Former Washington Redskins Owner John Kent Cooke and his wife Rita spared no expense in creating The Boxwood Winery, where Old World winemaking traditions are harmoniously blended with state-of-the-art techniques to create premium red wines in the Bordeaux style.

The historic 140-acre Boxwood estate, once home to WWI aviation pioneer General Billy Mitchell, serves as the winery’s picturesque backdrop straddling the Fauquier-Loudoun county line. A mechanized gate swings open to a rolling expanse of land and a pea gravel driveway that leads to the winery, a modern complex of four buildings that captures the spirit of 18th century Middleburg architecture, from the fieldstone walls to the seam tin roofs to the glass cupolas.

The winery’s tasting room is intimate, modern, and sparse, and is located at the hub of the complex, from which the chai (fermentation room), cave, and bottling room can all be viewed. The cave is particularly unique; French oak barrels lay in a circular pattern in the middle of the circular room. It is below ground to maintain a constant natural cool temperature.

John and Rita’s daughter, Rachel Martin, studied winemaking and sensory evaluation in California and Bordeaux, and now operates the winery and manages a team of experts that oversee the vineyard and creation of the wines. The winery is only open by appointment, but if you don’t plan ahead, don’t worry! The winery’s satellite tasting room in the town of Middleburg, operated by Rachel’s brother Sean Martin, features their Boxwood and Topiary wines, and select Bordeaux red wines and French white wines as well.