Vineyard Voyages: Driving Through Virginia’s Wine Country
The wine and fun flowed as we topped off Pride Month with a Vineyard Voyages tour of Virginia's Wine Country.
On a recent hazy Saturday summer morning, the husband and I set out for D.C.’s Wine Country. I was on assignment, dispatched to day-drink with journalistic integrity as a guest with Vineyard Voyages, a gay owned-and-operated winery tour company founded in May 2024 by wine enthusiast and educator Christian Hoeffel.
Hoeffel also serves as host and guide on each tour, two per weekend. “I tell everybody on my tours, I didn’t grow up thinking I’d own a wine tour company,” says the Indiana native, who discovered his love for wine tourism during his travels. Now, he’s sipped wines of the world on six continents.
Three years ago, the budding oenophile got his first taste of the wines produced locally in D.C.’s Wine Country, which, per the registered trademark, is actually in Loudoun County, Virginia, due west and north of the District.
Hoeffel and his partner had relocated from New York to the D.C. area, “and found out there are wineries,” he recalls. “I didn’t realize how many wineries there are, and also how good the wine is. And when I was looking for an easy way to get out there, I didn’t find a tour that matched what I looked for, like a scheduled tour or something that’s relatively affordable.”
So the budding entrepreneur created Vineyard Voyages, which transports guests by air-conditioned coach bus to wine country for tipsy afternoons of tastings, socializing, and exploring the lush surroundings in the so-called birthplace of American wine.
“Thomas Jefferson wrote about this ‘space between the hills,’ which is the Loudoun Heights region,” says Hoeffel, noting the state’s most revered wine connoisseur. “[He] talked about how that would be a really great place to produce wine, because of the elevation, because there’s some semi-volcanic rock in that space. [And] volcanic rock really is great for wine production.”
Currently 52 wineries sit nestled among the hillsides and horse farms of Loudoun County. Nearly half were participating in the second annual Pride in the Vines Wine Trail, a month-long celebration of LGBTQ pride and fabulous local wines, organized by the Loudoun Wineries and Winegrowers Association.
Our tour that day would make stops at three wineries on the Pride in the Vines trail: Two Twisted Posts in Purcellville, Williams Gap Vineyards in Round Hill, and 868 Estate Vineyards in Hillsboro. We’d be spending at least an hour at each location, so thankfully our group turned out to be cheerful, charming company.
A collection of friends and strangers, we were a bubbly, mostly queer bunch — Hoeffel, his partner Ken, an assistant Dan, and a lucky 13 guests, plus our steady driver Kada. There were singles and couples of diverse ages and backgrounds, some real characters — among them, a former Metro Weekly Nightlife Coverboy, who knew a lot about wines, and happened to be celebrating his birthday that weekend.
We could have been the cast of a quirky comedy, or a Knives Out mystery. As Kada guided our coach over the winding country roads, and Ken played Pride anthems and heavily requested Chappell Roan hits over the sound system, Hoeffel offered the day’s most helpful suggestion: “You’re gonna want to have a sip of water for every sip of wine.”
By the time we reached our first destination, the sun had peeked out through the haze over Two Twisted Posted Wineries. This lesbian-managed, family-owned vineyard is where I tasted the most wines, and, not coincidentally, the stop where I tasted the most wines I enjoyed, led by the winery’s deliciously sweet red blend, “Do Not Call Me a Cab.”
Also at Two Twisted Posts, one thoughtful member of our group started secretly circulating a birthday card, purchased in the winery’s gift shop, for the birthday boy. The thought was lovely. The card, though random, was heartfelt and cute.
We all signed, passing it around under the table at our second stop, Williams Gap Vineyard. They’re one of several wineries in the region touting a new vintage of hard-to-find Albariño, a wine I’d never tried or even heard of before.
“It’s a really nice white wine that’s kind of like a Sauvignon Blanc,” Hoeffel informs me. “It smells sweet, but goes down dry and easily. So a lot of the wineries are producing that these days. It’s traditionally a Spanish wine, but it’s growing a lot here.”
The wines we tried at Williams Gap, including their first vintage of Albariño, were fine. Although none of those in the flight we paid for could compete with the vineyard’s mouthwatering Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine that was offered compliments of the house.
Overall, Williams Gap delivered the most enjoyable tasting experience, if not necessarily the greatest number of wines we’d consider taking home. From the friendly, knowledgeable servers, to the sprawling, verdant grounds, where we chatted with new acquaintances on a leisurely stroll among the vines, we had a great time there.
And the good times continued at the tour’s final stop, 868 Estate Vineyards, where the group occupied a few picnic tables outdoors, and drank, rather than tasted, a selection of chilled wines. The sparkling white at 868 hit the spot, but the Chardonel appeared to be the consensus favorite of our group.
After snapping photos, we were all there to see when, finally, the birthday card, signed by everyone, was gifted to its surprised and delighted recipient. Over a joyful toast, we celebrated him, our collective Pride, and a memorable day spent traipsing through the vines of D.C.’s Wine Country.
Vineyard Voyages schedules Saturday and Sunday tours, with pickup locations in Metro D.C. and Leesburg. Tour prices start at $79.99. Visit www.vineyardvoyages.com.
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