Loudoun celebrates the 40th anniversary of its wine industry this year. With perfect timing, USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice place Loudoun as number 4 on the Best Wine Region in the 2024 USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice competition. Click here to view the of the rankings.
In the meantime, these are 10 reasons to love DC’s Wine Country®.
Award-winning Vintages
Since The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards won Loudoun’s first Virginia Governor’s Cup for the best wine in Virginia in 2017, two other Loudoun wineries – 868 Estate Vineyards and Cana Vineyards - have received the award. At the 2024 Virginia Governor’s Cup no less than 27 Loudoun wines from 16 wineries won gold, dominating the scene.
Wineries with a View
You get more than fine wines at Loudoun wineries; you get spectacular vistas. Located 951 feet above sea level on the slopes of the Blue Ridge, Bluemont Vineyard offers spectacular views of the lush Piedmont from its expansive deck, while stunning Breaux Vineyards and Hillsborough Winery, Brewery & Vineyard outside Hillsboro have sweeping vistas of mountains, valleys and vines from their tasting rooms.
Pure Convenience
With Dulles International Airport located in southeast Loudoun, it means you can arrive from pretty much anywhere in the world and be sipping Loudoun wine within an hour of landing. The county is also only 25 miles from Washington DC. If you don’t feel like driving out to visit, the Metro Silver Line has three stops in Loudoun.
Historic Towns
Loudoun’s wine industry may be only 40 years old but some of the towns and villages of wine country date back centuries. Waterford, founded by Quakers in 1733, is surrounded by vineyards, while Middleburg has almost half a dozen located within minutes of the town’s main street, home to great shops and restaurants. County seat Leesburg, founded in 1758, is home to wine and cocktail bars as well as the tasting room of October One Vineyard. It’s also the launchpad for wineries located off Route 15 including veteran-owned Bleu Frog Vineyards.
The Extraordinary Variety
Loudoun is not yet known for one grape or style of wine but its limestone soils, well-drained slopes and unpredictable climate mean local winemakers constantly innovate and experiment. As a result, a tasting tour of the county can be a trip around the world, trying everything from Austrian Grüner Veltliner to French-style Bordeaux, Italian Nebbiolo, Argentinean Malbec and much more, all within a few miles.
Unique Experiences
There’s more to a Loudoun winery visit than tasting great wines. Experiences include educational classes, grape stomping, food pairings, live bands and music festivals, harvest dinners and even a wine-focused book club called Read Between the Vines.
Visit with a Pioneer
In the fall of 1984, engineer Lew Parker harvested grapes from vines he’d planted years earlier and barreled them in a tumbledown wood barn on his property, Willowcroft. That wine, a 1984 Riesling, was Loudoun’s first wine. Incredibly, 40 years on, Parker is still making vintages at Willowcroft Farm Vineyards. He cultivates 12 grape varietals, offers tastings in a rustic wood barn and has Magic.
The Canelones Connection
While it originates in Southwest France and is grown to great acclaim in Uruguay, South America where it is the national grape, Tannat is the surprising up-and-comer on the Loudoun wine scene. Indeed, the grape has become so successful in Loudoun that the county has partnered with the Canelones wine region of Uruguay on a youth exchange program whereby budding Loudoun winemakers traveled to Uruguay for internships at four wineries and five Loudoun wineries will host interns from Canelones. As for the wine itself, try it in Loudoun at Greenhill Vineyards, Walsh Family Wine, Doukénie Winery and Hillsborough Winery, Brewery & Vineyard. Expect a dark, intense, acid-driven red with ripe fruit and lingering tannins.
The Annual Barrel Tasting
Everyone loves a sun-filled tasting room, but a lot of winemaking is about oak barrels stored in dark subterranean cellars. One of the flagship events of the Loudoun wine calendar is the Annual Loudoun Barrel Tasting each March when visitors can join winemakers for intimate tours and enjoy tastings of yet-to-be-released vintages straight from the barrel.
The Loudoun Wine Awards
Taking place in October, during Virginia Wine Month, the glittering Loudoun Wine Awards are the Oscars of the local wine scene. Some two dozen awards are given at the event and the public can purchase tickets to attend. Highlights include a tasting of the medal-winning wines and the lavish awards ceremony dinner that follows.