Get Out Loudoun October 2022

the Pours

sweet

Riedel Sensory

During harvest time, there are plenty of opportunities to learn how Loudoun wines are made— even a little grape stomping at Bluemont Vineyard.

Inside:

GET OUT LOUDOUN

Get Out Loudoun is distributed monthly to entertainment, tourism, and hospitality venues throughout Loudoun County. For the latest news on the music scene and other community events, go to getoutloudoun.com.

CONTRIBUTORS

Dana Armstrong Renss Greene

Jan Mercker

Norman K. Styer

ON THE COVER

Photo by Norman K. Styer Renee Ventrice pours a taste of Champagne on her Cork and Keg tour bus.

TO ADVERTISE

Susan Styer at 703-770-9723 or sales@loudounnow.com

TUNES

Loudoun folk musician Andrew McKnight’s latest project revives his heavy metal roots.

TASTE

A new community fundraiser asks you to put on a blindfold and explore your pallet. It’s dinner in the dark.

BREWS

The new brewing duo at Harpers Ferry Brewing is quicky making their stamp on Virginia’s craft beverage scene.

HAPPENINGS

Get out the lederhosen and steins: It’s Oktoberfest season.

BEST BETS

Get Out Loudoun’s picks for Septmeber.

Courtesy of Visit Loudoun

Loudoun’s growers and winemakers will celebrate the industry’s best vintages and top leaders during the annual awards dinner Oct. 14 at Lansdowne Resort and Spa.

A Bottle Shock to The System

BY DOUGLAS ROGERS

A few months ago, sipping a glass of local red at the home of my friend and neighbor J.C. Dodson, I asked what made Loudoun’s wine culture so special. Dodson, who grows grapes at Twin Notch Farm in Waterford for Walsh Family Wine, told me to watch a movie called “Bottle Shock.” Based on the best-selling book “Judgment of Paris,” it tells the true story of a famous blind wine tasting in Paris in 1976 when upstart American wineries from a then little-known California region called Napa Valley beat the greatest wines in France, shocking the world.

That event put Napa wines on the global map.

“Where Napa was 30 years ago, Loudoun is today,” Dodson said. I watched the movie and loved it.

What stood out though was not only the quality of the Napa wines but the passionate, hardworking, close-knit community of growers and winemakers there who created those wines.

As Virginia Wine Month gets underway this October, it’s easy to see parallels in Loudoun.

From the first plantings in 1981 to more than 50 wineries and tasting rooms today—many of them award-winners—Loudoun is established as a major national wine destination. But there’s also a scrappy, down-to-earth authenticity to the scene. Here, a winemaker will join you for a tasting, an owner will recommend a neighboring

estate or vintage and you can still meet a grower in the vines.

There’s also an extraordinary variety of grapes and styles in Loudoun. Viognier, Chardonnay, Petit Manseng and French-style Bordeaux (Cab Franc, Cab Sauvignon, Merlot) do well, but so does Spanish Albariño and Tannat, Italian Nebbiolo and more obscure varietals such as Fer Servadou, Carménère, Chambourcin, Chardonel and Cayuga Blanc. Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg has the largest planting of Norton in the world.

There is also a range of experiences to enjoy at Loudoun wineries, from tastings, tours and talks to food pairings, grape stompings, picnics in the vines and live music and concerts. Come December, don’t miss the dramatic sight of thousands of vines strung with holiday lights at Bluemont Vineyard.

Oct. 14 meanwhile is the prestigious annual Loudoun Wine Awards dinner at Lansdowne Resort & Spa. Open to the public, come sample award-winning wines, meet the winemakers and growers of Loudoun and celebrate this thriving industry.

“In Loudoun, wineries and growers have chosen cooperation over competition,” Dodson said. “It’s resulted in tremendous quality and innovation. We’re just grateful to be part of it.”

We’re grateful, too.

Happy wine month!

Santa Ana Photography

WINE

Judges taste Loudoun wines at Echelon

Wine Bar in Leesburg on Sept. 12, sampling a record-setting 139 entries.

15 Win Gold at the Loudoun Wine Awards

BY RENSS GREENE

The Loudoun Wineries & Winegrowers Association have announced the gold and silver medal winners from among a record number of submissions for the seventh annual Loudoun Wine Awards.

This year there were 139 wines entered into the competition, marking the most wines ever submitted. All are made with 100% Virginia fruit, or are required to be made with at least 75% fruit from Loudoun County. This year, judges handed out 15 gold and 112 silver medals. Gold medals this year went to wines from 8 Chains North, 868 Estate Vineyards, Bluemont Vineyard, Cana Vineyards & Winery of Middleburg, Carriage House Wineworks, Doukenie Winery, Maggie Malick Wine Caves, Three Creeks Winery and Williams Gap Vineyard.

Competition Director and Chief Judge Neal Wavra, owner of Field & Main Restaurant, said in the years he has been judging the competition he has seen Loudoun’s wineries both improve in quality and expand in variety of their offerings, with new categories now being judged that a few years ago weren’t offered.

