And it’s also a pretty great place to live.

Charlottesville* is “earning a reputation as one of America’s emerging wine destinations” …

Yep, we have quite a few vineyards and breweries, too. Did you know there’s a Charlottesville Beer Trail?

The Washington Post noticed earlier this year.

Charlottesville is certainly no microbrew capital like Portland, Ore., or Denver. But to its credit and beer aficionados’ pleasure, it has embraced making craft beers. The town and scenic surrounding areas boast four homegrown breweries and brew pubs (which, conveniently enough, are in the process of organizing an official Charlottesville beer trail), and these spots build on a local brewing history that stretches back more than 200 years.

Mike and I head out and hit the “trail” one early winter weekend. Our first stop? Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
…
Sunday morning seems like the perfect time to pop out to the vineyard-dotted countryside of Afton (about 20 minutes west of Charlottesville), where a brewery and tasting room called Blue Mountain Brewery has been competing for wine-country customers for a little more than a year.

*Whenever media does a story on “Charlottesville” they mean “Charlottesville and the County surrounding it, Albemarle County.”