| A Taste of the Mountains:
West Virginia's Wine and Spirit Trails | | Featured Travel Partner
| The purple mountains are right out of a song. The sun drops low; the grape leaves lean in the breeze and that last sip of wine warms the spirit. It's West Virginia, and it is beginning to be recognized across the country for its wine and spirit trails, giving us all a timely excuse for a road trip through the Appalachians and beyond. The hype is well deserved - there is something splendid about a drive through the West Virginia hills to visit distilleries and vineyards, to sample a merlot here, a sip of moonshine there, and to perhaps wind the evening down at a bed and breakfast nestled deep in a hollow. What sets this lesser-known wine and spirit region apart from others in the country, besides the rustic splendor of it all, is the untamed, sometimes fruity zest of its libations. Winemaking is a relatively new craft in these central mountains, and local vintners draw from their traditional flavorings- things like the pawpaw fruit, wild mountain ginseng, and other natural tastes of Appalachia. Many of West Virginia's wine and spirit trails circle around a central theme: Wild Flavors sets you on a path of natural-tasting wine and spirits- things like blackberry wine and onion cooking wine made from ingredients plucked deep in the lush mountains. Heritage Drinks focuses on ciders and meads like families used to make themselves from Appalachian apples and honey. The Moonshiner's Run is all about that clear distillate the region has long been famous for. If you like to pair natural beauty with natural flavor, the West Virginia wine and spirit trails chart a winding course through the best of both. At this point you're still well ahead of the crowds, so drink in the experience. These trails and their mountain majesty won't stay untapped for long.
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