The current COVID pandemic has impacted all of us in so many ways. One impact is the ability to visit and enjoy local wineries. Stay at home orders must be taken seriously, and local wineries have adjusted accordingly. Needless to say, this will have significant consequences for local wineries—-much of their products are sold directly from the winery. Of course, most wineries offer wine-related events such as vertical tastings, wine dinners, etc., and these have all been postponed or cancelled due to COVID. However, there are certain steps that readers can undertake to be certain that the wine keeps flowing from local wineries. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Visit winery websites or call wineries to order your favorite Virginia wines. Some may be waiving shipping fees during the current health crisis. Others may be offering specials on packs of certain wines. Keswick Vineyards, for example, offers three-packs of selected white wines, red wines, etc.

2. Find out when your favorite wineries are hosting virtual tastings and participate in them. Tailor these to coincide with wines that you have purchased online.

3. Host or attend a virtual happy hour and pour Virginia wine.

4. Find out if your favorite wineries are offering gift cards during the current crisis.

5. Purchase local wines from your neighborhood wine shop. If it does not offer local wines as a selection, now might be a good time to suggest to the proprietor that he/she does so.

6. Give shout outs to local wineries on social media when you are enjoying their wines.

Please feel free to add to the list! We are all anxious for the COVID crisis to be over; in the meantime, let’s all do what we must to stay healthy. Until we can all meet again at a favorite winery, consider the options listed above to support the local wine industry. Cheers from Virginia Wine Time!