Last week brought the opening of the much-anticipated The City Foxes wine bar and market in downtown Waynesboro, VA. If you’re familiar with Waynesboro, you’re probably aware that while more businesses are moving into the many empty spaces downtown, the stretch still remains largely abandoned and honestly, not always well-maintained. New businesses to the city hope to turn that around and are working with those already in the area to do so.
The City Foxes is anticipated because it is the only venue of its kind in the small city and because unlike some other wine bars in central Virignia and the Shenandoah Valley, it exclusivly carries Virginia wine. I honestly didn’t realize how unique this is until very recently an out of town visitor in search of a quick intro to Virginia wine pointed out most of the wine bars she could find in Charlottesville don’t carry any. I quickly thought about it and realized she was right.
At City Foxes, you can currently choose between three flights – a mixed flight, white flight, and a red flight. They also currently have 13 wines for sale by the bottle and glass and two ciders by the glass or bottle. There are also two beer options.
Four of us Black Women Who Wine went to check City Foxes out on its opening day. We went near opening at 4 p.m. and were glad to do so because a line quickly formed, though it didn’t get too crowded while there. We all go the mixed flight which includes Thibaut-Janisson Blanc de Chardonnay, Ox-Eye Riesling, Lightwell Survey Strange Collapse, and Barren Ridge Red Barren. I had the riesling and Barren Ridge Red Barren before, but the Lightwell Survey Strange Collapse and Thibaut-Janisson Blanc de Chardonnay were new to me. I loved both, but am so intrigued by Thibaut-Janisson. I’d heard of it before, but never tried any of their wines. Grapes are sourced from the Monticello AVA, but the wines are produced in Waynesboro. The Blanc de Chardonnay was divine, with notes of apples and peaches. It definitely ranks up there with the best Virginia sparkling wines I’ve tried and I’ll be going back to get bottles.
Aside from wine, the market portion of City Foxes also has local-made art, snacks, and small gifts for sale.
Overall, this is a great addition to Waynesboro’s offerings and I’m sure it will get plenty of visitors and attention from out of town.