Fox News Mulls Over Whether Wonder Woman Is ‘American’ Enough

As “Wonder Woman” garners stellar ratings and remains on track for a record-breaking opening weekend, a Fox News panel is conducting a deep dive into a critical matter: Is the Amazonian princess American enough?

Fox host Neil Cavuto noted on Friday to guest Dion Baia that “some” have been taking issue with the film’s alleged lack of patriotism — chiefly, that the superhero’s costume color scheme is too un-American. 

“Some are calling it less American, Dion, because, well, her outfit isn’t red, white, and blue, and, in order to appeal for foreign audiences, very little reference to America at all,” said the “Your World With Neil Cavuto” host.

“I think, nowadays, sadly, money trumps patriotism,” Baia replied. “Especially, recently, I personally feel like we’re not really very patriotic, the country, in a certain sense. And they want these movies to succeed internationally, you know, so they’re going to dial back.”

Fellow guest Mike Gunzelman lamented that he feels “it’s cool to hate America these days.”

Baia, for his part, said his comments have been misconstrued. “Taken outta context much?” he tweeted Saturday, referencing an Entertainment Weekly article that characterized him as being “upset” with the movie (probably because he used the word “sadly.”)

He maintained he was simply explaining why he believes the movie’s American patriotism was “toned down.”

But in any case, criticism of Gadot’s costume as not looking “American” is a little weak.

A red, blue and gold color combination is still fairly reminiscent of the American flag. Gold is often incorporated into patriotic decorations and accessories, and sometimes used in place of white.

The original comic and Lynda Carter’s iconic Wonder Woman costume from the 1970s TV series both included more gold than white.  

Yes, Gadot’s Wonder Woman is not wearing a bottom piece adorned with little white stars, but she is wearing a top with an emblem of an eagle, which is, you know, a major symbol for the United States.

Plus, the actual plot of the movie involves Wonder Woman teaming up with an American pilot to stop German forces, which makes equating it with “hating America” a bit of a stretch.

Whatever. There have been worse takes on the movie.

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Jack O’Neill, Founder Of Iconic Surf Brand, Dies At 94

Jack O’Neill, a pioneer in wetsuit technology and founder of the iconic California surf brand, died of natural causes Friday at the age of 94, the Orange County Register reported.

Friends of the Santa Cruz local confirmed his death to Monterey news station KSBW 8 on Friday.

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For those who don’t surf, O’Neill’s name is still recognizable as the popular surf brand with a wave-like logo seen on T-shirts, sweatshirts and board shorts, usually worn by anyone who can appreciate a beach-centered lifestyle. 

For those who do surf, however, O’Neill was an innovator of the sport and a true soul surfer. He was known as the eye patch-wearing pioneer (his eye was injured in a surfing accident) who created one of the first neoprene-based wetsuits, which allowed surfers to remain in cold water much longer, according to the O.C. Register.

While others have claimed to have invented the wetsuit, it is O’Neill who is widely credited with expanding surf culture into the colder coastal areas of the world.

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In 1952, O’Neill opened a small surf shop at Ocean Beach in San Francisco ― a first for the area ― and looked for ways to stay warm in Northern California’s chilly waters, San Francisco Gate reported. While working on the neoprene-based wetsuit, O’Neill moved his shop south to Santa Cruz.

“I thought that I’d have a little shop on the beach and some people to surf with. But I kept up on the neoprene wetsuit and I soon got letters from around the world ― people who were interested in staying warm in the water,” O’Neill said in a 2012 interview with surf news site Surfline.

“Nobody is more surprised than I am how it’s grown,” he said of his invention.

Surf brands and wetsuit makers still use neoprene. O’Neill, as a brand, has branched into men’s and women’s athletic wear, lifestyle clothing and swimsuits. In 1996, O’Neill, the surfer, founded the O’Neill Sea Odyssey, a youth program that teaches environmental and marine conservation.

In an interview with RedBull TV published in December, O’Neill revealed what he values most: “The three most important things in life are surf, surf and surf.”