“This is probably something that’s been underway for a while, but we’re just starting to

see the—pun intended—fruits of their labor,” he said.

And he said where Loudoun excels is in crafting an elegant style of wine, such as the Viogniers, Albariños, Cabernet Francs and Bordeaux-style blends. He said those distinguish Loudoun as “something specifically special.”

At Field & Main, he said, those styles both pair well with a wide variety of plates and meet the demand for local food and drink with a sense of place.

“People who travel out to us are traveling to taste farm food, to taste a food of place. And they’re not only interested in food of place, they’re interested in drink of place, and these wines certainly fall into place,” he said.

The biggest awards of the year are still be to announced. The medal-winning wines will be poured at the Grand Tasting reception at Lansdowne Resort and Spa on Oct. 14, before the ceremony where the wineries association will announce the best-in-show Grand Award, best-in-class by varietal category, and Loudoun County’s Winemaker of the Year, Winegrower of the Year and Wine Ambassador of the Year.

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Loudoun Wineries & Winegrowers Association

Event Chair Sarah Walsh said she has also seen the county’s wine offerings continue to grow.

“We do have some new wineries, so there is small amount of that playing into it, but also the younger wineries now have a bigger breadth of wine available that they feel comfortable putting forward,” she said. “So I think it is an increase in wine quality.”

As Loudoun’s winemakers refine their craft and expand their capabilities, they are supported by a local industry that Walsh said stands out among winegrowing regions for being community-oriented.

“They’re truly your neighbors,” she said. That was also the case at Walsh and her husband Nate’s Walsh Family Wine, which they founded in 2014. They started growing grapes on the four-acre Bethany Ridge vineyard near Waterford while still working day jobs, then expanding to lease another 20 acres at Twin Notch Farm. They spent several years borrowing space at Sunset Hills, where Nate Walsh was the longtime winemaker, and other vineyards.

And in 2019, they bought the former North Gate Vineyard, now Walsh Family Wine—where

they share their vineyard space with other winegrowers.

“Our goal with that space has always been to be really involved in the community, and for everyone to feel like that’s a place that they can come and feel at home, and welcome, and inspired,” she said.

As hospitality businesses continue to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic, Walsh said Loudoun’s winery business in some cases saw its profile as DC’s wine country grow even more over the past two years.

“If you were a winery who was less eventfocused, but you had space for people to come and spread out, you had more people coming,” she said. “Because you have all this traffic, and people around the beltway and around DC where, during COVID, they were looking for places to go where they could be outside, spread out and meet their friends.”

And she said many hands help make the annual wine awards happen.

“The impact of the awards and the gala is so good for our industry and the community that it brings together,” she said. “I just am so grateful for all the people that come together to make this awards ceremony happen for the community.”

Winery Wine Name / Vintage

8 Chains North Furnace Mountain Red 2019

868 Estate Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2021

868 Estate Vineyards Viognier 2020

Bluemont Vineyard 2021 Albariño

Cana Vineyards & Winery of Middleburg Albariño 2021

Cana Vineyards & Winery of Middleburg Chardonnay 2020

Carriage House Wineworks

Cabernet Franc 2020

Carriage House Wineworks Petit Verdot 2020

Doukenie Winery Zeus 2019

Maggie Malick Wine Caves

Albariño Reserva 2021

Maggie Malick Wine Caves Mag's Leap 2020

Three Creeks Winery Melange Rouge 2020

Williams Gap Vineyard

Cabernet Franc 2021

Williams Gap Vineyard Mountain Valley 2020

Williams Gap Vineyard Petit Manseng 2020

Destinations

Longtime winemakers Bob and Loree Rupy have opened a tasting shop in downtown Leesburg for their October One Vineyard.

New October One Tasting Shop Showcases Virginia Wine

BY DANA ARMSTRONG

A quick glimpse at the signs around October One’s new tasting shop in downtown Leesburg reveals owners Bob and Loree Rupy’s philosophy on vino. A neon sign in the back glows “Virginia Wine” in electric purple. A framed quote attributed to Loree reads, “It’s a good wine if you like it.”

“We like to keep it simple, and we love to tell the stories behind the wines. With having all of these Virginia wines and other Loudoun County wines here, we try to get the backstory,” Bob Rupy said.

The Rupys are the husband-and-wife team in

charge of October One Vineyard and, now, October One Tasting Shop.

The Rupys began their wine journey in 2006 when they worked at Bluemont Vineyard with some friends. Loree worked in the tasting room. And Bob, though he didn’t have a wine background or chemistry degree, became a student of the wine-making process.

In 2015, the Rupys separated from Bluemont Vineyard to dive further into the wine industry on their own. There was a shortage of wine grapes in the region at the time. They hoped to find a location to grow grapes and supply the

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fruit to Bluemont Vineyard and other Loudoun County wineries.

