Day Trip from DC: Paradise Springs Winery

Day Trip from DC: Paradise Springs Winery

Dress: Old Navy, Hat: Eastern Market flea market, similar here or Panama style here

A few weekends ago, my husband and I were going to go to a food festival in a northern Virginia town. However, I hadn't noticed that it was extremely expensive. Changing gears, we decided to check out Paradise Springs Winery, which is located in Clifton, Virginia. It's a short drive from DC.

It was really beautiful on the inside and the grounds were, too. And the wine was solid! We were surprised because, well, we've had some Virginia wine that wasn't so good. At the winery, we took a tour that included 10 wine tastings, five red and five white.

Luckily for me, red gives me a terrible headache and hangover so my husband tasted those for us. I was surprised to find that I even liked the chardonnay, which was not oaked at all. Yum! Our tour guide was really into it-telling jokes and gossiping about the salacious origins of a very old sparkling wine he served us.

They have picnic benches, an indoor patio, and umbrella tables for seating outside. They're kid and dog friendly (no dogs inside), and they often have live music. That day, an adorable couple was singing on the back porch, and they had BBQ for sale, too! Normally, they offer cheese and meats for purchase or you can bring in your own food.

We'd love to go back here with friends and our dogs once the weather gets cooler. Want to come with us?