Virginia’s Shenandoah valley is beautiful to begin with, but add in some fantastic wineries and you have the perfect vacation! Virginia wineries are one of the more underrated activities on the east coast!

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Y’all, I love celebrations. Birthdays, holidays, promotions, even making decisions merit some attention, and it always better with the people you love!

There’s something so unique about celebrating the moments in your friends’ lives that matter, to take a dinner or a weekend and revel in the good things happening.

You can guess where I’m going with this: my best friend’s bachelorette weekend was always going to be one for the books!

Laura had requested a chill weekend in the mountains, perfect for a day in Virginia’s vineyards and a cozy cabin weekend to catch up, be silly and get some serious girl time in – the eight of us live in six different cities, so we don’t get together as a group much!

We stayed in an adorable little cabin in Stanardsville, VA. It’s the middle of nowhere, and was perfect for our weekend away! If you’re looking for something, I’d definitely recommend Lydia Mountain.

Imagine waking up to this view every morning. Glorious!

From the front, our cabin looks tiny and quaint but from the back it looks massive! Think rustic in the cute way, not in the roughing-it way. We had a hot tub, fire pit, and gorgeous mountain views. The privacy to sit on the back porch without visible neighbors made for a weekend of catching up or goofing off!

I’ll skip our girl time to share the main event: the vineyards!

Our first stop was Barboursville Vineyards. The maid of honor did a TON of research on where to go, and this one was on the “not to be missed” list. It dates back to Jefferson’s era, and right across from the tasting room is a building that’s over 10o years old. No big deal.

First off, they have about twenty wines to taste, so that’s a good sign right there. They’ve even got a selection of bubbly to try! Seriously, they had about six “sections,” where you tried a few from each category – dry/sweet white/red and sparkling options as well as a dessert wine area to complete the experience.

Please see me, making the goofiest face possible tasting wine. All in a day’s work.

After half the wines, we paused our tasting to take a tour of the winery!

Bill led the tour, and he was a riot. He reminded me of a tour guide at Disney or something – super excited always, had some funny jokes and others that felt like dad-jokes, and his enthusiasm endeared him to some of our group and made others worry about him. Also, he talked a LOT about the man behind Barboursville, Luca. We kept hoping we’d run into Luca to meet the man behind the curtain. Or that he’d hire us as professional wine tasters. You know.

We had a fantastic time at Barboursville!

Next stop: Early Mountain Vineyards!

Early mountain’s landscape was striking. The space felt like somewhere I’d want to spend the afternoon relaxing, sipping wine and dining alfresco.

So we did! In addition to a really nice restaurant, they have a fantastic picnic area out the back, complete with umbrellas and fire pits. We did the French thing, enjoying or spread of cheese, fruit, salami and crackers. It was the perfect pick-me-up before heading in to our next tasting!

Early Mountain was my favorite. The space was elegant and simple, the logo is eye catching, and the wines were to die for. Smooth, rich, and many of them had beautiful names.

After our day of wine tasting, we headed back to our adorable cabin for an evening of hot tubs and photo booths. I’ll spare you the details, but let it suffice to say it was a weekend for the books! We had an amazing weekend celebrating you, Laura! Thanks for a weekend of Virginia wineries!

For more to do in the Shenandoah Valley, check out some great hiking or nearby Charlottesville, Virginia.

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