Virginia among top 5 US wine states with almost US$1b in sales

London

VIRGINIA has become one of the top five viticultural states in the US through its growing number of wine-making operations, generating annual sales of close to US$1 billion from around 275 wineries clustered around Monticello and Middleburg, according to state officials visiting London on a trade mission.

Tourism is rising, with 1.6 million visitors to wineries in the state last year, and 2016 marks the 40th anniversary of the Italian winemaker Casa Vinicola Zonin SpA's investment in Virginia's Barboursville Vineyard, which it acquired in 1976, the bicentennial of the revolution.