Enjoy Touring Wineries on Your Visit to West Virginia

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Visitors to West Virginia have a wonderful opportunity to visit several great wineries in the southern and central highlands areas.  Wine tours allow visitors to see the beautiful vineyards located here and enjoy spending time relaxing and discovering new wines.
 
Several varieties of grapes thrive on the rich soil and mountain water in West Virginia.  Some of the grapes that are grown here include Niagara, Concord and Delaware grapes.  Unique French-American hybrid grapes such as Seyval, Foch, Aurore and Blanc grapes are also used in wine making in West Virginia.  Many wineries also produce berry wines and other specialties such as dessert wines and special blends.  

There are many wineries to visit in West Virginia, and taking a tour of one or several is a terrific way to spend an afternoon or a day.  Daniel Vineyards just outside of Beckley is a gorgeous 190-acre property that features a tasting room as well as a gazebo, deck and pavilion for group gatherings.  86 varieties of grapes are grown here and featured in Daniel’s white and red wines.  

Kirkwood Winery just north of Summersville is another great place to tour.  You can sample and purchase French Hybrid American varietal and mead, and an assortment of fruit and vegetable wines that are produced at Kirkwood’s.   You can taste Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Riesling and many other grape wines at Kirkwood.  Wild Elderberry, Golden Peach, Swiss Chard Rhubarb and Red Currant are a few of the many interesting wines created at Kirkwood, and there are also four specialty wines to try.  

The Forks of Cheat Winery in Morgantown, WV creates a delicious port as well as a variety of grape and fruit wines.  You can sample their Black Jewel Port as well as Villard Blanc, Vidal Blanc, Baco Noir and Niagara at the Forks of Cheat.  Owners Jerry and Eric Deal also produce wine from blueberries, raspberries, apples, strawberry and other fruits grown on site.

Wolf Creek Winery is a charming winery in Monroe County.  The modest 12-acre vineyard produces Seyval, Chambourcin, Foch and Vidal grape varieties.  Visitors can enjoy sampling delicious red and white wines in Wolf Creek Winery’s tasting room. A stroll around the vineyards is a perfect way to become acquainted with this top quality, smaller scale winery.  

During tours of the wineries in West Virginia, visitors will learn about the history of wine making in the state.  A visit to the Wine Cellar Park in Dunbar can provide you with a glimpse into the wine-making past of West Virginia.  The first winery in the state was opened in Dunbar in 1856, and today at Wine Cellar Park, you can see the cave-like cellars where wine was first aged in West Virginia.