By Doug Fabbioli

Forty-one years ago, the first Loudoun County harvest of wine grapes were brought to a crusher machine to be processed into wine. Over the past 4 decades, many more locally grown grapes and other fruits have been picked, crushed, fermented, aged and bottled for our residents and visitors to enjoy. Because wine grapes and other crops have a limited shelf life after picking, the processing of this fruit is often done on the same property where the grapes are grown. Because timing is crucial the grower needs to work closely with the winemaker to ensure a successful harvest.  Often this is solved because the grower and the winemaker are the same person. The requirements for a successful vineyard are very specific so we tend to have vineyards clustered together where the conditions are best. All of these pieces together add up to a wine region, where grapes are grown, processed and offered to our customers for tasting and purchase all in the same geographical place.

Another important aspect of a wine region are the hospitality partners that help make the visit of our customers more comfortable and memorable for them. The local restaurants and hotels all play a role in creating an experience that will stay with our guests long after their shoes leave our soils. The Loudoun Bed and Breakfast guild encourages its members to share information about local wineries with their guests to make their guest’s experience in wine country even better. For example, Hidden View B&B offers local wines for purchase to their guests as a way to enhance their experience and support local.

There is an effort underway to encourage local restaurants to enhance their diner’s wine experience by carrying more Loudoun County wines by the glass. If the restaurants offer wines on a “By the Glass program”, or BTG, the wine is much more approachable to the consumer. Buying a bottle of wine may be romantic as it sits on your bistro table, but that is a commitment of time, money and consumption that many folks these days are not always ready to make on an unknown wine. But if restaurants support the BTG of local wines to their customers we can increase our exposure and hopefully gain new customers.

The BTG list is a coveted placement for a wine salesperson as well as for the restaurant. Wineries will give discounted pricing to the restaurant in order to get on that list. The placement needs to be a win for the restaurant as well which brings us full circle to improving the grapes grown and wine made in Loudoun County.

The wineries should help with promotion by advising customers about where they can enjoy a glass of their wine outside of the tasting room. Efforts are being made on a county and state level by our industry associations to get more of our wines in restaurants for BTG. Hopefully, this effort will increase the experience for our visitors, but equally important, encourage residents to enjoy local products in the process. After all, we winemakers built this industry for our community to enjoy too. The moral of the story…please consider BTG when you are out for a meal, and maybe a few bottles purchased when you visit the winery. Your patronage keeps us farming!

About the Author: Farmer, winemaker, entrepreneur, educator, and leader, Doug Fabbioli has been accelerating the growth and quality of Virginia’s wine industry since 1997. With his wife Colleen, Doug is the owner/operator of Fabbioli Cellars in Leesburg, VA. He is the founder and director of The New Ag School, which focuses on teaching the next generation of farmers and agriculture-related leaders. No wonder they call Doug Fabbioli the Godfather of DC’s Wine Country.