O’Neill celebrated his 94th birthday on March 27. He died at home surrounded by family, according to KSBW 8.

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Hillary Clinton, ‘Sickened’ by Portland Stabbings, Says Hatred Shouldn’t Be Tolerated

The recent stabbings in Portland, Oregon, of three men who tried to intervene in an anti-Muslim attack left Hillary Clinton “just sickened,” she told a crowd of booksellers Thursday evening in New York City.

In a conversation at BookExpo 2017 with author Cheryl Strayed, the former presidential candidate condemned the stabbings, which left two of the men dead and one wounded after they confronted a passenger who spewed racist and Islamophobic epithets at two girls on a train.

I’m deeply troubled by that,” Clinton said, “and that’s not the only incident that we’ve seen where all of a sudden it appears that there are attitudes and feelings that are bursting through the veneer of civilization.”

Though she declined to use President Donald Trump’s name, Clinton argued that the rhetoric of the 2016 campaign deepened national divides and stoked resentments.

“What I saw in this election was a deliberate effort to blow the top off … to basically say, whatever feeling you have, whatever resentment, however angry you might be, get out there and express it. It’s OK to take it out on other people, verbally or physically, as we saw during the campaign,” she said. “That is incredibly dangerous. That is unleashing a level of vitriol and defensiveness, hatred, that I don’t think we should tolerate.”

Clinton, who was at BookExpo to promote an upcoming memoir, drew several chilling comparisons from her experiences as secretary of state, as a senator and as first lady to make her point. “I will tell you, it doesn’t take much to rip off the politeness and the accommodation that really keeps diverse peoples working and living together. You saw it in Bosnia …. You saw it in Rwanda. I’ve seen it in many other places, where political leaders, for their own purposes, their own power, greed, ideology, religion, whatever it might be, really light those flames.”

In response to reported outbreaks of hate speech and violence, as well as deepening partisan divides, Clinton urged Americans to vote and get involved.

I am hopeful, but I really think hope needs to be linked to a strategy for dealing with what we are facing,” she told the audience. “Some of it is very personal acts. [Kindness] is a much-overlooked attribute these days. Showing kindness, showing support for one another.”

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‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Will End With Another Cliffhanger

“Stranger Things” Season 2 is shaping up to be an Eleven out of 10.

Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin already told HuffPost that Season 2 of the breakout Netflix series is going to be better than Season 1, and now Gaten Matarazzo is here to hype fans up even more.

The actor is teaming up with Holiday Inn for their “Summer of Smiles” event, which, among other things, involves chocolate milk happy hours at participating hotels. One of Matarazzo’s most memorable scenes from “Stranger Things” is when his character Dustin discovers a stash of chocolate pudding in school, so chocolate milk happy hours seem right up his alley. 

While casually hanging out by a pool, the actor filled us in on what to expect in Season 2. (You can watch the interview in the video above.)

Ladies, gentlemen, Demogorgons, get ready for another cliffhanger.

Matarazzo said people can look forward to “a good amount of explanation that they’ve been looking for, but also there are some new stories coming in that you’re gonna want to hear about if there is a Season 3. Also, we got another cliffhanger in there for ya, so that’s gonna be exciting.”

The actor told HuffPost that the new season is action-packed, and you’ll learn more about the Upside Down.

But we can’t help but think, “What could the cliffhanger be? And what are the explanations we’re finally going to get?”

One revelation you probably shouldn’t count on is that Dustin is one of the test subjects like Eleven. Matarazzo told us that’s the craziest “Stranger Things” theory he’s heard so far … but he’s into it.

“Who doesn’t want to be like Eleven? Eleven’s awesome,” the actor said.

“Stranger Things” Season 2 is out Oct. 31.

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J.Lo Almost Lost It After This Colombian Girl’s ‘World Of Dance’ Performance

Jennifer Lopez was nearly moved to tears after watching an 11-year-old Latina’s performance during the premiere of “World of Dance” on Tuesday.

