Chateau O'brien At North Point

I've been to many vineyards/wineries around Virginia, and indeed, the world. This is a HIDDEN GEM...and I mean HIDDEN! Unlike most of the Virginia wineries this one is very serious about the quality of its wine, and grows their own grapes, versus buying them from others. Owner/vintner Howard O'Brien is a personable guy anxious to tell his story, which reveals a deep love of the craft. We ordered the 2016 Petit Verdot, without doubt the best Virginia wine I have ever tasted anywhere in the state. If you are a serious wine drinker and tired of spending $60 for tasteless grape juice at the other vineyards, you must try Chateau O'Brien. Howard is serious about production and ships to some top notch restaurants in the DC area.Pull off 66 at Markam, hang an immediate left and follow the signs, cross the RR tracks...don't be put off by the remnants of Markam and its 200+ year old post office, nor the rutted asphalt drive up the hill to the vineyard. The winery is top notch, beautiful view across the valley and plenty of seating, inside and out.

We joined the VIP club almost a year ago and, finally, took advantage of the Private Cellar Tasting. It exceeded our expectations, and Howard, the winemaker and owner was our host. We renewed our membership and will be attending future member events. A great place to enjoy great wines!

My friend and I stumbled upon this winery after tasting two of their apple wines at the orchard down the road. The staff were super friendly (we could tell they were overwhelmed with the labor day crowd and events going on, but that's understandable . We both did a tasting at their bar: 2 of their other apple wines (so we tried all 4 with the sampling at the orchard , a white, and their petit verdot (I think 2014 . All of their wines were great!! We were very impressed that we liked all of them (normally I tend to like 1-2 in a tasting . I'm also normally a dry wine fan, but their sweet wines were incredibly unique and not headache inducing sweet like many others I've tried. Highly recommend their apple blueberry wine, and giving this place a try : Hope to come back!

My absolute favorite winery in the world! Their blueberry apple wine is the best and the people are so nice and welcoming

Don't let the entry road fool you, this is a great winery. Well, worth a day trip. Tasty reds and a wonderful Virginia ice wine. I highly recommend the red wine tasting.The wine house is a renovated 100 year old farm house. The back deck has a beautiful view of the countryside. We were the only group when we visited, but the deck is large enough that it won't feel crowded even when busier.I recommend this winery, both for the atmosphere and the wines. Try the 2019 Tannat Limited Reserve for a great red, and the 2017 Ice apple Wine is a deliciously crisp dessert wine.The only downside is they don't have much in the way of foods. But do be sure to ask about the VIP club and special events.