They found a 30-acre plot near Bluemont with just the right elevation and soil to cultivate their grapes. They named their property October One Vineyard, an homage to their wedding anniversary.

With the help of their friend and Vineyard Consultant Doug Fabbioli, and their Vineyard Manager Severino Maya Garcia and his crew, the Rupys transformed their Viognier, Albariño, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc varietal grapes into incredible, awardwinning wines.

As Loree said, “Well, if we’re going to produce some grapes, we might as well put the name on it and sell it.’ And then the thought was ‘where would we sell it?’ since we didn’t have a tasting room.”

By 2018, they had 400 cases of their 2015 vintage ready to sell. Their answer was in the local farmers markets around Leesburg and the Cascades.

“It’s a farm product. We thought that was a good place to connect with the local community that was interested in local things and interested in local wine. And it was a great place to build our brand, sell wine, and sell our wine club,” Bob said.

Their wine soon gained popularity with customers—especially their Albariño white wine. The Albariño grape varietal is native to Spain and Portugal and is a relatively rare find in Virginia. Although the grape grows well here, the vines produce half as much fruit as other varietals. Therefore, not many growers choose to plant it.

But the Rupys say the growers who do choose Albariño reap the rewards. Its light-bodied, citrus flavors and high acidity make for a refreshing pour. The Albariño is their fastestselling wine and won Best of Class in the 2020 Loudoun Wine Awards.

That’s not October One Vineyard’s only claim to fame. In the 2021 Virginia Governor’s Cup, their 2019 Cabernet Franc won gold, and their 2019 Merlot and 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon won silvers. Their 2020 Viognier also won the

Chairman’s Grand Award in the 2021 Loudoun Wine Awards.

“As we grew, there were some cumbersome aspects to the logistics and being at the farmers market with all this wine,” said Bob.

“You can only do so much when you’re traveling with a large amount of product—especially a volatile product that does not really care for the changes in weather,” Loree said.

It was time for the Rupys to find a more sustainable, year-round location. Luckily, they found the ideal space for a tasting shop within walking distance of their longtime home in Leesburg.

October One Tasting Shop offers all the wine varietals from their vineyard and a monthly, rotating menu of wines from all over the state. They seek to learn the backstories behind every wine and brand they sell to convey the same indepth information about other vineyards’ wines as they do with their own.

“There are great conversations to have about wine growing in Virginia. And I like to embrace our varied growing conditions from year to year. We’re really leaning into it as far as our brand goes and trying to show people Mother Nature’s hand in the process in Virginia,” Bob said.

He hopes to curate wine lineups that show the effects of different soils, weather conditions, and producers’ hands on the wine’s properties: its color, acidity, alcohol content, and flavors.

“We have a lot of pride in our local industry in Virginia, so the more people we can tell about it, the more excited we get about it,” he said. “I love meeting people from different places and turning them on to local products. That neon sign, Virginia Wine, let’s tell more people about it and have them taste it.”

October One Tasting Shop is open Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. It’s located at 7 Loudoun St., SW in Leesburg.

For more information, go to octoberonevineyard.com.

Going Behind the Wines with Ventrice’s Cork and Keg Tours

BY JAN MERCKER

Every wine lover remembers the bottle that changed their life.

For Loudoun entrepreneur Renee Ventrice, it was a German Riesling at a Florida sushi restaurant in 1998. That was the night Ventrice discovered she had a passion for food and wine pairing—and a great palate to match.

Nearly 20 years later, she runs a booming business helping locals and tourists alike get an insider’s view of Loudoun’s craft beverage scene. Ventrice and her husband Don launched Cork and Keg Tours in 2017, combining their shared passion for wine and community.

“I didn’t know that wine was going to be my

future, but nobody ever forgets the bottle that changes their life,” Ventrice said.

The couple has grown their business through the pandemic and watched it take off in the last year, with local accolades and a national spotlight bringing attention both to their company and the Loudoun wine country they love. Ventrice, named Loudoun’s top tourism ambassador last year, is featured in an upcoming episode of Vince Anter’s popular online wine show “V is for Vino” slated to air later this year.

When the U.S. Navy veterans moved to Loudoun in 2003, wine was already a passion but not yet a business.

“It just became a hobby. It became what we did for fun. And then I started noticing that I had a

Norman K. Styer

Renee Ventrice leads tours of Loudoun’s wine country in a van specially designed to keep the party going.

real knack for noticing what was in wine without seeing the tasting notes,” Ventrice said.

In 2016, she and Don had full time jobs. But when Don was laid off from a cybersecurity job shortly after they dropped their son off at college, the couple saw it as an opportunity to follow their dream of launching a business. The Ventrices also saw a niche in Loudoun: they had been doing wine tours in Sonoma for years and noticed a dearth of detail-oriented wine tours here.

“We said no one does tours the way we experience them in Sonoma, which is backstage tours with winemakers, special seating, exclusivity and people who know the area and know what’s going on,” Ventrice said. “We did some spit-balling—opened a bottle of wine of course—and came up with the name. We wanted a name that would encompass all the different craft beverages: wineries, distilleries, breweries, meaderies—anything you can put a cork in or put into a keg.”

