Home to more than 50 wineries and tasting rooms in a stunning range of settings from vine-covered hills and river-crossed valleys to Blue Ridge Mountain slopes, Loudoun is an oenophile’s dream. Here are 10 reasons to visit – and fall in love with – DC’s Wine Country®.
Drink Away.
Award-winning Vintages
Since The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards made history in 2017 by bringing home Loudoun’s first Virginia Governor’s Cup for the best wine in the state, three more Loudoun wineries have followed in their footsteps. 868 Estate Vineyards, Cana Vineyards and Breaux Vineyards have all earned this award, cementing Loudoun’s reputation for producing quality wine product.
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 the stunning Hillsborough Winery, Brewery & Vineyard outside Hillsboro has sweeping vistas of mountains, valleys and vines that you can view from the tasting room.
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
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 Fabbioli Cellars, owned by coined Godfather of the Loudoun wine scene, Doug Fabbioli and 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, decades later, 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.
