Hazy Mountain Vineyards is located in one of the most scenic of Virginia’s many scenic winery areas, Afton. The winery is halfway between Charlottesville and Staunton, 30 minutes in either direction, and then south of Interstate-64. Opened in June 2021 by owners Michael and Sandra McGinnis, for who this is the first foray into the wine business, the property was purchased in 2018. A second vineyard near Staunton was first planted in 2016. Although the winery is family operated (daughter Sarah is the General Manager), with two 7,000 square-foot-plus barns for events, this is not your small family winery. As the name has it, Hazy Mountain also offers beer as well as wine.
Wine: Tier II. Hazy Mountain uses a wide range of estate-grown grapes, including for whites Chardonnay, Petit Manseng, Riesling, and some varietals found less frequently in Virginia: Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc, and Gruner Veltliner. For reds, plantings include Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir, and again some less common varietals: Blaufrankisch (a German grape), Saperavi (from Georgia, one of the world’s earliest wine producing areas), and Schioppetino (from Friuli in northern Italy). This is a good place to go to find something out of the ordinary. Grapes are sourced from two vineyards: Hazy Mountain itself, with 35 acres planted in 2019, and Little North Mountain in Swope, a 50-acre vineyard near Staunton planted by the family in 2016. Winemaker Luke Trainum is a Shenandoah Valley native, with experience in cellars in California as well as Virginia. The winery has yet to begin entering wine competitions.
Setting: Two stars. Hazy Mountain enjoys excellent views over the vines, the Blue Ridge and its valleys, like its neighboring wineries in the Afton area. Wine can be enjoyed with the views both on an outdoor terrace and a covered patio. The winery itself is enormous by Virginia standards. Light food is available for sale. The winery is family friendly, but no pets are allowed. A rental house on the property will be available soon for special events or groups who just want to enjoy the wine and setting into the late hours.
Stories. Country Music lives on in Virginia. In the early days of settling the Appalachian frontier, isolated immigrant families from lands with folk singing traditions, mainly the Scotch-Irish, brought their musical talents to the frontier (see our separate stories on “Bluegrass Music in Virginia,” and “Bacon Hollow and Virginia folk-singing”). Since those days country music has evolved into a big-time nation-wide passion, with big-name stars. Some of those stars sing purely country, and some cross between musical genres. One of the latter is a resident of Afton – a few miles to the east of Hazy Mountain Vineyard: Mary Chapin Carpenter. Carpenter, a native of Princeton, New Jersey, made her name singing in clubs in Washington, DC before her recording career took off. The magazine Virginia Living once carried an article about Thanksgiving at the singer’s home in Afton, crowded with other country musicians, all picking up a guitar or a banjo after the meal. Country music lives on.