Yes, the rumor is true (thanks Orchid). I am certain you have all heard or read something on this sad event.
Oakencroft is closing. You still have plenty of time to enjoy its wine and atmosphere. The winery is set to close December 31, 2008. Apparently after 25 years Felicia Rogan is ready to retire. Why no sale? She did sell the property, but the new owners don’t intend on continuing to use it as a winery.
Enjoy the place while it is still around!
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Tagged as: Close, Oakencroft, Wine
noooooooooooooooooo
I actually enjoyed Oakencroft very much; one of my first dates with my fiancée was wine tasting there.
White Hall’s wines are better (the setting is very nice – about 15 minute drive west of Oakencroft). Of course, the Barboursville wine tour is always fun (lots to do in Barboursville, actually). Barboursville Vineyard has grown into quite a property. And, hard as it may be to believe, we found a bottle of the Barboursville Sangiovese on the shelf of a wine shop in Siena, Italy… I’m not joking. Horton Winery has the worst website of anyone I’ve seen in years, but their building is a little bizarre, out of place, and worth a visit, and they have some very good cult wines.
@1 Start buying cases of the stuff you like right now so you will have it for anniversaies- just sayin’
Patricia Kluge is doing a victory dance right now.
4: Really? I had the impression there was a sort of friendly rivalry among the Virginia wineries. A sort of sense that they’re “all in this together,” this being growing the market for Virginia wines. Is there some specific beef you’re referencing?
Dude, everybody knows PK and FR hate each other.
6: I did not know that, and my cob-logger works in the wine business.
You gotta work in the restaurant biz. PK won’t go to eat at a place if she hears FR will be there.
And WTF is a cob-logger?
@9 “readers-turned-co-bloggers”
9: An intentional misspelling of “co-blogger” that happens on the internet.
/welcome
Ohhh, I thought it was a dirty nickname for your gf.
@12 hahahaha Does that have anything to do with a cobb salad?
Oakencroft wines aren’t that great. No big loss.
Too bad another VA winery won’t go in its place.
Someone bought some property further out Garth Road (@ Lake Albemarle Rd.) about a year ago and started planting grapes already, so it looks like there will be another vineyard to pick up the slack, eventually. I think Oakencroft was the closest to town and only 5 minutes from Barracks Road SC, so the most convenient option for tastings will be gone. I wonder if the new owners will be selling grapes to another local producer, or just bulldozing the vines for a subdivision? Shame to see 25 years of cultivation go down the drain.
Yea, really lousy wines.
FR is famously unfriendly, too.
did she beat you up Stu?
It was one of the first small, boutique wineries in the area and close to town, but the wines were always pretty mediocre.
@15 - Those vines are owned in part by the owner of the Rio Will Wine and Gourmet shop. He’s not sure if they will make wine or just sell the grapes.
All wine is overrated anyway.
NOT
Yes, she beat me up.
It’s a great spot, but the wine is really of the shitbag variety. Probably better value-wise than Kluge, though.
@15, no need to wait for new vineyards to open: Crozet Gazette reports Mountfair Vineyards opened in May just north of White Hall ( http://www.mountfair.com for more info) with complimentary tastings on Sundays from noon to 5 or by appointment. Also from the same source, Pollak Vineyards hosted a ribbon-cutting and grand opening on May 16th. Located on Newtown Road in Greenwood [isn’t there a Superfund site on that road? I hope they test their water..] they’re open daily from 11 to 5 with a $5 tasting fee that gets you a souvenir glass.
@23 thanks for the info, doof!. and lu, as i said this morning in my post that apparently didn’t post, you’ve temporarily replaced toby in my affections. glad to see i’ll have several months left to sit by the lake and drink.
@2 13 miles is a big difference when you’re drunk. and if by “cult wines,” you mean that f’ing disgusting berry shite, then yes, horton has them.
@24: Took long enough. I knew you’d have something to say about Horton.
Thanks orchid!
By the way who is Toby?
i responded immediately this morning, but i guess my internets went out before it went through. (i don’t understand how that happens since i’m plugged into the wall, but somehow i’m still dependent on getting a wireless signal?)
/tasted tequila for the first time in 27 days, then put the drink down. had this instead, which can’t even count as drinking: “St Germain elderflower liquer, chambord, champagne float, lemon twist.”
i responded immediately this morning
I could rip that apart (with footnotes).
Stupid dry wedding I have to go to tomorrow. Tuesday, I am jealous. Who makes echo go to a dry wedding. I didn’t even know they existed before 3 weeks ago. See you Sunday internet. Do what you can to avoid the heat.
Dry wedding? Gahhhhhhh!!
I call for an immediate annulment on account of excessive sobriety.
@29: Yeah I know, but in 15 minutes I went from happy drunk to extremely pissed off, so I’ll be taking an extended break from the internets.
No pissed echo! I wish I had been awake/out to fix it. I am excited about my non-dry wedding — too bad it is still a WEDDING — uck. I will need the alcohol to sooth my disgust and prevent me from yelling: run, run!!!!
Have fun and count the days till Tuesday.
Tuesday=WET
echo, I though I heard rumors of a cooler in a hotel room somewhere…are you really gonna let a Saturday go by completely dry? I think not.
@31 Tues, if echo EVER reads a post that comes through at 7:51 on a Saturday morning something has gone seriously amiss…I would run across town in my pajamas to make sure he wasnt suffering from some form of dementia.
/my wedding today is also NOT DRY (I heart champagne) and also in my backyard, literally. Half the family (groom’s) does not drink, so the conversations will a little lopsided…I can’t wait. You guys have fun…
According to the grapevine (pun intended) the prospective property owners may continue to cultivate the grapes and sell them to the many wineries in the area. They are eliminating the winery as they do not want to have the public (customers) on their property.
There are some reports that the new owners may place this land into a conservation easement.
The loss of Oakencroft is sad but this is the hot bed of virginia wine http://www.monticelliowinetrail.com
Stay tuned
Lurker 30, I would like to direct you to a particular article on my other favorite website.
/i had to
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