Diana Pombo was vying for a chance to compete in NBC’s new dance competition show, produced by Lopez. The young girl from Miami gave an emotional and impressive performance to Sia’s “Bird Set Free” that seemed to take Lopez by surprise. 

Nearly as soon as Diana finished dancing, Lopez asked her about her background. The preteen responded that her parents are from Colombia.

“Yes, you’ve got that Latin fire,” the Nuyorican judge said. “I can see it in you.”

“When you took your foot and looked at me backwards and wiped your forehead with your foot and looked like your face was going to cry, I …” Lopez continued, trying to piece together her thoughts. “No, it wasn’t just all the flexibility you had. It wasn’t all the strength you had. It was the passion that you put into every move.”

Fellow judges Ne-Yo and Derek Hough echoed Lopez’s sentiments. After their comments, Diana told the singer and dancer that she was her idol, and Lopez stood up to give her a hug.

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”Ms @jlo this moment is everything ❤️ You have given me a gift I will carry with me always!” Diana wrote in an Instagram caption on Wednesday, below a clip of her performance and their hug. 

Diana passed through to the next round with a score of 89.7 from the three judges, which means the Colombiana will get a chance to continue in the competition that gives dancers the opportunity to win $1 million.  

Watch Diana’s full performance in the clip above. 

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Kirsten Dunst On ‘Spider-Man’ Reboots: ‘We Made The Best Ones, So Who Cares?’

Kirsten Dunst has no time for revamped “Spider-Man” films.

The actress starred in a “Spider-Man” trilogy opposite Tobey Maguire in the early aughts and recently spoke out about her distaste for the recent reboots of the franchise.

And, truly, who can blame her? She was a fantastic Mary Jane Watson. 

In the July issue of UK’s Marie Claire, the star of the upcoming remake “The Beguiled” said the “Spider-Man” franchise she starred in was the “best.”

When asked for her opinion on the Spider-Man reboot, she was also pretty unequivocal. ‘We made the best ones, so who cares? I’m like, “You make it all you want.” They’re just milking that cow for money. It’s so obvious. You know what I mean?’

Dunst likely isn’t wrong about studios “milking that cow.”

Maguire and Dunst’s “Spider-Man” brought in a whopping $821.7 million worldwide and 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man,” starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, earned $757.9 million. That’s not exactly chump change. 

Dunst also told Variety in a recent interview that she’d “rather be in the first ones than the new ones,” which we’re not sure we totally agree with considering the the upcoming “Spider-Man: Homecoming” includes the likes of Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Michael Keaton and Donald Glover.

Regardless, Dunst’s latest film has her kissing Colin Farrell, which sounds fine to us.

So, yeah, let the “Spider-Man” reboots do their thing, Kirsten. You’re doing OK without them.

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Mom Takes Joy-Filled Photos Of Son Who Likes To Wear Dresses

Crystal Kells has always loved documenting her son, Cian, as he grows up. The Canadian photographer takes pictures of her 5-year-old going through day-to-day life with his signature joy and confidence.

“My son is the light of my life,” Kells told HuffPost. “He has made me become a better person. He has taught me to love myself and others more. He is one of the happiest people I have had the pleasure of meeting in my entire life. He lights up a room with his personality and the joy he brings to others.”

When he was 4, Cian started wearing dresses and has enjoyed being creative with his wardrobe throughout the past year. The little boy also likes wearing capes and playing superheroes. He’s a fan of Iron Man, “Paw Patrol,” going on hikes, playing cars and getting his hair cut short.

“He’s my rough and tumble boy who loves to wrestle with his daddy and is my sweet caring boy who loves to play princess,” said Kells. 

Kells, who lives in Hamilton, Ontario, shared her photos and son’s story in a blog post on BoredPanda. “My husband and I are raising him without gender stereotypes,” she wrote, explaining that the fact that her son is a boy does not dictate the clothes he wears or toys he plays with. 

“He doesn’t use his penis to be able to wear a dress, nor does he use his penis to operate the dolls and cars he plays with,” she added. 

The mom told HuffPost she wrote the blog post to share Cian’s philosophy with the world: “Be yourself. Be happy. Be confident. Love yourself.”

