Barrel Oak Winery

Barrel Oak Winery is a beautiful, very dog-friendly winery, with lots of very good wines. They celebrated their second anniversary in May 2010.

The tasting room is large, and the main tasting bar resembles a huge wine barrel. There is a second tasting bar upstairs in the loft area. There are several tables inside so guests can enjoy a snack along with a bottle of wine. Dogs are allowed inside, but must be kept on a leash. When I visited, there was a beautiful golden retriever laying down under a table while his family enjoyed some BOW wine.

Outside, there are lots of picnic tables, along with watering stations for the pups. Your four legged friend is welcome to hang out outside while you enjoy your picnic.

As for the tastings, Barrel Oak offers three choices: the BOW, the WOW, or the BOW WOW. I did the BOW WOW, which includes a taste of all of their wines. I have to say that I loved them all! The Norton is excellent, as is the Traminette. And they have a great dessert wine, too. The wines are a bit more pricey than most Virginia wineries (averaging around $23 a bottle), but they are definitely very good.

There are several items for sale in the tasting room, including books, jewelry, wine accessories, snacks, and doggie shirts.

Observations:
~ Very dog friendly.
~ Very nice staff.
~ Excellent wines.
~ Reasonable tasting fees.
~ Open late on Fridays and Saturdays during the warm weather months. Call ahead if you want to visit later than their normal 6 PM closing time, because they just may be open late. They have a sign at the entrance that says "Open Late" on those days that they stay open past their normal closing time.
~ During the warm weather months, they tend to keep the tasting room doors open, which makes it pretty hot inside, despite the fact that the A/C is on. So, if you don't like the heat, you might want to visit in the fall, winter, or early spring.

Travel:
Very easy to access. Right off of I-66. Only non-paved road is the one leading to the winery, but it's short and completely covered with gravel, which makes for easy travel.

Website:
http://www.barreloak.com