Where to go For Free Wine Tastings Every Week (Plus Other ~Notes~)
Wine tasting is one of our favorite ways to patronage our city’s many wine spots, and with an in-house wine expert on our team (looking at you, Paige Poprocky!), we couldn’t not share some of our very favorite RVA places to taste-test some vino before buying our favorite bottle(s) to take home and savor.
Here’s when and where you can catch free tastings, and some other good-to-know tidbits about the must-visit shops around town. (Make sure you take a quick look at Insta before you venture out — some of these spots have schedule changes here and there.)
— by Kelsey Heintz, Managing Editor
BTW: We’re not kidding about that wine-expert situation. For even more wine-focused content, keep up with Paige here and here.
Free Wine Tastings
Second Bottle Wine & Snack Shop | Thursdays, 5 - 7 pm | 324 N 27th St (Church Hill)
Union Market | Thursdays, 5 pm start | 2306 Jefferson Ave (Union Hill)
FriendBar | Thursdays, 6 - 8 pm | 2314 Jefferson Ave (Union Hill)
The Caboose Market and Café | Fridays, 5 - 7 pm | 108 S Railroad Ave (Ashland)
Once Upon A Vine | Fridays, 5 - 8 pm | 4009 MacArthur Ave (Bellevue)
Corks & Kegs | Fridays, 5:30 - 7:30 pm | 7110 Patterson Ave A (Tuckahoe)
VMFA - Second Fridays | Second Friday of every month, 6 - 8 pm | 200 N Arthur Ashe Blvd (Museum District)
Some Other ~Notes~
Lunch at Celladora
Celladora is one of our absolute favorite spots to sit, sip, and snack, and they just started lunch service on Thursdays and Fridays, featuring a very vegetarian-, pescatarian-, gluten-free-friendly menu.
Location: 111b N Lombardy St (The Fan)
$12 Flights at Garden Grove Brewery & Urban Winery
Garden Grove doesn’t offer traditional winery tastings, but they do offer flights that allow you to select four three-ounce pours for $12. And, ofc, they offer free samples of their selections before you commit to a larger pour.
Location: 3445 W Cary St (Carytown)
Ticketed Tastings at Jardin
Jardin’s tastings are pretty intermittent, happening when they have special or specific things they’re excited about; normally, these tastings fall on Wednesdays or Thursdays between 5:30 and 7 pm and tend to be ticketed. They like to focus their tastings around producers visiting from out of town or reps from importers who can come in and talk about the wines. Keep an eye on their Insta feed to stay on top of details — these events often sell out quickly and are not to miss!
Location: 1520 W Main St, Basement Ste 1 (The Fan)
Still thirsty? Getting hungry?
