Located in Purcellville, Loudoun County, some 5 miles south of the village center off of Lincoln Road. Endhardt Vineyards is the recently opened (Fall of 2021) pride and joy of Sarah and Johannes Endhardt. From the Midwest and Germany respectively, the pair moved to Loudoun County about a decade ago after a career in international consulting. Though neither has a background in wines or viticulture, they have moved into their second career with support from Ben Renshaw, the former owner of 8 Chains North in Waterford.
Wine: Too early to tell. As of end 2021, Endhardt has produced two wines, a white and a rose, from grapes sourced elsewhere in Loudoun. Tastings at the property for now consist of these two and a variety of non-local wines, something unusual for Virginia wineries. Eleven acres have been planted in five varietals – chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and petit Verdot, and the first harvest was the Fall of 2021. We look forward to tasting the end product of the estate-grown grapes soon.
Setting: Endhardt is a small, farm-style winery without any of the hype or pretention of larger, more event-oriented venues in Northern Virginia. Aside from the airy, wood-floored indoor tasting room, there is plenty of outdoor seating. The large outdoor patio and the deck area both have nice views over the rolling hills of northern Loudoun. The owners have also installed multiple firepits for the cooler parts of the year. Guests are welcome to bring their own food. Currently Endhardt is only open on weekends. Families with children are welcome, but no pets please.
Stories: English wine? Who knew? Virginia is becoming more and more of a magnet for interested winemakers internationally. Virginia wineries now include owners and winemakers from no fewer than 15 countries, which is pretty amazing. Some participants in the industry hail from longtime winemaking heavyweights, like France, Italy and Spain. The Endhardts, as far as we know, are the first to add England to the list. England, welcome to Virginia! Now you might not know it, but there is such a thing as English wine, and chances are there will be much more of it going forward. Historically, as is well known, the English have been great consumers of wine, but imported rather than home-grown. Bordeaux grew into a great and busy port exporting “Claret” to England in the Middle Ages, and the English fought wars for well over a hundred years with the French to maintain control of the wine export trade (among other things). Not only is there now wine produced in Great Britain, but England counts some 450 wineries – even more than Virginia. The bulk of production in the country comes from the southeast, particularly Kent, whose wines have won many awards. English wine is even in demand in export markets, notably Japan. Global warming, as we know, is likely to have widespread impacts on viticulture and wine production in many areas. For several established producers, including Bordeaux, most climate projections look pretty gloomy in terms of future growing potential. For some non-traditional areas further north, prospects on the contrary look increasingly promising for high quality wine grape growing: chief among many potential winners? England. We’ve seen many properties in England’s southeast being bought up by French producers. Who knows – we may find English wine on store shelves in Virginia before long.