Elyse E.
Yelp
My wife and I always love exploring new wineries, and when we saw this place on Instagram, we knew we had to check it out. After a day at nearby Stribling Farms Orchard, we decided to make our way over.
My biggest complaint about this place is that it's not strictly what I would call a winery, and I think that name is a confusing misnomer. To me, a winery is a place where you can come casually sit and sip wines, that may or may not have food, and that would only require a reservation on a particularly busy day or for an event. Walking into Crimson Lane, it's immediately clear that is more a restaurant with an in-house wine selection/ wine bar.
Reservations are apparently highly encouraged/ required - we were only seated because someone cancelled at the last minute. Inside and part of the outside are table service. A wine bar in the center of the main room serves as a spot to participate in a tasting or grab a glass, but not food service. I believe there is an outdoor courtyard section where you can also grab glasses a la carte without full service. This all serves to be pretty confusing, compounded by the fact that despite the table service and ambiance, you can only order elevated snack food, not entrees. I really do think this place should either lean into the fine dining atmosphere (a la become more of a restaurant with wine) or lean away from the table service and reservations and do things more like a standard winery (a la a place to get wine and maybe some casual bites in a more relaxed setting).
That said, the food was very good. Our cheese board was very elevated and tasty, and the empanadas were certainly worth trying. The wine was good but not worth the steep price - higher than nearby wineries by an exponential amount. At Fox Meadow down the road, the most expensive bottle you could possibly sample is around $50 - here, $50 is just about the lowest price you can find. We each had a glass of wine - I got the Petit Verdot (which was fine), and my wife go the Sauv Blanc (really excellent - would come back just to taste again).
We chose to not do the tasting because it features not one, not two, but THREE different Chardonnays. That's about three chardonnays too many for my liking. Tastings are $45 a person, which is a bit high for outside of Napa, IMO.
Overall, I love Virginia wines and would be happy to come back when Crimson Lane has more selections and offerings. But if you're looking for a relaxed place to unwind with a bottle at a leisurely pace, I'd pick somewhere else, and save Crimson Lane for a more formal occasion.
Oh, and dress accordingly. We were wearing casual but not messy clothes (think nice jeans with fall flannels) and got a lot of strange looks.