Drink Local! Northern Virginia is ripe with wineries, cideries, breweries, and distilleries. Here’s a look at some of our favorite tasting rooms and taprooms — and what to pick up when you visit.
If you’re headed out to a Virginia vineyard, be ready to try something different from the wines you might be used to ordering in a restaurant or picking up at a grocery store.
While many classic French grapes grow well here, some other varietals may be less familiar, like petit manseng, tannat, and viognier.
“I think Virginia is a fun place to work with vineyards because instead of having one flagship variety that dominates the vineyard acreage, we’ve got about a dozen varieties that all do pretty well,” says Tremain Hatch, a viticulture research and extension associate at Virginia Tech. Hatch’s family owns Zephaniah Farm Vineyard in Leesburg.
In 2022, the Northern Virginia region grew nearly 3,500 tons of grapes on 1,433 acres of land, making it second only to the Central Virginia region for grape production, according to a report by Virginia Wine. Cabernet franc was the most widely planted grape, and you’ll find it bottled on its own and in red Bordeaux blends. Some varieties that saw notable increases in total acreage planted in Virginia in 2022 include petit manseng, viognier, and petite verdot, the report found.
Hatch says the wines that win the prestigious Virginia Governor’s Cup awards tend to be red Bordeaux blends, made with grapes such as petit verdot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and malbec. “We’ve also got some really cool red varieties that do well here in Virginia, including tannat, which is not a common wine seen in the international wine world. But there’s great examples made in the south of France, and also in Uruguay, that we can look to, and Virginia’s right up there and making the high, high quality tannat — it’s a red with a lot of tannins to it,” he says.
Loudoun County is celebrating 40 years of growing grapes, and winemakers have learned a lot in that time. “The tried-and-true varieties are really becoming clearer, and people are doubling down on those varieties, things that were quite uncommon 40 years ago, such as cabernet franc. Now cabernet franc is a really dependable red variety to grow in Virginia,” he says. “But you still see a little bit of experimentation, people still looking for other varieties that will fit well. Albariño is a good example of that.”
So, what does Hatch suggest trying at a local tasting? “I’m always pleased to try cabernet franc,” he says. “But also, have an open mind … You’ll find all sorts of varieties that people are trying out and they might have something really intriguing.”
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Feature image courtesy Linden Vineyards
This story originally ran in our December issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
