Nelson 151 in Nelson County Virginia
Just off Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Valley is the most fun County Road you’ll ever drive down. Nelson County Route 151 is a 30 mile stretch of road leading to 6 Wineries, 4 Breweries, 2 Cideries and a Distillery.
Known as Virginia’s weekend address, sampling the libations along Route 151 is a popular pastime for locals and tourists alike. I’ve established weekend residence on the route more times than I should probably tell you about.
The route combines breathtaking mountain views with great food, wine, craft beer, good music and fun and friendly people. Spring is an especially beautiful time to visit with an impossible number of flowering trees in bloom.
But what makes the Blue Ridge Mountains so special, is their year-round beauty. Even in the dead of winter, the mountains offer stunning views. Combine those views with lots of wine, booze, beer and food, and you end up with a perfect day.
This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn a small commission if you purchase something through the links, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nelson 151 Breweries
<a href="https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=5986&awinaffid=787649&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tripadvisor.com%2FHotels-g50239-Coshocton_Ohio-Hotels.html" target="_blank"></a>Blue Mountain Brewery
Since I seem to spend an awful lot of time writing about wine, I’m going to start our tour of Route 151 with the breweries. Heading south on Route 151 from I-64, the first brewery you’ll come upon is Blue Mountain Brewery.
Owners Taylor and Mandi Smack and Matt Nucci opened Blue Mountain Brewery in 2007, with a vision to bring the brewery experience out of the normal hustle and bustle of an urban environment. With a relaxed vibe and stunning view, Blue Mountain Brewery is a unique destination in the heart of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
Blue Mountain has 8-10 beers on the menu, along with local wines. They serve lunch and dinner and use locally grown ingredients from farms in Nelson County.
The outdoor patio is the best place to sit, to enjoy the mountains, entertainment and the memorable Blue Ridge sunsets. The outdoor seating area also has a pet friendly section, fire pits and cornhole.
The hops are planted just to the right of the outdoor seating area. In the spring, BMB invites volunteers to help string the hops (they grow vertically) and in the late summer, they invite volunteers to help with the harvest.
The brewery and restaurant are open Monday-Saturday, 11am to 10pm and Sundays from 11am to 9pm. The better the weather, the busier Blue Mountain will be so be prepared to wait for a table at peak lunch and dinner times.
Brewing Tree Beer Company
Next is Brewing Tree Beer Company, a new addition to the trail. They offer a core list of small batch brews including: Philinda Vienna Lager, Twice As Weiss Hefeweizen, Chapter 2 IPA and Sunshine Golden Ale.
They also have a rotating list of tasty in-house brews and collaboration offerings. Along with your beer, you can enjoy an ever changing menu of sandwiches and snacks from the kitchen. The menu changes weekly, so there’s always a reason to come back.
Outside, you can relax by the river with a beer or play, play soccer or even throw axes. Brewing Tree Beer Company is open Tuesday-Thursday from 3pm to 8pm; Friday and Saturda from 11am to 6pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm.
Wild Wolf Brewing Company
Toward the end of Nelson 151, you’ll find Wild Wolf Brewing Company. Wild Wolf has a beautiful, shaded biergarten that’s dog and kid friendly and even has a koi pond and toys for the kids.
The main building is a renovated 100 year old school house with ample indoor seating and a 4 season pavilion where you can eat and enjoy live music. Make sure to say hello to the chickens and ducks in the hopyard. The entirely chemical-free hopyard is just one aspect of the brewery’s continuing efforts to be sustainable.
In fact, they were named Virginia’s Green Brewery of the Year. Beers on tap include Blonde Hunny, a Belgian style blonde ale, Primal Instinct, an American IPA and Wolfinstein, an amped up stout that’s brewed just once a year.
Wild Wolf’s restaurant offers a full menu of lunch and dinner fare with locally sourced, “farm to fork” ingredients. Hours are Monday-Friday 11:30 AM to 10 PM, Saturday 11AM to 11PM and Sunday 11 AM to 10 PM.
Devil’s Backbone Basecamp Brewpub and Meadows
The last stop on route 151 is the largest brewery, Devil’s Backbone Basecamp Brewpub and Meadows. Part brewery, part campgrounds, part restaurant and part concert venue, Devil’s Backbone might be the ultimate weekend destination.
Like all the stops on the trail, the views of the Blue Ridge mountains from here are amazing. The 18th century surveying party inspired the name Devil’s Backbone after their grueling attempts to traverse the summit. They described the terrain as “twisted like the devil’s spine.
The grounds of the brewery give visitors plenty of opportunities to view the twisted terrain, with tons of outdoor tables, patios and firepits where you can sit, enjoy a beer and marvel at the view.
Devil’s Backbone serves a full menu of sandwiches, appetizers and entrees. This location is the pilot brewery where they craft their beer recipes on a traditional German designed 10 Hectoliter brewing system.
Try a pint from one of the 48 taps on the property in the beer garden, the outdoor bar or inside the restaurant.
Nelson 151 Cideries
Blue Toad Hard Cider and Bold Rock Hard Cider
There are two cideries on the trail, Bold Rock Hard Cider and Blue Toad Hard Cider. Bold Rock is my favorite, with its large, rustic cider house, known as “The Chapel of Apple.”