Cork and Keg did its first tour in the spring of 2017. The day after they bought their fully loaded touring van, Don got an offer for a fulltime job, so the couple initially made Cork and Keg a weekend business.

“We were turning away more than double the number of tours we could actually do,” Ventrice said. Meanwhile, Ventrice got her wine educator certification from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.

“I thought, how cool would it be to have a wine expert instead of just a driver?” she said. Ventrice went full time with Cork and Keg at the end of 2019, and in February 2020, she and Don were discussing franchising possibilities when COVID hit. Ventrice knew she had to act to keep both her business and local hospitality businesses alive. So she took her wine expertise and enthusiasm virtual.

“I decided to stay visible. I started popping bottles that were in my refrigerator and drinking wine with people on Facebook live,” she said. Ventrice began interviewing restaurant owners about their menus and doing virtual food and wine pairings.

“It became more than just me drinking wine and hanging out with people from my van. It became a way to support others in hospitality by sharing what they were doing,” she said.

During COVID shutdowns, Ventrice launched Cork and Keg’s sister business Go Be Grape with a focus on wine education, offering

CORK AND KEG FROM PAGE 10

Renee Ventrice, right, serves up an exclusive wine tasting for a tour group at Williams Gap Vineyard on a recent Friday afternoon.

1 50 West Vineyards

39060 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg 50westvineyards.com

2 8 Chains North Winery

38593 Daymont Ln., Waterford, VA 8chainsnorth.com

3 868 Estate Vineyards

14001 Harpers Ferry Rd., Purcellville 868estatevineyards.com

4 The Barns at Hamilton Station

16804 Hamilton Station Rd., Hamilton thebarnsathamiltonstation.com

5 Bleu Frog Vineyards

16413 James Monroe Hwy, Leesburg bleufrogvineyards.com

6 Bluemont Vineyard

18755 Foggy Bottom Rd., Bluemont bluemontvineyard.com

7 Bogati Winery

35246 Harry Byrd Hwy., Round Hill bogatiwinery.com

8 Boxwood Estate Winery

2042 Burrland Rd., Middleburg boxwoodwinery.com

9 Breaux Vineyards

36888 Breaux Vineyards Ln., Hillsboro breauxvineyards.com

10 Bozzo Family Vineyards

35226 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro bozwines.com

11 Cana Vineyards of Middleburg

38600 John Mosby Hwy., Middleburg canavineyards.com

12 Carriage House Wineworks

40817 Brown Lane, Waterford chwwinery.com

13 Casanel Vineyards

17952 Canby Rd., Leesburg casanelvineyards.com

14 Chrysalis Vineyards

39025 John Mosby Hwy., Aldie chrysaliswine.com

15 Corcoran Vineyards & Cider

14635 Corkys Farm Ln., Waterford corcoranvineyards.com

16 Creek’s Edge Winery

41255 Annas Ln., Lovettsville creeksedgewinery.com

17 Crushed Cellars

37938 Charles Town Pike, Purcellville crushedcellars.com

18 Doukenie Winery

14727 Mountain Rd., Hillsboro doukeniewinery.com

19 Droumavalla Farm Winery

14980 Limestone School Rd., Lucketts droumavalla.com

20 Dry Mill Vineyards & Winery

18195 Dry Mill Rd., Leesburg drymillwine.com

21 Eagletree Farm & Vineyards

15100 Harrison Hill Lane, Leesburg eagletreevineyards.com

22 Endhardt Vineyards

19600 Lincoln Road, Purcellville endhardtvineyards.com

23 Fabbioli Cellars

15669 Limestone School Rd., Leesburg fabbioliwines.com

24 Fire y Cellars

40325 Charles Town Pike, Hamilton fireflycellars.com

25 Fleetwood Farm Winery

23075 Evergreen Mills Rd., Leesburg fleetwoodfarmwinery.com

26 Forever Farm & Vineyards

15779 Woodgrove Road, Purcellville foreverfarmandvineyard.com

27 Greenhill Winery & Vineyards

23595 Winery Ln., Middleburg greenhillvineyards.com

28 Hidden Brook Winery

43301 Spinks Ferry Rd., Leesburg hiddenbrookwinery.com

29 Hiddencroft Vineyards

12202 Axline Rd., Lovettsville hiddencroftvineyards.com

30 Lost Creek Winery 43285 Spinks Ferry Rd., Leesburg

31 Maggie Malick Wine Caves

12138 Harpers Ferry Rd., Hillsboro maggiemalickwinecaves.com

32 Old Farm Winery

23583 Fleetwood Road, Aldie oldfarmwineryhartland.com

33 Otium Cellars

