ranges , it is a place that has a lot to offer from an agricultural standpoint . I am fortunate to work in an industry that is in many ways the very epitome of community . The very idea of wine , for most people , is communal – enjoying a bottle together over meals , sharing in a discussion , relaxing with a friend ; down , in fact , to the very vessel itself : a single bottle from which many people drink .
When my wife and I first opened our tasting room in Loudoun County , the power of the community was palpable . It was bigger and more touching and more important to my life than I would have ever guessed . We viewed our industry , suddenly , as not just the winemakers and vineyard workers , but the brewers , vegetable farmers , distillers , cheesemakers , chefs , waitstaff , hosts and hostesses , Bed & Breakfast owners , caterers , and on and on . Our industry is everybody working to keep Loudoun County expressive of itself , an interesting place to live and visit , and a region using its resources in a way that is unique and good .
With the shutdown of early 2020 , our community became a true force . Guests , customers , friends , neighbors — our entire mailing list reached out with support simply because they did not want us to be gone . They — and I — wanted businesses to exist that make their community rich and interesting and unique .
We are now , as I write this , picking the last grapes from the 2020 vintage . This vintage has , for Walsh Family Wine , been a great success — we enjoyed a relatively dry spring and summer , and , ignoring a frustrating week or two in August , a dry picking schedule , which is something we aren ’ t always fortunate to have in Virginia . For us , that equates to wines which are more expressive , more dense , and in general of a higher quality than when we struggle to ripen under wet conditions . These types of growing seasons are a blessing , and they give us something that , in a small way , expresses this place .
I am often asked what my favorite part of growing wine is . I have had many answers over the years , but this year , my favorite part is time . Growing wine connects you to time in two very distinct ways . First , there is the immediate : the daily , hourly , weekly , both through the close connection to the subtleties of weather and also the tasks themselves . Pruning a vineyard requires working on a new vine every five minutes , over and over and over again , for months . Shoot thinning is the same . Hedging the same . Each task is similar in that it requires a mara-
“ At Walsh Family Wine we produce vineyard-specific wines from our vineyard sites in Loudoun County ,“ says Nate Walsh .“ We believe strongly that the aspect of wine growing most worth pursuing is the sense of place . As such , our vineyards are managed and our wine is made with methods that we believe best showcase the strengths and idiosyncrasies of our vineyards . This is an endeavor that we believe will keep us busy for a lifetime . We farm 50 acres of wine grapes on five distinct sites , all in Loudoun County , Virginia .
The featured wine at Walsh Family Wine this winter is their 2019 Dutchman ’ s Creek Cabernet Franc , a bold , full-bodied red blend from Dutchman ’ s Creek Vineyard in Lovettsville , VA . For more information , or to plan a visit , please visit www . walshfamilywine . com .