Echelon, which has the look of a sophisticated cellar, is a perfect locale for judgement day.
The wine-forward small plates restaurant is owned by Todd and Aimee Henkle, owners of Lost Creek Winery. Aimee is also a board member of the Loudoun Wineries and Winegrowers Association (LWWA), which oversees the awards.
The process begins the evening before when competing wineries deliver their wines to the restaurant. Wavra, along with members of the LWWA, open and test all bottles to ensure they are not corked or spoiled. Bottles are then recorked and covered in brown paper bags so that the wines cannot be identified.
By 9 a.m. the following morning the first wines are poured and labeled at a centerpiece bar and then ferried on trays to a hushed glassed-in private dining room where the six judges - plus Wavra – sit with a form in front of them on which to grade the wine. The judging ends mid-afternoon with a brief break for lunch in between. Half a dozen volunteers, mostly local wine enthusiasts, are on hand to help label and carry glasses to and from the tasting room. As with a multi-course dinner at a great restaurant, the tastings progress from lighter to more robust wines, starting with light whites, then rosés, then heavier whites and then a range of reds. “To prevent palate fatigue, I will also add some red wines in between the whites as the day goes on,” explains Wavra.
As Loudoun’s wine industry has boomed, the number of categories to be judged has grown. In 2024 there were 15 categories, while in 2025, it had grown to 17. There have to be at least five wines entered to declare a category. Regular categories run from best Albariño and Sauvignon Blanc to best Cab Franc, Viognier and Vinifera. Loudoun is known for its Bordeaux blends and there are often as many as 30 entries for the category tasted in flights of five throughout the day.
In 2025, for the first time since the inception of the awards in 2017, entries in the competition had to be made 100 percent from Loudoun-grown grapes.
It turned out that it didn’t reduce the number of participants.
“Typically, we see 140-150 wines each year,” said Aimee Henkle. “In 2025 we got 168 entries across 35 wineries, which was a record. To be 100 percent Loudoun grown for the first time and to have all these wines showcase so well was a celebration in itself.”
Blind tasting competitions differ in format around the world. Some competitions work on a simple points system; others have a roundtable process where judges taste and discuss each wine before coming to a consensus. Wavra has developed a hybrid method that simplifies the process for the judges – and helps the Loudoun wine industry. Each judge evaluates each wine as slowly or as quickly as possible before moving on to the next category.
Questions run from simple "Yes" and "No" responses to comment-style: “Is this wine correct or flawed?”, “What are the shortcomings of this wine?”, “If possible, please identify what might make this wine better?” and “If tasked to serve this wine, how and where would you present this wine?” The advantage of the comments system is that each competing winery receives the judges’ remarks, thus getting feedback on what experts think about their wine and ways to possibly improve.
Question seven is where the judges score the wine out of 100. The universally accepted points grade for rating wines is 96 to 100 for “Best in Class,” 90-95 for “Top Quality,” 85-89 “Noteworthy,” 80-84 “Serviceable” and 79 and below “Not Notable.” Once each section is completed, they hand their forms to Wavra who calculates the winners.
While the judging of Loudoun’s finest wines might be reserved for Wavra’s hand-picked experts, the tasting of those winning wines is open to all. Get your tickets here.
"The whole goal of this competition is to elevate and celebrate Loudoun wines, and we see the quality of these wines increase every year,” Aimee Henkle said. “I can’t wait for the wine awards dinner in October."