18050 Tranquility Rd., Purcellville otiumcellars.com

34 Stone Tower Winery

19925 Hogback Mountain Rd., L’burg stonetowerwinery.com

35 Stonehouse Meadery

36580 Shoemaker School Rd., Purcellville stonehousemeadery.com

36 Sunset Hills Vineyard

38295 Fremont Overlook Ln, Purcellville sunsethillsvineyard.com

37 Tarara Winery

13648 Tarara Ln, Leesburg tarara.com

38 Terra Nebulo

39892 Old Wheatland Rd., Waterford terranebulo.com

39 Three Creeks Winery

18548 Harmony Church Road, Hamilton 3creekswinery.com

40 Two Twisted Posts Winery

12944 Harpers Ferry Rd., Hillsboro twotwistedposts.com

41 Village Winery

40405 Browns Lane, Waterford villagewineryandvineyards.com

BREWERIES

42 Willowcroft Farm Vineyards

38906 Mount Gilead Rd., Leesburg willowcroftwine.com

43 The Wine Reserve at Waterford

38516 Charles Town Pike, Waterford waterfordwinereserve.com

44 Walsh Family Wine

16031 Hillsboro Rd., Purcellville northgatevineyard.com

45 Williams Gap Vineyards

35785 Sexton Farm Lane, Round Hill williamsgavineyard.com

46 Zephaniah Farm Vineyard

19381 Dunlop Mill Rd., Leesburg zephwine.com

1 Adroit Theory Brewing

404 Browning Ct., Purcellville adroit-theory.com

2 B Chord Brewing Company

34266 Williams Gap Rd., Round Hill bchordbrewing.com

3 Barnhouse Brewery

43271 Spinks Ferry Rd., Leesburg barnhousebrewery.com

4 Bear Chase Brewing

33665 Bear Chase Ln., Bluemont bearchasebrew.com

5 Belly Love Brewing Company

725 E. Main St., Purcellville bellylovebrewing.com

6 Beltway Brewing Company

22620 Davis Dr. Ste 110, Sterling beltwaybrewco.com

7 Black Hoof Brewing Company

11 South King St., Leesburg blackhoofbrewing.com

8 Black Walnut Brewery

210 S. King St., Leesburg blackwalnutbrewery.com

9 Crooked Run Brewing Central

22455 Davis Dr., Sterling crookedrunbrewing.com

10 Crooked Run Brewing Market Station, Leesburg crookedrunbrewing.com

11 Dirt Farm Brewing

18701 Foggy Bottom Rd., Bluemont dirtfarmbrewing.com

12 Dynasty Brewing Company

21140 Ashburn Crossing Drive, Ashburn 101 Loudoun St, SE, Leesburg dynastybrewing.com

13 Flying Ace Farm

40950 Flying Ace Ln, Lovettsville flyingacefarm.com

14 Harper’s Ferry Brewing

37412 Adventure Ctr. Lane, Hillsboro harpersferrybrewing.com

15 Harvest Gap Brewery

15485 Purcellville Road, Hillsboro facebook.com/HarvestGap

16 House 6 Brewing

4427 Atwater Dr., Ashburn house6brewing.com

17 Lost Barrel Brewing

36138 John Mosby Highway, Middleburg lostbarrel.com

18 Lost Rhino Brewing Company

21730 Red Rum Rd. #142, Ashburn lostrhino.com

19 Loudoun Brewing Company

310 E. Market St., Leesburg loudounbrewing.com

20 Ocelot Brewing Company

23600 Overland Dr., #180, Dulles ocelotbrewing.com

BREWERIES & WINERIES

1 Bluemont Station Brewery and Winery

18301 Whitehall Estate Lane, Bluemont bluemontstation.com

1 Hillsborough Brewery & Vineyards

36716 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro hillsboroughwine.com

2 Notaviva Brewery and Winery

13274 Sagle Rd., Hillsboro notavivavineyards.com

21

Old 690 Brewing Company

15670 Ashbury Church Rd., Hillsboro old690.com

22 Old Ox Brewery

44652 Guilford Dr., Ste 114, Ashburn oldoxbrewery.com

23 Old Ox Brewery Middleburg

14 S Madison St, Middleburg, VA

24 Phase 2 Brewing

19382 Diamond Lake Dr, Lansdowne

Phase2Brewing.com

25 Rocket Frog Brewing Company

22560 Glenn Dr. #103, Sterling rocketfrogbeer.com

26

Solace Brewing Company

42615 Trade West Dr., Sterling solacebrewing.com

27 Sweetwater Tavern

45980 Waterview Plaza, Sterling greatamericanrestaurants.com

28 The Craft of Brewing

21140 Ashburn Crossing Dr., Ashburn thecraftob.com

29 Vanish Farmwoods Brewery

42245 Black Hops Ln., Lucketts vanishbeer.com

30

Wheatland Springs Farm + Brewery

38454 John Wolford Rd., Waterford wheatlandspring.com

3 Quattro Goomba’s Brewery & Winery

22860 James Monroe Hwy., Aldie goombawine.com

American Foundation of Suicide Prevention National Capital Area Chapter Executive Director Ellen Shannon, center, joins representatives from 12 Loudoun breweries at Old Ox Brewery as they start brewing You Are Not Alone, a session IPA to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention.