Kells and her son have yet to face any in-person confrontations from strangers for his choice of attire. “We do get stares, glares, head shaking and snickers, but for the most part, it’s been quite positive,” she explained. “Cian never notices, and I don’t think he’d care anyway. I hold my head high and smile at them.”

The response online has been a different story, but Kells said she uses it as an opportunity to have discussions with people and raise awareness around the issues of gender stereotypes in parenting. 

Ultimately, she believes the impact of her family’s story outweighs the occasional negative comment online.

”I had a local mom reach out to me and tell me that she and her sons had seen Cian and I at our local Walmart,” the photographer recalled. “Her sons had asked her about Cian and him wearing a dress, so she took the opportunity to teach her children how we are all different and how it should be OK for boys to like ‘girl things’ and girls to like ‘boy things.’”

One of the woman’s sons “just lit up” at this lesson, Kells added. “A few days later, he announced his favorite color was pink and was excited to get a toy that was considered for girls. Both boys have since found confidence and joy.”

This kind of positive impact brings the family joy.  

Said Kells, “It’s for things like this that I write and I share our story.”

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Mayor Of Austin Responds Perfectly To Letter About ‘Sexist’ Women-Only Screenings

Last week, men got real mad when the Alamo Drafthouse, a movie theater in Austin, Texas, offered a women-only screening of the upcoming “Wonder Woman” film.

One of these men is Richard Ameduri, a man who took the time to write to the mayor of Austin, Steve Adler, expressing his disdain for the “sexist” screening.

In his letter, which Mayor Adler posted on his website, Ameduri threatens to boycott Austin if there is not a counter, men-only screening. He also labels women “the second rate gender” and asks Mayor Adler if he can “name something invented by a woman.”

Below is Ameduri’s email in full:

I hope every man will boycott Austin and do what he can to diminish Austin and to cause damage to the city’s image.

The theater that pandered to the sexism typical of women will, I hope, regret it’s decision. The notion of a woman hero is a fine example of women’s eagerness to accept the appearance of achievement without actual achievement.

Women learn from an early age to value make-up, that it’s OK to pretend that you are greater than you actually are. Women pretend they do not know that only men serve in combat because they are content to have an easier ride. Women gladly accept gold medals at the Olympics for coming in 10th and competing only against the second class of athletes.

Name something invented by a woman! Achievements by the second rate gender pale in comparison to virtually everything great in human history was accomplished by men, not women.

If Austin does not host a men only counter event, I will never visit Austin and will welcome it’s deteriorati on. And I will not forget that Austin is best known for Charles Whitman. Does Austin stand for gender equality or for kissing up to women?

Don’t bother to respond. I already know the answer. I do not hate women. I hate their rampant hypocrisy and the hypocrisy of the ‘women’s movement.’ Women do not want gender equality; they want more for women. Don’t bother to respond because I am sure your cowardice will generate nothing worth reading.

– Richard A. Ameduri

Despite Ameduri’s request that the mayor not “bother to respond,” Adler did in fact write back. On May 26, the mayor posted his response online in full: 

Dear Mr. Ameduri,

I am writing to alert you that your email account has been hacked by an unfortunate and unusually hostile individual. Please remedy your account’s security right away, lest this person’s uninformed and sexist rantings give you a bad name. After all, we men have to look out for each other!

Can you imagine if someone thought that you didn’t know women could serve in our combat units now without exclusion? What if someone thought you didn’t know that women invented medical syringes, life rafts, fire escapes, central and solar heating, a war-time communications system for radio-controlling torpedoes that laid the technological foundations for everything from Wi-Fi to GPS, and beer? And I hesitate to imagine how embarrassed you’d be if someone thought you were upset that a private business was realizing a business opportunity by reserving one screening this weekend for women to see a superhero movie.