You can enjoy free tastings of their signature ciders- Virginia Apple and Virginia Draft and you can purchase tasting flights of the more than 8 different ciders and two seltzers- Cucumber Melon and Grapefruit.
They serve a full menu of snacks, salads and sandwiches which you can enjoy outside on the patio, overlooking the Rockfish River. Bold Rock is open 7 days per week from 11-8pm Sunday through Thursday and 11-9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Blue Toad Ciders is the next to the last stop on Nelson 151. It’s located in Roseland, VA, just before Devil’s Backbone Brewery.
Blue Toad Cider is crafted from a blend of apples grown in New York and Virginia. They serve 4 main ciders- Flower City Blonde, Blue Ridge Blonde, Roc Hard Amber and Black Cherry that range from dry to sweet.
They also have several seasonal varieties that feature fruit flavors like Orange Crush, Hawaii Toad OOH Pineapple and Blueberry.
The tasting room is located at the base of Wintergreen Mountain on High View Farms, with 180 degree views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, The tasting room is open Thursday through Sunday.
Nelson 151 Wineries
Afton Mountain Vineyards
And now for the wineries. There are 6 wineries on the trail as of this posting. The first, and my favorite, is Afton Mountain Vineyards. Afton is one of the oldest farm wineries in Virginia and has vines dating back to the ’70’s.
The vines are planted on the sunrise side of Afton Mountain, which protects them from frost and shields them from excessive rain. Damien Blanchon, the winemaker, studied viticulture in his native France and creates wine from grapes grown with sustainable and environmentally respectful practices.
Afton has a beautiful pavilion that can be reserved for picnics and private tastings, as well as a large, quaint tasting room surrounded by decks and patios. Chairs and tables are perched throughout the property, and all have magnificent views of the vineyards, pond and mountains.
The tasting room is open 7 days a week from 11:00- 5:30pm.
Veritas Vineyards
Close by is Veritas Vineyards, probably the most popular winery on the trail. Veritas Vineyards bottled their first wine in 2001, from grapes grown on a former horse farm.
They now produce more than 15 varieties of award-winning wines. Veritas has grown from a small tasting bar to include a large, open tasting room, a restaurant, a bed and breakfast and an event center.
They offer casual dining from 11:00-4:30 every day on The Terrace and serve 4 course wine paired dinners Tuesday through Saturday at The Farmhouse. There are other events, too, like concerts and special dinners.
Like all venues on Nelson 151, the views from the many decks, patios and gazebos are impressive.
The tasting room is open every day, from 9:30am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday and 11:00am to 5:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Tastings are $10 per person and include 6-10 different wines.
Flying Fox Vineyard and Winery
Flying Fox just opened a new, larger tasting room in a former industrial fiber mill. It’s run by the same family who owns Veritas, and focuses on dynamic and limited release wines for adventurous palates.
Cardinal Point Winery
Cardinal Point Winery has a quaintly casual tasting room off a winding, gravel road. The winery produces food-friendly wines and creative blends like Quattro, a blend of 4 white varieties and Union, a blend of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Tannet.
Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery
One of the more unique stops on the trail is Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery, a niche winery specializing in “true to the fruit” wines and meads.
Their wines are made from plums, berries, apples and peaches but are not blended with grapes. They also make handcrafted meads from honey.
A visit to Hill Top offers a different tasting experience for wine lovers that is part tasting and part history lesson. You’ll sample wines and meads similar to those enjoyed throughout history by kings, queens, Vikings and Celts and written about in Beowulf and in Shakespeare’s plays.
The tasting room is surrounded by pollinator gardens and hundreds of rose bushes. The farm is also home to a herd of Scottish Highland Cattle that roam the property.
Valley Road Vineyards
The newest winery on the trail is Valley Road Vineyards. Valley Road was started a few years ago by a group of friends. The tasting room, called “Sip,” is located in a renovated farmers’ market with a soapstone tasting counter and a large patio.
They are open 7 days per week and offer light picnic fare for purchase. You can also bring a picnic to enjoy on the patio with your wine. Like all stops on the trail, the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains are stunning.
Silverback Distillery
Our final stop on the trail is actually located toward the beginning, not far from Blue Mountain Brewery and is the lone distillery on the trail. Silverback Distillery is run by the only mother-daughter distilling combo in the country.
Silverback offers high quality, award-winning gin, vodka, whisky, rye and bourbon.
The tasting room is guarded by a large, stern-faced replica of a silverback gorilla. Once you’ve gotten a group pic with him, head inside for a selection of mini cocktails and a lot of laughs.
The staff is exceptionally friendly and the tasting room is always loud, busy and fun. They have food trucks on the weekends and a great patio to enjoy your tastings.
Unfortunately, the state of Virginia limits the amount of alcohol they can sell at 3 ounces per customer per day so bring a friend and share tastings to make sure you can sample each type of spirit.
With all it has to offer, Nelson 151 is a destination for locals and tourists alike, bachelorette parties, families and couples. If you want to visit each place on our list, you’ll need a few days to do it. There are even more wineries and breweries just off Nelson 151 that are just as delightful. I discover something new every time I visit and never get tired of the mountain views and southern hospitality. This stretch of road may be rural, but it is anything but boring.
For more information about each stop, visit www.nelson151.com