12 Loudoun Brewers Collaborate for Suicide Prevention

BY RENSS GREENE

A dozen Loudoun breweries have collaborated on a new brew to both break the stigma and raise funds to help prevent death by suicide.

All proceeds from the new You Are Not Alone session IPA will be donated to the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. It will be available in cans and on draft at the participating breweries: Bear Chase, Belly Love, Beltway, Black Hoof, Dynasty, Hillsborough, Loudoun Brewing, Ocelot, Old 690, Old Ox, Quattro Goombas, and Wheatland Springs in mid-October.

The brewers met at Old Ox Brewery in Sterling to get the brewing started, using all donated, often local ingredients including yeast from Jasper Yeast and hops from Fabbioli Cellars and other local farms and breweries. Loudoun

artist Randy Krukles, who also designs artwork for Purcellville’s Belly Love Brewing Company, is donating a design for the cans. And the grains and malt were donated by BSG CraftBrewing, a national provider of bulk brewing supplies headquartered in Minnesota.

Loudoun County Brewers Association Chair Chris Suarez, general manager of Bear Chase Brewery, said the goal is not only to raise money but to make suicide easier to talk about. Brewers association Vice Chair Tolga Baki, Belly Love owner and Hillsborough Vineyards & Brewery co-owner and head brewer, agreed.

“I think it’s important for people to understand. That’s how we named the beer,” he said. “They’re not alone. There’s a lot of

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times when people are in that mindset, they do feel alone, and I think there’s also a stigma about reaching out for help.”

American Foundation of Suicide Prevention National Capital Area Chapter Executive Director Ellen Shannon said almost everyone’s lives are impacted by suicide—and in that’s true in the tight-knit brewing community, with at least four lives have been lost just in the past few years, including a brewer in Loudoun.

“Suicide is preventable, and there is a lot of hope around this,” she said. “We can work together to create a culture that’s smart about mental health, break down the stigma and encourage help-seeking,” Shannon said.

“Because just like those numbers that I shared, we are not alone. None of us are. Every single person has mental health, and there are things that we can do to be resilient and to take care of ourselves.”

And the charity brew also helped the brewers feel a little less alone after two long years of

distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s the first big collaboration for the Loudoun County Brewers Association since the beginning of the pandemic, reuniting over an important cause.

“Our association hasn’t done as much together recently, and we felt that this was a close enough to home cause to try to bring the breweries back together,” Suarez said.

Baki said following two recent deaths in the brewing community, one by suicide and both tied to mental health, many brewers already have regular get-togethers.

“We just sit there, have a couple beers, talk, check up on each other—it does get kind of personal sometimes, but that’s kind of the point,” he said. “We don’t want to see any more of this. And at least us, in our little, small community, get together and support each other.”

Now Showing

TUNES

Husband and wife team Jeff Ludin and Karen Capell play a big role in keeping the tradition of music alive at the Lucketts Community Center.

Saturday Night at the Old Schoolhouse Bluegrass Is Back in Lucketts

BY JAN MERCKER

For nearly 50 years, the tiny village of Lucketts has hosted the biggest names in bluegrass—and helped launch the careers of a new generation of traditional musicians.

Like most live music, the Lucketts Bluegrass concert series took a hit during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with organizers canceling most live performances in 2020 and 2021. But this fall, the series makes a triumphant return, with favorite national acts and exciting new voices.

Karen Capell and Jeff Ludin are a husbandand-wife team of bluegrass aficionados who play a big role in keeping the music alive in

Lucketts. The couple are board members for the Lucketts Bluegrass Foundation, which has organized the concert series since 2007. Capell books the bands for the series, and Ludin is the foundation’s past and incoming president, volunteering with the technology and business aspects involved with running a thriving 21st century nonprofit.

“The great thing about bluegrass is it really is a community,” Capell said.

Capell and Ludin live in Fairfax County but have been die-hard Lucketts bluegrass fans for more than a decade and have helped guide the foundation through challenging times. It started

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in 2008 when Capell and Ludin read a listing for the series in a Washington, DC paper and decided to check it out. They won a pair of tickets to catch a second show in a raffle that night and were hooked.

“We just kept coming,” Ludin said. Soon they were making financial contributions to support the foundation and were asked to join the board of directors. The two retirees say they were often the youngest people in the room at board meetings and felt a calling to help build a series that would keep longtime fans coming back while attracting new audiences.

Capell, a Maryland native, longtime bluegrass fan and amateur fiddle player, has taken on programming the series with zest and passion, lining up a mix of famous favorites and up-andcomers.

“Lucketts has always loved traditional bluegrass. I don’t want to get rid of that entirely. We have a lot of really great traditional bands, and some of our young bands are traditional in style,” Capell said. “Bluegrass is a growing changing music. … We have a number of bands that are more progressive, and they do pull a younger crowd. But our longtime patrons like them, too.”