You and I are serious men of substance with little time for the delicate sensitivities displayed by the pitiful creature who maligned your good name and sterling character by writing that abysmal email. I trust the news that your email account has been hacked does not cause you undue alarm and wish you well in securing your account. And in the future, should your travels take you to Austin, please know that everyone is welcome here, even people like those who wrote that email whose views are an embarrassment to modernity, decency, and common sense.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Adler

 On May 31, Alyssa Vidales, a resident of Austin, posted screenshots of both letters on Twitter.

The post picked up steam, receiving more than 12,000 likes and 7,000 retweets. Mayor Adler also received enthusiastic praise for his response.

Keep fighting the good fight, Adler!

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Our Data Could Be The Biggest Monopoly Ever

Imagine a commodity that immediately creates an unstoppable, ridiculously lucrative industry force that invades every aspect of our socio-economic infrastructure. If I asked you this in 1920 at a corner speakeasy, you’d tell me that oil was the product in question. Fast-forward nearly a century, and we’ve seen the very same degree of monopolistic dominance brought about by an entirely different good – the privatized data of others.

Just as Rockefeller’s horizontally-integrated empire controlled the refinery of 90% of the oil sold in the US, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have continued to shock the world with egregious profits and a very similar stranglehold on the data of internet users. Whether or not you support the direction of these enterprises, one thing is for certain: your data has become the oil of the internet age, and it’s revolutionizing the way we perceive technology, economics, and social good.

I think what many of us gloss over is the sheer amount of profitable data that each of us creates on a daily basis. The music you listen to, videos you watch, articles you read, feeds you scroll through, and links you click generate terabytes of data per second, all the while producing billions of dollars. This data sharpens the ever-present edge of machine learning clusters that know you better than yourself. They know what you’re buying next and where you’re going before you grab your keys. Now, something to understand is that this isn’t all bad or as horrifying as it may seem. In fact, many of the products and services that have changed our lives for the better are constantly made improved by this infinite stream of data. Companies are provided with endless metrics that help to elevate their products. Tesla’s autopilot software becomes smarter with every mile driven, and your Facebook newsfeed curates itself with every second of screen-time.

So you get it; a shit ton of people know everything about you and there’s nothing you can do about it. So what? Well, all of this draws attention to the underlying issue of competition. Our data has made five or six companies so much money that they throw hundreds of millions at others in “shoot-out acquisitions” that eliminate potential rivals by swallowing their technology. Instead of encouraging the push for the bigger and better, we’ve devolved into stagnated creators that build something half decent to get acquired by a tech-titan that only cares to exercise your influence from the free market. Now, we can’t just break up these companies. That would be stupid because our data is webbed. It exists in every corner of the internet, and shutting down one server only makes the hard-drive of another much bigger.

What’s required is transparency. By forcing these conglomerates to reveal what information they use and the paychecks they receive because of it, we can create a shared data economy, where data is used in a much more public measure. Demanding shared access to certain types of data could greatly level the playing field, so that anyone can make a great product by having the same rights to data as a select few.

Now you may be asking yourself, isn’t that a huge security concern? And to that I’d say, ask yourself: is it better to have your data controlled by six companies that shield you from its contents, purpose, or selling price, or to build a shared community of information with restrictions and equality for all at an incredible premium?

We are talking about the internet, a tool built with the fundamental goal to encourage the global spread of information without constraints, and here we are disregarded from its most important application. It’s a scary thought, but without discussion and discourse we’ll get nowhere. It is our responsibility as internet users to control the flow of the information we create, and ensure its ethical use and equitable distribution.

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What Winemakers Want You To Know About Virginia’s Wine Renaissance

I arrive in Charlottesville before noon on a pristine spring day, the rolling green hills a far cry from where I started my morning, before sunrise in an Uber to JFK. I’m here to learn about Virginia’s unique wine culture. My first guide is Gabriele Rausse, an old school Italian winemaker known as the father of Virginia’s modern wine renaissance.

My image of an intimidating wine expert evaporates upon meeting Rausse. With a laidback demeanor that is standard fare around here, Rausse offers to take me on a tour of the surrounding vineyards, and soon we are cruising along winding country roads in his 1979 Mercedes. Rausse begins to unfurl Virginia’s wine history. From the canopy of sun-dappled maples to the rolling hills dotted with vineyards, I am struck by the lushness of Virginia’s countryside.

