How Agritourism Drives Loudoun’s Rural Economy
BY DOUGLAS ROGERS I VISIT LOUDOUN
The Boxwood Estate Winery is located in Middleburg, Virginia, and boasts 26.5 acres of sustainable vineyards planted with traditional Bordeaux varietals. Photo courtesy Great Country Farms
Drive west from Washington, DC toward Loudoun County, Virginia, and for 30 miles you’re in a tangle of urban sprawl. What was rural farmland only a generation ago is now townhouse developments, strip malls, toll roads and—as you nudge into Loudoun at Sterling and Ashburn—sleek, hi-tech data centers owned by Amazon and the like, through which 70 percent of the world’s Internet traffic now flows.
A few miles further west though, just past Leesburg, a strange thing happens. As if crossing a border, the sprawl suddenly clears and you’re in glorious countryside: stone-fenced farm fields dotted with cows, horses and red barns; green hills carpeted with grape vines, forests of maple, oak and birch all around; Blue Ridge Mountains shimmering in the distance.
Loudoun contains worlds – there are few more geographically and commercially diverse counties in the US—and while the developed and hi-tech east offers all the fashion and amenities of urban living, it’s the rural tradition and agri-businesses of the west that nourish the county’s soul.
“We started our first business—Great Country Farms—in 1992,” said Bruce Zurschmeide, one of six children of Loudoun agri-business pioneer, Bob Zurschmeide, 83. “Loudoun had so few people then—the closest big population was Fairfax. We had no idea how popular it would become.”
We’re sipping a crisp glass of Byde Your Time craft lager on the al fresco patio of Dirt Farm Brewing, the craft ale outpost of the Zurschmeide empire on steep slopes of the Blue Ridge near historic Bluemont. Bruce and his wife Janell opened the brewery in 2015 on a portion of the land Bob purchased in the 1970s. Bob worked for the CIA and was a weekend “dirt farmer”—hence the name of the brewery. The original building on the property, a 1940s fieldstone hunting lodge, now serves as the tap room for fruit-forward ales, stouts and lagers, all produce sourced locally.
The view from the patio tells more of the family story: On 100 acres of vine-covered slopes adjacent to Dirt Farm is Bluemont Vineyard, opened in 2005, and overseen by Bruce’s brother Mark, while at the foot of the mountain is Henway Hard Cider Co, opened in 2019. As with the wine and beer, the cider is made from fruit grown on the farm. Bringing it all together, on 300 surrounding acres, is Great Country Farms, which is the business that started it all. An iconic destination for Loudoun families for nearly 30 years, it features wagon rides, pick-your-own opportunities, a corn maze during harvest time and a bountiful farm store. Combine all four businesses and several thousand visitors might come through on a summer weekend.
The Bluemont General Store dates back to the 1840s and is a fun spot to kick back and have lunch or an ice cream cone on the porch after a morning hike. Photo: Douglas Graham/Wild Light Photos courtesy Visit Loudoun
The view from the patio tells more of the family story: On 100 acres of vine-covered slopes adjacent to Dirt Farm is Bluemont Vineyard, opened in 2005, and overseen by Bruce’s brother Mark, while at the foot of the mountain is Henway Hard Cider Co, opened in 2019. As with the wine and beer, the cider is made from fruit grown on the farm. Bringing it all together, on 300 surrounding acres, is Great Country Farms, which is the business that started it all. An iconic destination for Loudoun families for nearly 30 years, it features wagon rides, pick-your-own opportunities, a corn maze during harvest time and a bountiful farm store. Combine all four businesses and several thousand visitors might come through on a summer weekend.
“We have been fortunate to have been doing this a long time,” said Bruce Zurschmeide. “And if you don’t like the weather in Loudoun, all you have to do is wait a minute, it will change!”
Rebecca Brouwer, owner of Shepherd’s Corner Farm in Purcellville, Virginia, prepares the wool from her sheep and fashions beautiful scarves.
