Philip Carter Winery

Address:	4366 Stillhouse Rd, Hume, VA 22639, USA
Phone:	+1 540-364-1203
Site:	pcwinery.com
Rating:	3.8
Working:	11AM–6PM 11AM–6PM 11AM–6PM 11AM–6PM 11AM–6PM 11AM–7PM 11AM–6PM

Location

Photos 98

Reviews 7

Daniel Burton

Phillip Carter winery is nestled in the foothills of northern Virginia. Like many of its peers, it is a small, and relatively new winery/vineyard hoping to capitalize on Virginias rapidly expanding wine industry. Our visit to Phillip Carter was thanks to a living social deal that afforded a tasting, tour and snack basket. The winery and tasting room are basically sitting on top of one of the many hills in the area. This works out well because on a day with good visibility there would be a nice view of the surrounding area. The building is split between a purpose-built tasting and sitting room, and the winery itself. The "sitting" room has a nice wood-burning fireplace, enjoyable artwork on the walls and ample windows so that people can enjoy the view. My one complaint here is that more could be done to make this a cozier and more intimate space. Specifically, aside from directly next to the fireplace, the rest of the furniture in the room is basically fold-out tables and chairs. Replacing this with more comfortable furniture and working on the acoustics in the room would go a long way towards making me want to stay longer. The other half of the building has the wine-making apparatus and cellar storage. If you do the tour, you will get to taste the wines in a small room upstairs. The tour was pretty standard; the guide was knowledgeable about the history and operations of the winery. In terms of the wine, I would say they are average to good. In my own experience, Virginia wines are generally very similar from winery to winery; they tend to have better whites than reds, and are usually on the sweet side. My favorite offering from Phillip Carter was their chardonnay. If you look around the tasting/sitting room previously described, youll see that their chardonnay has won some awards. I would describe it as crisp and refreshing, without having an overly high sugar content. Overall, if you havent been, I would recommend that you visit this winery. I believe they will only improve as they continue to develop their operations and their brand.

kimisha robinson

Wow, where do I begin? After driving for an 1 hour and 30 minute from D.C., I expected to have the experience of a lifetime. To my surprise, my 1 hour tour would be dwindled into an 35-45 minute excursion. The tour was short lived when the tour guide took my party from the front door to the side of building where the tour ended. In his presentation he repeatedly said "to fast forward" as if we were in some sort of an rush. Thereafter, we were expeditiously whisked away into a private room for the wine tasting. Later joined by an couple who ironically was of the same ethnic minority group. In conclusion of the experience, we were directed to go to the front desk where we would received our baskets and to purchase wine. Here is where we witness a wine tasting that had none of our minority group present. In each basket there were to be a blanket for each person along with other ammintities. When asking " Where are rest of our blankets?" we were told to share one per two persons. Upon purchasing wine, a member of my party wanted to purchase a specialty wine. Her attempt was in vein when she was told "Only members can purchase this wine". She was never offered membership. In conclusion, I tried to make the best of my experience since I took the drive. Although I felt a sense of prejudice and hurry. It saddens me that I couldnt give a good review to my co-workers, family, and friends who knew of me embarking on the journey to the winery.

G.B. Brannon

A Great Winery Experience I have visited dozens of area wineries and this was one of the best experiences I have had. We had a group of seven who was greeted and served by the owners father. He was so gracious and fun. We tasted a wide variety of wines, and all though they were out of some, our group fell in love with those we tried. We ended up splitting cases and then some and especially liked the 2006 Falconwood. Following our tasting, we just had to stay a bit longer. The outdoor patio was so inviting and there was live music. We had a couple of bottles while relaxing in the spring sun and enjoying the scenery. The photographers in our group loved all of the picturesque details and had a ball roaming the grounds. Before we finally pulled ourselves away to the next location, the wine maker came out to greet us and personally put our case into our truck for us. Hes arguable the youngest wine maker in the state, but after our tasting and experience, wed say he has a bright future ahead. As we left, we were invited back by the owners father which made us feel like family. I think its safe to say, well be back and be sure to recommend it to others. Thanks for a wonderful experience.

Heidi G

HUGE Disappointment! Wine and Oyster Festival 2014, after calls to winery to verify that all would go rain or shine and what was included in the cost of the festival. There was not much effort made to accommodate visitors. I was told three times that tastings were included and was led to believe that the meal would be abundant, once we arrived the tastings were at a fee and the one ticket for oysters were far from abundant. I asked questions about the tastings and oysters to staff and got the "deer in the headlights" look! I called later to let Philip Carter Winery know of my disappointment and how I was misled, to only receive alot of excuses, a promise for a call back to refund half of our fees and now to be blown off. WOW! We will not return after this treatment, not much knowledge of taking care of your customers or business.

Karisa Daniels

We had a lovely time at Philip Carter! The winery is tucked away in the middle of beautiful Virginia countryside. Dan was our pourer and he was so fun! I highly recommend chatting with him. Hes knowledgable and very honest, which is refreshing to find in a wine pourer. The wine itself is some of the better wine weve found in Virginia. The whites are definitely on the sweeter side, but definitely would pair well with a cheese plate. Their reds are very Cab Franc heavy as that grows well in VA, and so thats an interesting change compared to the Cab Sauv heavy reds from California. Looked like they did tours and had live music, but we were there too early for any of that. Nice place thatd Id definitely go back to.

Courtney Melia

My boyfriend and I planned a new years trip to front royal to hike and do wine tastings. The only reason we gave this winery 2 stars was because he wine was pretty good. We have been to at least 30 vineyards in Virginia and this was by far the worst experience. We arrived at the tasting room and the woman who was doing our tasting came out to the tasting bar while she was on her phone and said to us, "what do you want?" She then rushed through each of the wines, mumbled their descriptions, and did not look at either myself or my boyfriend. She was texting in between our different wine samples. We were very disappointed by the experience since the wines were good. We probably will not go back.

Allen McDonald

What a beautiful place in the rolling hills of Virginia. We took the tour and wine tasting and then relaxed and had some wine and cheese. We were the first tour of the day and after the second tour came in the place was packed. We were there on a Sunday and there was a church service that started just as we started our tour. Our tour guide was James and he went through the history of wine in colonial Virginia and how the Winery was tied from Robert "King" Carter all the way to Philip Carter. I had forgotten it was Robert and looked it up on Wikipedia and found out that Robert "King" Carter was the maternal great-great grandfather of Robert E. Lee.