to the beginning of the vineyards shares a common thread of a love of the grapes that grew into a family business. What began as a way to relax, became a connection to the community and family that spans generations.

We stopped by JRCW to pick up a case of Chambourcin on our way out of Richmond this weekend. It was a beautiful day out and the place was buzzing with locals ready for warmer days ahead. When we got to the register Alexander remembered us from our last visit a few weeks ago and greeted us warmly. We automatically received a 20% discount for purchasing a case and they were very accommodating when we asked to split the purchase price in two.
We brought 2 JRCW newbies with us this time so we couldn’t resist getting in on another wine tasting. It is simply unbelieveable that you’re able to sample 10 wines for just $ 5.
*Note: in my last review I was excited because JRCW has wines for sale at Total Wine in our area. Alexander informed us that they will no longer be selling their wine there because it no longer suited their needs. Although a tad disappointing, I think we’re good in the wine dept with our case! And of course we’ll be back to stock up whenever we’re in the area.

After a miserable attempt at C’est le Vin downtown my girlfriends and I were on a mission for some vino. I have past James River Cellars before and we made a group decision to stop here and check it out.
The grounds are currently covered in snow but it seems like a great place to spend the day when it is a bit warmer out. It is located right off of Route 1 but set far enough back that you don’t notice the million cars passing by,
For $ 5.00 (which is unheard of in NoVa) you can participate in their tasting which included about 9 different wine options. I enjoyed most of them but hands down my favorite was the Chambourcin — which is funny because I am not generally a red wine drinker.
The downstairs area got pretty crowded while we were there, lots of people in line to do the tasting. The upstairs seating area was completely full as well. The crowd was very diverse and ranged in ages.
They offer crackers and cheese too, I would love to see them a few meat selections to the menu also.
I foresee many afternoons spent here in the spring.