The wineries, breweries and farms that span Loudoun’s rolling countryside are contributing millions to the local economy, showing that agri-business is big business for the county. According to a study by the Institute for Service Research, Loudoun’s agritourism businesses brought in 1.2 million visitors in 2018, generating a total economic impact of some $413.6 million. About 40 percent of those visitors were from outside the region. An additional survey by the Loudoun Wineries Association, Loudoun County Economic Development and Visit Loudoun found that wineries and farm breweries hosted nearly 800,000 of those visitors, collecting an estimated $30.7 million in revenue.
“Agritourism is a vital piece of Loudoun’s economy and not only puts substantial money back in the economy but also provides unique experiences for visitors and residents alike,” Visit Loudoun President and CEO Beth Erickson said.
As DC’s Wine Country®, it’s no surprise that Loudoun wineries bring in much of the traffic, but the appeal is beyond tasting fine wine—it’s a glimpse into a conserved way of life.
“I had an epiphany that the quintessential preservation of a harvest is a bottle of wine – it can last 30 years,” said Jenni McCloud, the owner of Chrysalis Vineyards at the Ag District near Middleburg, the largest producer of Norton grapes in the world. McCloud’s 412-acre conservation area includes her vineyard, a creamery and tasting room/produce market at which visitors sample wines and other items grown on the farm. “It’s a powerful thing when a visitor asks where this drink came from, to be able to point to a vineyard and say: ‘right over there’.”
Harvesting apples for Henway Hard Cider at Great Country Farms. Photo courtesy Great Country Farms
One of the enduring charms of the area is that agritourism spans large empires like the Ag District and Great Country Farms to smaller entrepreneurs creating unique products for visitors to take home. Working out of a rustic 18th century log cabin on 10-acre Shepherd’s Corner Farm, fiber artist Rebecca Brouwer makes exquisite handmade scarves, wraps and shawls from wool sheared from the 20-strong herd of Swedish-breed Gotland sheep she and husband Dennis raise on the property. Brouwer uses a unique felting technique that combines delicate colored fabrics with the light-as-air wools. The result? Intricate floral and peacock-feather designs that would not look out of place in Vogue.
One of the enduring charms of the area is that agritourism spans large empires like the Ag District and Great Country Farms to smaller entrepreneurs creating unique products for visitors to take home. Working out of a rustic 18th century log cabin on 10-acre Shepherd’s Corner Farm, fiber artist Rebecca Brouwer makes exquisite handmade scarves, wraps and shawls from wool sheared from the 20-strong herd of Swedish-breed Gotland sheep she and husband Dennis raise on the property. Brouwer uses a unique felting technique that combines delicate colored fabrics with the light-as-air wools. The result? Intricate floral and peacock-feather designs that would not look out of place in Vogue.
“I feel incredibly fortunate during these challenging economic times to live in the countryside and have a business and a product I can keep making,” Brouwer said. (Buy her work during Loudoun’s Spring and Fall Farm Tours, on the Purcellville Artisan Tour or at Loudoun Farms Marketplace: https://loudounfarms.org/marketplace/)
Of course, agri-businesses can also mean food, and western Loudoun produces artisanal foodstuffs aplenty. While much of it is sold at weekend farmers markets at One Loudoun, Brambleton and downtown Leesburg, you can also pick up fresh produce from rustic roadside farm stores any day of the week in the west—if you know where to look. Head to western Loudoun’s town of Hillsboro for fresh produce, meats, vegetables and dairy from Stoneybrook Farm Market. Located in the heart of this historic town, the market features products from its 45-acre farm as well as sandwiches, salads and baked goods that are perfect to grab and go for a picnic at a nearby winery.
Over on Hamilton Station Road between Route 7 and 9 near Hamilton, is the jewel-boxed sized roadside store of Loudoun’s Spring House Farms, offering the tastiest grass-fed beef and pork and poultry products in Loudoun. The store is so small you may have trouble getting a slab of bone-in rib eyes out the door. But small or not, like other agri-businesses out west, the shop nourishes the soul.
For more information on agritourism businesses in Loudoun, visit www.visitloudoun.org