Vintage Roots

Like most American success stories, Virginia has had to crush a variety of obstacles on its 400 year path to becoming a respected winemaking region. In the early 1600s, the first colonists tried to cultivate the area’s native vines to produce a cash crop, but ongoing attempts were thwarted by the region’s diverse climate.

By the 1770s, European winemakers were commissioned to try their luck with planting the European Vitis vinifera outside of Williamsburg, but even the experts couldn’t achieve a successful harvest. Construction began at Monticello, and along with Jefferson’s grand vision for a mountaintop estate, the founding father ensured that wine would always have a legacy in Virginia.

Rausse and I head back to Monticello to walk around the grounds where Jefferson planted 330 varieties of fruits and vegetables, along with two vineyards in which he planted 24 varieties of grapes sloping down the mountainside. Jefferson’s original crops didn’t survive, but he continued to establish wine as an important part of Virginia’s culture by importing more than 400 bottles from Europe a year to serve at Monticello’s famous dinner parties. He even installed dumbwaiters from the wine cellar to the dining room to keep the vino flowing without interruption.

Modern Revival

Rausse and I stop to admire the tight green clusters of grapes now flourishing in Jefferson’s original vineyard. Overseeing Monticello’s grounds and gardens for the past 22 years, Rausse has brought Jefferson’s dream to fruition by restoring the vineyards with several of the original vine varieties that Jefferson planted back in 1807. Several vintages produced from these grapes are now sold in Monticello’s Museum Shop, including a crisp Chardonnay and Bordeaux-style blends.

We pause to take in the spectacular panoramic view of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Mountains that unfurl beyond Jefferson’s vineyards, where 30 wineries welcome guests along the Monticello Wine Trail.  All these wineries are located within 25 miles of Charlottesville, making this a great destination for wine lovers to enjoy tastings, wine festivals, live music, or just soak in the beauty of the Virginia’s countryside.

Jefferson laid roots for winemaking in Virginia, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that Virginia’s winemaking really took off. Looking to expand internationally, Italian winemaker Gianni Zonin bought a parcel of land outside of Charlottesville, taking a risk on a region where many had failed. He sent his vineyard manager, Gabriele Rausse, to find a fresh solution to get the wine flowing in Virginia.

Upon arriving in Virginia in 1976, Rausse was up against a healthy dose of skepticism from locals, who assured him that pinot noir could not be grown in Charlottesville. But these challenges invigorated him: “Before I came, I checked the climate of Charlottesville, and it was exactly the same climate of my town in Italy. So I said, why shouldn’t it grow here?”

Over the next six years, Rausse cultivated the fields of what is now Barboursville Vineyards, becoming the first vintner to successfully plant Vitis vinifera in the region. And in the spirit of generosity that Virginia seems to cultivate, Rausse shared his trade secrets with other local vintners. The number of wineries in Virginia steadily grew from a handful in 1980 to more than 300 today.

Like all great winemakers, Rausse let the land guide him. He realized that the grafting process had to be perfect to survive the region’s drastic seasonal changes. And when it comes to climate, Rausse tells me that “Virginia does whatever she wants.” While growers in California can rely on a mostly stable climate with temperate growing conditions, in Virginia, “there’s no year that the climate is the same.”

This is how underdog stories go. Every time the climate or seasonal variation throws a new challenge at Virginia’s winemakers, they adapt, and it’s this spirit of innovation that has allowed Virginian viticulture to thrive. With a harvest season that runs according to Mother Nature’s whims, the result is constant experimentation. For wine lovers, that means discovering a new and unique flavor profile with every visit to Virginia’s wineries.

History Preserved and Perfected

I say goodbye to Rausse at Monticello and make the 40-minute drive to Barboursville Vineyards, often credited as Virginia’s top winery. A quick rain shower en route leaves a pleasant earthiness in the air and the sun re-emerges to confirm the tranquility of Charlottesville. Even the highways here feel steeped in nature, reminding this longtime city dweller of the simple pleasure of cruising along a beautiful country road.

