Right off Virginia’s Route 7 in Loudoun County, Virginia sits the former High Hill Market Place. The building, built in 1948 as an apple-picking and cold-storage facility for Hill High Orchard, has been reimagined in recent years as Bogati Winery.

I visited recently on a warm September day to taste Bogati’s wines and enjoy lunch on the winery’s property.

Bogati winery is part of the family-owed Bogaty Wine Group that owns not one but three wineries in the northern Virginia area. Each winery having it’s own theme, Bogati is  Argentinean inspired and features an amazing, best-selling Malbec.

As I settled in with Chris, an area native, for my wine tasting, he shared with me how as a child he would visit the High Hill Orchard for apple bushels with his family. Full circle, and he now works at the winery in it’s place!

We then got down to business – I had a total of nine wines to taste!

The first four wines on the tasting menu were whites. It was quickly love-at-first-sip when I tried the B-Thin wine, a crisp wine with apple and pear notes, and found out an entire bottle comes in at only 350 calories (in comparison, most wine bottles are double this amount!). Not only was the wine delicious, but it’s a smart choice for anyone wanting to be health conscious but still enjoy wine beverages – I even took home a bottle!

Next up was the Seyval Blanc, another white with floral notes and melon and citrus highlights. The winery’s Viognier, the official state grape of Virginia, was a smooth wine with honeysuckle and pineapple fragrances.

The last of the whites was the Tango Blue which has a rich flavor with a hint of tropical fruit. This wine has 2% residual sugar, so is the sweetest of the whites at Bogati, but still was not overly sweet.

Then it was time for the reds – starting off with Collection I, a blend of five Bordeaux grape varieties that make for a rich finish and have woodsy scents. This wine smelled and tasted amazing!

The next wine had me laughing – the name? Fat Ass Red. Fat Ass Red is just that… a red that is bold and full of fat ass flavor. Hints of mocha and black cherry delight in this wine, and this was the wine I selected to have a glass of after my tasting.

Then it was time for the winery’s Malbec. Malbec is undoubtedly the wine that Argentina is most known for, so it came as no surprise that this is Bogati’s best selling wine. The Malbec had a velvety cherry finish with black pepper, making it a bit spicy. I loved the kick to this wine!

The tasting was rounded out with a creamy and silky Cabernet Franc, and I was given a sneak peak taste of the JB Ameritage, a club member wine that will be sold at the winery starting in October.

Bogati isn’t just limited to wine though – they have food on offer as well.

I dug into these handmade empanadas – a solid nod to the winery’s Argentinean theme – with chimichurri sauce and a BBQ chicken flat bread pizza (not pictured). During my tasting, I also paired the winery’s black raspberry and dark cocoa nib chocolate in between sips of my red samples. The food at the winery was really delicious and I’d highly recommend eating here if you come in for a tasting.

The winery hosts live music on Friday evenings and also offers the pizza at half price with any bottle purchase during that time.

Once my tasting was done, I sat down with my nibbles and a glass of the Fat Ass Red. Bogati has both indoor and outdoor seating – the doors (pictured above) in the indoor area are original from the refrigerator used in the 50s when the winery was an apple orchard!

Since it was a beautiful fall day outside, I made my way through the French doors just off the indoor area to the winery’s outdoor deck and terrace. This terrace is an ideal place to relax with a fire pit and prime position for sunset views.

Beyond the outdoor terrace, there’s a grassy area with picnic tables and pond that you can lay out on. I sat at one of the picnic tables and just enjoyed the pond’s scenery for a while.

Bogati’s wine and nibbles delighted my palette – and I hope they delight yours too.

Have you been to Bogati Winery? What’s your favorite winery?

More Information

• Location: 35246 Harry Byrd Highway, Round Hill, Virginia 20141
• Website: bogatibodega.com
• Hours: The winery is open 1-5PM Monday-Thursday, 12-9PM Friday, 12-7PM Saturday, and 12-5PM Sunday

Thank you to Bogati Winery for my wine tasting and food nibbles. All opinions, as always, are my own.