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Potomac Point Winery in Stafford County, just off of Route 1
If you take a short drive south of Woodbridge -- just beyond Quantico -- you'll find a charming oasis of calm that is soothing to the soul. We're referring to a new Virginia winery, Potomac Point Vineyard and Winery. And we Woodbridge residents are lucky enough to have it pretty much in our own backyard.
Owners Skip and Cindi Causey have been dreaming about opening a winery for years, and they've built a real gem of a place here. In an area of Stafford County known as Widewater, you'll find their winery, which will make you think you've stumbled across a spot in the rolling hills of Tuscany, Italy, or perhaps found a nice little slice of Napa, California. You'll be glad you discovered it. It's a winery that will add greatly to the growing respect for Virginia wines, and it's a unique destination spot in our corner of the world.
Not too far off Rt. 1, up a hilly gravel driveway, you'll see the winery perched on a hill, overlooking freshly planted vineyards. It's an impressive facility. It has an old-world feel to it, with a large open courtyard off the tasting room, a balcony with a seating area that overlooks the courtyard and a sweeping veranda off their banquet hall with a great view of the vineyards and plenty of tables to sit down at and enjoy the afternoon or evening.
The tasting room is expansive, with lots of room for dozens of people to sample the variety of wines. To the side of the tasting room is a relaxing sitting room that feels like an over-sized family room, with deep leather chairs and couches, a fireplace, a bar area, and a beautiful stained glass window displaying the winery logo. This will be a great spot to hang out either on a hot summer day when sitting outside is just too tough to take, or a chilly fall afternoon with a roaring fire.
We were as impressed with the wines as we were with the property. Skip seemed quite proud of the
wines, too, as he led a small group on a tour of the facility, explaining the history of the land, what went into the construction of the facility, and the process of making grapes into wine. We tasted a number of wines, starting with the La Belle Vie, which is a blend of Pinot Grigio, Viognier, Chardonnay and Marsanne grapes. We're not necessarily fans of this style of wine, but we were very impressed by La Belle Vie's drinkability -- a very refreshing blend that's very easy to drink on a hot summer day. We moved on to the Chardonnay, a type of wine we drink often. We thought it was a nicely balanced wine and though it was aged in aged in French oak, it didn't hit you over the head with that heavy oaky flavor. Very nice. We went on to some reds and were impressed by the Cabernet Franc, with its chocolate-cherry notes. Our favorite reds, though, had to be the Norton and Potomac Point's signature wine, the Pocahontas Norton Reserve, which is blended with a little Cabernet Franc. Both were very solid reds and well worth the $15 and $20 a bottle price tags.
You owe yourself a short trip down into Stafford to experience Potomac Point Winery. It's definitely worth the drive.
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