Leesburg winemakers launch first vintage
By Shannon Sollinger
Bill Hatch had been waiting for this day for nearly 20 years.
It was Aug. 16, and streams of cabernet Franc flowed from French oak barrels to waiting bottles. Zephaniah Farm Vineyard 2007 Cabernet Franc was ready for the market, and the family venture Hatch has worked toward for decades was a reality.
The whole family was there to make it happen, in the basement of the house Hatch grew up in on Dunlop Mill Road south of Leesburg. Daughter Meredith, 27, came out from her Arlington home; daughter Emily, 27, traveled from Colonial Heights, Ohio; and son Tremain took time out from graduate studies in growing world-class grapes at Virginia Tech. Bill and wife Bonnie Archer joined the crew, along with family friend Rosslyn Contreras, 27, who lives in the District of Columbia.
Together they bottled, corked and sealed 50 cases of fine wine. Maybe 49, Hatch said, eyeing a small red stain on the floor to one side of the bottling line.
Fledgling Zephaniah's first bottling will be ready for tasting in a few weeks, and will be found at the Leesburg Farmers Market every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon from early September until the end of October.
Its formal debut will be at the Loudoun Fall Farm Color Tour Oct. 18-19 at the tasting room in the 1830 manor house on Dunlop Mill Road.
About 20 years ago, Bill Hatch came up with the idea of starting a winery on the Hatch family farm south of Leesburg. As of summer 2008, rows of cabernet Franc are flourishing on a northeast-facing slope in the summer heat, the chardonnay is nearing first harvest, and a new planting of petit manseng is taking root.
An alert Airedale terrier and an electric perimeter fence keep the marauding deer and raccoons at bay. A digital recording of a hawk's hunting cry discourages the local birds from shopping for grape juice.
The tasting room will be open by appointment. Call 703-431-2016 for more information or to set up a winery tour. Visit the Zephaniah Farm Vineyard Web site at www.virginiawine.org, click on "wineries."