I pull into Barboursville and am struck by the size of the vineyard, a sea of rolling green hills and orderly rows of trellises stretching farther than the eye can see. It feels like a respite from the real world.  

Luca Paschina, general manager and winemaker at Barboursville, has offered to show me around. Like Rausse, Paschina comes from a family of Italian winemakers, and made his way to Virginia in 1990 to run Barboursville.

I climb into Paschina’s SUV and we make our way along sloping hillsides covered in neat rows of vines. Paschina tells me about the 18 varieties of grapes they have planted, and how even small changes in the slope can lead to hugely different yields. In his 17 years at the helm of Barboursville, he has grown the vineyard from 45 acres to almost 200, and launched a tasting room and restaurant that welcomes 80,000 visitors per year. Paschina is particularly excited about the burgeoning interest in aged red wines in Virginia, and the tasting room features a large collection of older vintages, offering yet another draw for wine connoisseurs.

The vineyard’s bestselling wine is called Octagon, a harmonious blend of Bordeaux, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot with a smooth-bodied finish. The wine is enhanced by its historical connections, with the name Octagon chosen in honor of the octagonal shaped dining room of James Barbour’s mansion, whose ruins flank the inn on the Barboursville property. Designed by Jefferson, the mansion burned to the ground in 1884.

Winemakers are preservationists, and Zonin has instituted an ongoing restoration process to shore up the crumbling ruins from further disrepair. With their stately brick remains coexisting peacefully with the bucolic countryside, the ruins are a sight to behold, and yet another reason to add Barboursville to your next wine tour itinerary.

I am staying the night at the 1804 Inn, adjacent to the ruins and built a century before. I’ve got the Vineyard Cottage all to myself, and the quaint 18th century dwelling is perfect for travelers seeking tranquility and privacy. I take a stroll to the ruins before turning in for the night, thinking that Jefferson would be pleased at how things turned out around here.

Laidback Luxury

The next morning I drive back toward Monticello, where I am meeting Kirsty Harmon, winemaker and manager at Blenheim Vineyards. Whereas Barboursville is steeped in history, Blenheim takes a more casual and contemporary approach to wines. “The nice thing about Virginia wineries is that every single place you go is going to be radically different than the next,” said Harmon. Visitors to Blenheim are encouraged to bring the whole family to enjoy music festivals, food trucks, and tastings at the 30-acre vineyard.

Blenheim is owned by musician Dave Matthews, who designs new bottle labels every year. Harmon says that some visitors come because of Dave Matthews, and learn a bit about wine in the process, and some come for the wine and learn about the Dave Matthews connection.

The vibe at Blenheim may be laid back, but its wines are rooted in Harmon’s deep scientific knowledge of winemaking. As one of only 20 or so female winemakers in Virginia, Harmon got her footing in the industry when she met Gabriele Rausse, who became her mentor. She’s been running Blenheim since 2008, and in that time has seen a huge increase in wine tourism. Blenheim welcomes 45,000 visitors a year for tastings.

True to her vineyard’s laid back vibe, Harmon creates wines that are fruit forward and approachable, meant for everyday drinking: “We try to present wine in an approachable but laid back way. Wine can get very intimidating and stuffy, but it doesn’t have to be that.”

My wine journey is nearing its end. I’ve learned firsthand that a spirit of generosity is as much a part of the winemaker’s job as a deeply ingrained knowledge of the land, from its history to its soil composition. Jefferson runs deep around here.

But the wineries of Virginia aren’t just bringing Jefferson’s dreams full circle; they’re also taking Virginia’s wine culture into bold new territory, where laid back and luxurious can coexist, making Charlottesville the perfect weekend destination for both newcomers and wine aficionados alike.

Experience the rich flavors of Virginia’s wines for yourself. Check out Virginia Tourism for a guide to the best wineries around the state and plan your next trip to relax in the laid back luxury of Virginia’s beautiful vineyards. Because Virginia is for wine lovers!

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