Epicurian exploration: Leave the crowds behind in the little-known wine region

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Loudoun County is a gourmand’s playground, a nature-lover’s delight and a well-kept secret. Here's how to explore it...1 June 2022

Main image caption: Bluemont vineyard has beautiful views from its patio (Visit Loudoun/Neal Alfano Photography/Miles Partnership)
Loudoun County is a gourmand’s playground, a nature lover's delight and a well-kept secret. Hemmed in by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Potomac River, it occupies a gloriously green pocket of Northern Virginia, all vine-striped landscapes and quaint little towns.
Here, you can sip a glass of Cabernet Franc while gazing at rolling hills, sample tasting menus built on locally foraged ingredients, or relax with vinotherapy treatments. As well as the vines, seek out festivals that reveal an eclectic culture and hiking trails carved from the mountains. Loudoun is easy to reach, too, less than an hour from the centre of Washington DC and home to the region’s primary airport, Dulles International, making for easy exploration mere minutes from landing.
But despite its natural bounty, stellar food-and-drink scene and winning location, Loudoun remains largely untapped by tourists. Here’s how to make the most of a visit to this wine-soaked wedge of Virginian hospitality.
Into the vineyards

A quick reminder that you’re entering DC’s wine country (Neal Alfano & Miles Partnership)
Go for the grape
It’s easy to see why Loudoun County is known as DC’s ‘Wine Country’®. There are more than 50 wineries here, with many offering intimate behind-the-scenes tours, tastings and immersive cultural experiences.
Make a beeline for the swish Bluemont Vineyard in the region’s west. On weekends in September, visitors plunge their feet into fruit-filled barrels for the winery’s annual ‘Crush With Us’ grape-stomping experience. For the rest of the year, you can graze on charcuterie or pastries with a picnic among the vines, or sip Viognier and drink in Blue Ridge views on an expansive patio.
To the north, you’ll find down-to-earth Sunset Hills Vineyard, which is known for its green credentials. Here, solar panels power the facility’s wine production, while the native plants on site attract pollinators such as monarch butterflies.

Wet your whistle with a tour of the Catoctin Creek Distilling Company (Neal Alfano & Miles Partnership)
Alternative tipples
It’s not just about wine in Loudoun. The LoCo Ale Trail joins up 30-plus craft breweries, including creative spots like Adroit Theory Brewing where you can prop up the bar in the taproom and try everything from dragon-fruit-flavoured sours to milky stouts.
For spirits fans, there’s Catoctin Creek Distilling Company. Industry leader Becky Harris is the chief distiller here and she’ll give you a tour of the facility, which makes American rye whiskey, flavoured brandies and gin.

The Conche in Leesburg is one of many impressive eateries (Visit Loudoun/Neal Alfano Photography/Miles Partnership)
Farm Fresh
You’ll not go hungry, either. Loudoun County is home to around 1,200 commercial farms, fuelling a vibrant local gastronomy scene. Head for The Wine Kitchen in 18th-century Leesburg, where house-made pastas and the catch of the day are paired with flights of regional wine. Or try the ‘New American’ tasting menu at the Restaurant at Patowmack Farm, with dishes fashioned from prized ingredients supplied by local farmers, foragers and fisherfolk.
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