The John Marshall Tasting Experience at Oak Hill Estate

My fiancé and I love wine. We go to Virginia wineries often and have tasted some amazing wines. None of them compared to what we had at Oak Hill.
The tasting is in a very historical building and everyone who works there knows the history and will be glad to tell it to you.
There are different levels of tastings that you can do, ranging from $ 29 to $ 79. We both opted for the $ 79 tasting, which featured some higher end wines.
I got the reds, he got the whites, and we switched off. Every wine is expertly paired with food that would really bring out the flavors of the wine. We were advised to taste the wine, take a bite of food and taste the wine again, noting how the flavors changed. It was pretty amazing!
The wines that we were tasting were in the $ 90something to $ 100ish range. I must say, there is certainly a difference between a $ 20 bottle of wine and these wines, and you’ll be able to taste it, no matter how unsophisticated your palate might be.
I greatly enjoyed myself here! The staff was wonderful and the wines that were chosen really were out of this world.

Pairing food with wine? There is never anything wrong with that in my book. And the JMTE is specifically designed to challenge your tastes buds and present to you the dramatic influence wine has on the flavors of food (and vice versa). And the fact that you’re doing all this in John Marshall’s (look him up if you don’t know who he is) house is a nice attraction point for the history buff.
With several tasting options to go for, ranging from the Supremes (higher-​end wines) to the Appellates (more local and casual wines), you can find an experience that matches your tastes and your wallet can afford. But each flight comes with an opening sparking wine, four wines from their pre-​selected tasting list, and then a nice madeira to finish it all off. With the four wines come four bites of food that are specially chosen to complement the wine. And you can definitely tell that care was put into pairing each little bite as it was truly amazing how different each bite can taste depending on its interaction with the wine.
Overall, a very nice experience. But be prepared, this tasting experience is far pricier than ones you would experience on your typical wine-​tasting tour around the local vineyards. If something different is what you’re looking for though, then the John Marshall Tasting Experience is right up your alley.

My mom, brother and I went on Mother’s Day 2013. The winery at Oak Hill Estate was packed with families on the lawn and also in and around the winery. We took a wrong turn and ended up there but the tasting experience is on the other side of the property (thank goodness! we wanted a more quiet setting). The John Marshall house was not anywhere near as packed as the winery was.
There was a valet. You walk around the building and enter — you are greeted by someone who walks you to your table — we were on the 2^nd floor. It is a typical old house that was converted into a «venue», I guess you could call it, for these tasting experiences. You have 4 selections to chose from based on price — $ 29, $ 39, $ 59 and $ 79. We ordered the $ 29, $ 39 and $ 59 selections. Each selection comes with 4 different wines and 4 different food selections to pair with each wine. The food comes in a dish that is divided into 4 sections. Each section has food to eat with your wine pairing (its a couple bites of food — don’t come extremely hungry but the wine «tastings» are generous in their pours). In the beginning you can either chose still or sparkling water. You also receive complimentary bread sticks and sesame seed crackers (seems to be house made crackers — they were pretty awesome, we asked for seconds.) You get a prosecco wine with fresh blueberries on the side before your wine and foods and a desert wine with a couple pieces of a tangerine and a chocolate covered raisin (or craisin or whatever it was) at the end. The $ 59 was OK (says my mom, I didn’t try any of hers), the $ 39 was pretty good and the $ 29 was actually pretty good as well. If this is your first time, I would recommend the $ 29 or $ 39 selections.
We all got a little tipsy, had great conversation and overall a great time there. We weren’t rushed, we were left alone but not for too long without asking if there was anything we needed. We are not wine connoisseurs — just wanted to experience something different, and we did! The server (along with everyone else there) was very friendly, informative and helpful. Once we were finished, we stepped out back and took pictures with the back drop of mountains. The pictures turned out awesome! It was a very enjoyable Mother’s Day. As the previous poster mentioned, they are having date nights on Saturdays for $ 50 and I would definitely consider going back for that!