Barboursville Vineyards

Through the years, the winery has led in establishing the credibility of the Virginia appellation with an array of vitis vinifera wine varietals, cultivating wines of a European heritage which wholly justify this new terroir. We are conscious of a joyful debt to that cultural and culinary tradition, not merely in grape cultivation, but in crafting wines of inherent food-friendliness. We have shown how the most probing articulation of the exceptionality of this terroir, will always come from wines bearing a universally recognised varietal frame of reference. Here, then, are wines showing no contradiction between the most beautiful commemoration of place, and the honoring of expectations embraced by time. Barboursville Ruins is the only building in Orange County known to have been designed by Thomas Jefferson. It was constructed between 1814 and 1822 for Jefferson's friend James Barbour, Governor of Virginia (1812-1814). Barbour also served as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of War, and Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Jefferson’s design called for a dome similar to his own home at Monticello. Although the dome was not built, the rest of the house largely followed Jefferson’s plans.The grand house was known in its day as one of the finest and largest in the region. It even had its own racetrack. It was destroyed by fire on Christmas Day, 1884. The grounds surrounding the ruins, now part of Barboursville Vineyard and Winery, are open to the public. The ruins offer a unique atmosphere for a picnic. They also serve as an exceptional background for the Four County Players' presentations of "Shakespeare at the Ruins" on August weekends.