Charlottesville is 2023 Wine Region of the Year
The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau (CACVB) is hailing an important milestone for Charlottesville wine tourism.
The Monticello American Viticultural Area (AVA) has won Wine Region of the Year in Wine Enthusiast’s 2023 Wine Star Awards.
The Charlottesville area was just one of five wine regions nominated around the world for this award and the only nominee located in North America.
The Wine Star Awards celebrate individuals and entities that have significantly contributed to the success of wine.
The region’s history with wine dates to the days of Thomas Jefferson, who believed Charlottesville and Albemarle County’s terroir was ideal for growing grapevines.
It finally came reality in the mid-1970s.
Then the Monticello Wine Trail was created and has flourished, currently boasting more than 40 vineyards within a 25-mile radius of Charlottesville.
The Monticello Wine Trail regularly receives accolades in the annual Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition and in 2023, won nearly half of all the gold medals awarded.
The CACVB is leveraging this accomplishment through Historic Vines New Roots, a marketing initiative which tells the story of the region’s rich history of wine.
It focuses on the destination’s acclaimed wineries and aims make wine tourism more accessible, inclusive, and approachable for everyone.
The CACVB also unveiled a new tourism video to highlight its distinction as Wine Enthusiast’s 2023 Wine Region of the Year.
“I am beyond thrilled our approach has won us this recognition on a global stage,” said Courtney Cacatian, Executive Director of the CACVB.
“For more than 40 years it has been the goal to show the world the quality of wine that we can produce here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains,” said George Hodson, CEO of Veritas Vineyard and Winery.
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