Lucketts’ stellar reputation has plenty of bands knocking on the door to perform on the stage. The series has been an internationally known institution since the Johnson Mountain Boys released their Grammy-nominated live album “At the Old Schoolhouse” recorded there in 1988.

“If you know bluegrass, you know that recording,” Capell said.

Launched in 1974, the Lucketts bluegrass concert series has hosted national acts including Ralph Stanley, The Seldom Scene and the Country Gentlemen. The series has continued with support from Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services, which renovated the old schoolhouse and made it the Lucketts Community Center in 1981. The county completed new renovations in 2014 to celebrate the building’s centennial anniversary. The concert series has been volunteer-run for decades with support from the Lucketts Community Center Advisory Board. In 2007, the nonprofit Lucketts Bluegrass Foundation was

Contributed

Colebrook Road opens the new season of Lucketts Bluegrass concerts on Oct. 15 at the celebrated venue known as the “old schoolhouse.”

created to run the program in cooperation with the community center. The series has attracted national and regional acts—and fans from around the DMV and beyond.

The organizers are coming into the 2022-23 season—which runs Oct. 15 through April 22—with optimism but a little uncertainty. The foundation is ramping up with two performances per month instead of weekly concerts of years past, and Ludin and Capell hope diehard fans will return. Therewill be familiar names like Ralph Stanley II and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Nothin’ Fancy, Dry Branch Fire Squad and Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers along with rising stars including Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road and Seth Mulder and Midnight Run.

The Lucketts Bluegrass indoor concert series kicks off Saturday, Oct. 15 with Colebrook Road and runs through April 22. Doors open at 6 p.m. and music begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $22 for adults, $5 for youth 5 to 17 and free for children 4 and under.

For a complete schedule, tickets and information, go to luckettsbluegrass.org. For more information about Colebrook Road, go to colebrookroad.com

Happenings

WATERFORD FAIR: A CELEBRATION OF AMERICANA

At the 78th Waterford Fair, residents of the historic village are once again opening their doors to visitors for homes tours. And the juried crafters from around the U.S. that the fair is known for are returning for the three-day event Oct. 7-9.

After taking the fair online in 2020 and operating a scaled-back event in 2021 featuring garden tours instead of the traditional interior tours, the fair is back to a pre-COVID layout and program. Organizers are expanding the fair’s musical offerings this year with a first ever Friday afternoon show. Award-winning California-based bluegrass band AJ Lee and Blue Summit perform two shows Friday afternoon. Local favorites Fiddlin’ Dave and Morgan take the stage Saturday, and the Danny Knicely Trio performs Sunday.

The fair takes place Friday, Oct. 7 through Sunday, Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Single day tickets are $16 for adults, $12 for students 13 to 21 and free for children 12 and under. Three-day passes are available for $30. Pre-registration is also available for in-demand talks and workshops. For a complete schedule, tickets and information, go to waterfordfairva.org.

HAUNTINGS TOURS: EXPLORING LEESBURG’S NIGHT LIFE

The Loudoun Museum will hold its popular Hauntings Tours on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22, with a new stop this year.

The 90-minute guided walking tours will take guests through historic downtown Leesburg to various “spirited” locations, including the Johnston House where footsteps of one of its former residents can reportedly still be heard going up and down the stairs and walking on the second floor.

In addition to the Johnston House, the tour will be going inside the Loudoun County Courthouse and Leesburg Presbyterian Church, and stopping at the Eliza House, considered one of the most haunted buildings in Virginia, and the Glenfiddich House, where the blood stains of a soldier wounded at Balls Bluff are

reportedly seen in the room where he slept. Tour guides give visitors background on each building and the historical context behind each of the scary stories.

For tickets and more details, go to loudounmuseum.org/hauntings. Space is limited. All proceeds benefit the Loudoun Museum.

VINTAGE RACERS ON THE ROAD

Vintage sportscars will touring area roads Oct. 18-23 as part of the 1000 Miglia Warm Up USA time trials—a precursor to one of the world’s most iconic automobile races. The top performers could qualify for entry into the 2023 edition of the Mille Miglia race, which dates back to 1927.

Participants will have three days of time trials on courses that will take them from Middleburg to the Summit Point race park in West Virginia and the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC. There will be opportunities to get up close with the cars and drivers at events in Middleburg and at Creighton Farms.

For details, go to groupinc.net/mm2022.

BARGAIN HUNTERS PARADISE

The 83rd Annual Ladies Board Rummage Sale will be held on Saturday, Oct. 15 and Sunday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Loudoun County Fairgrounds near Leesburg.

This bargain shopping extravaganza offers almost everything imaginable: antiques, collectibles, furniture, books, clothing and accessories for the entire family, tools, sports and exercise equipment, small appliances, household items and décor, designer labels, electronics, holiday items, jewelry and toys.

