I’m really trying to go outside of my Southside comfort zone.

Brazen.

Recently, I ventured to City Center at Oyster Point in Newport News. I arrived with a date in tow. Despite the record-breaking heat (it was in the 90s that weekend), we were there for the 5th Annual Vineyards by the Fountain Wine Festival. Let’s face it. Unless there’s a monsoon, there really isn’t bad weather for a wine festival. If it’s hot, you just consume “a little” more wine to hydrate, which was exactly our plan.

As someone who had never been to City Center at Oyster Point, I found the location to be quite lovely for a wine festival. Even better, parking was a non-issue. While it did not have the bacchanal feel of the Town Point Wine Festival, there was a definite festive vibe in the air. There were groups sitting on the grass picnicking and tables filled with people dining. Vineyards by the Fountain had an appealing concept – offer wine from well-known wine regions and craft beers.

I received a wine tasting glass, while my date selected a beer tasting glass. We had a plan to maximize our tasting experience. The selection of wines available for tasting was ample with varieties from France, Australia, and California to name a few.

Here are some of the vineyards that had wines available for tasting:

• Clos du Bois (California)
• Brazin (California)
• Segura Viudas (Spain)
• Gloria Ferrer (California)
• J Vineyards (California)
• Trivento (Argentina)
• Bodegas Bai Gorri (Spain)
• Fat Bastard (France)
• Ruffino Santedame (Italy)
• Kangrilla Road Winery (Australia)

What I really appreciated was that wine purchases were separate from tasting. The folks manning the tasting booths were knowledgeable, but did not necessarily work for the vineyards whose wine they were pouring. This eliminated the salesman vibe that is rampant at other wine festivals.

Starr Hill.

Because of the heat–and much to my date’s chagrin–(I kept sending him out to get samples), we found ourselves situated closer to the beer garden. As a contrast to the wine, folks from the breweries were providing the beer samples. And they were passionate about their beer. Their enthusiasm was contagious. Despite being at a wine festival, this was my favorite part of the event.

Here are the beers that were available at the Beer Garden:

• Legend Brewing Company (Richmond, VA)
• Starr Hill Brewery (Charlottesville, VA)
• O’Connor Brewing Company (Norfolk, VA)
• Widmer Brothers Brewing Company (Portland, OR)
• Clipper City Brewing Company (Baltimore, MD)
• St. George Brewing Company (Hampton, VA)

To add to the wine tasting experience, there were several informative seminars that covered topics ranging from the differences in wine varieties and regions to how to read wine labels.

Omar’s Carriage House had noshes available for purchase. I picked up a crab cake sandwich which was a tasty accoutrement to the white wines I had been sampling. The crab cake was well-seasoned and was nicely broiled. If you wanted something lighter, Cabot Cheese was also offering samples of cheese and had cheese available for purchase. What’s a little wine without some cheese?

Even after consuming a crab cake sandwich, I quickly hit my limit for alcohol consumption. Darn heat! I “over-hydrated.” To avoid an embarrassing situation and/or a DUI, we made a graceful, early departure. Although we were at the festival for a short period of time, it was worth my trek from Virginia Beach. For the folks on the Southside who say there’s nothing to do on the Peninsula, this event is another reminder that there are plenty of reasons to cross the HRBT.