The event’s regional draw earned it the title of Loudoun’s Annual Tourism Event of the Year in 2016.

The event includes a silent auction and special VIP packages for early entry and premium parking.

The Rummage Sale benefit Inova Loudoun Hospital and nursing scholarships.

For details, go to LadiesBoard.org.

customized tastings for corporate clients and other groups.

As the region rebounded from pandemic closures, Cork and Keg’s business took off. In 2021, they did 70 tours and turned away more than double that number, Venstrice said. At the end of 2021, she hired six new employees to do weekend tours. Ventrice takes on corporate and other tastings during the week, offering insider access to wineries, including tours outside of normal tasting room hours.

“The way that we’ve differentiated ourselves is through the relationships that we’ve built with the other hospitality and tourism companies,” she said. “We thought it was really important to be a part of the community and not just take people to wineries and breweries. We took the time to understand their business, get to know their managers and team members.”

Don Ventrice remains heavily involved with the family business while keeping his 9-to-5 job. For Ventrice, the spouses, who met while serving in the Navy in Spain, are perfectly matched to run the business together after almost 30 years of marriage.

“We are yin and yang. We like to say he’s the keg, and I’m the cork. He’s the brakes, and I’m the gas. We don’t get in each other’s way and that’s how we successfully run a business as a married couple,” Ventrice said. The couple’s son Gino, now 24, has inherited his mom’s keen palate and also pitches in with tours. Visit Loudoun named Ventrice its Certified Tourism Ambassador of the year for 2021. Ventrice has also been nominated as entrepreneur of the year at this year’s Loudoun Chamber Small Business Awards slated for Nov. 4.

As the accolades flow, one of the highlights for Ventrice is Loudoun’s spotlight on the “V is for Vino” show. Ventrice became a fan of the popular online program with more than 20,000 YouTube followers while earning her WSET certification.

“I absolutely loved what I was learning from it,” she said. “One day, I was like, ‘He’s never done Virginia.’”

On a whim, she reached out to the host Vince

Anter and suggested he check out the region’s booming winery and hospitality scene. He agreed and shot the segment focusing on the Charlottesville and Loudoun regions in August, with Ventrice as a local co-host. The segment is expected to air later this year on Anter’s channel.

“I showed Vince the wonderful things that Loudoun has to offer,” Ventrice said. “It’s a huge win for Virginia tourism.”

Loudoun’s craft brewing scene has come a long way since her family arrived nearly 20 years ago, Ventrice said, and she’s proud to play a role in building it up.

“It’s been really fun watching Loudoun County grow and watching the agrotourism really start to take off, bringing people not just from other counties in the DMV but from other countries for the shopping, the farms, the music, the wine, the breweries and distilleries.”

For more information about Cork and Keg Tours, go to corkandkegtours.com. To check out the “V is for Vino” YouTube channel, go to visforvino.com.

MAY BE GIANTS

Oct. 8, 6 p.m.

International Training

indy

of

Arc of

Shocktober Haunt

Best Bets

THE WAILERS

Saturday, Oct. 15, 7 p.m.

Ho Theater

member Aston Barrett

brings the legendary Reggae band back to the Leesburg stage for a show that includes performances classic Bob Marley hits, as well as songs from its recently Grammy-nominated album.

MICHAEL SCHENKER

Wednesday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m. (doors)

Ho Theater

The heavy metal guitarist who got

the

DARRELL SCOTT

Saturday, Oct. 29, 6 p.m. B Cord Brewing Company bchordbrewing.com

Scott is among Nashville’s most revered songwriters and session musicians. Bryan McDowell and Mark Shatz open.

R QART EXHIBITS

WOOLEN WONDERS

Oct. 8 - Nov. 26

Lower Gallery

Featuring primitive, traditional, and punch hooked rugs for display and sale. Witness the art of rug hooking as you’ve never seen it before. Get inspired to take a workshop with some of the featured fiber artists.

MELISSA FOSTER

Oct. 1 - Nov. 30

Upper Gallery

Featuring colorful, deconstructed paintings of wildlife that seek to reinterpret the mysteries of the natural world.

Exhibits are free and open Tuesday - Saturday from noon to 3:00 PM, and during concerts and community programs.

R QRUG HOOKING WORKSHOPS

OXFORD PUNCH RUG HOOKING WITH ANGELA JONES

Oct. 14 - 15 | 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Oct. 16 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Learn punch rug hooking or refine your technique. Construct your own holiday-themed rug. $300 for all three days

EMBELLISHING FINE HOOKED RUGS WITH CINDY IRWIN

Nov. 5 - 6 | 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Learn rug hooking and embellishing techniques with mixed media. Construct your own embellished rug in “The Serpent” pattern. $195 for both days.

Pre-register for these workshops online or call BORH. No experience necessary.

THE

R Q

BREATHE

LIVE MUSIC THIS FALL

Thurs., Oct. 27 | 7:00 PM

Biographical film, starring

as Robin

Diana

Claire