A Beer Grows in Wine Country

by Sarah Searle, photography by Sarah Searle There are local beer makers, and then there’s the Corcoran Brewing Company — where hops are grown on site and pumpkins for the seasonal ale are picked by hand just up the road. If beer has a terroir, this is it. “It’s all about making beer people love,” [...]

Paving Paradise

by: Michael Clune photography by: Molly McDonald Peterson Waving his arm down the length of a garish orange boundary fence that passes just feet from his home and then disappears into his 250-year-old farm, the anger and frustration in Sam Brown’s face are easy to read. The fence, erected after the town council of Purcellville, [...]

Flavor Cafe: Grandale Farm Restaurant

by: Kristen Hartke photography by Liz Elkind A certain sense of incredulity descends as you start driving the winding roads of Loudoun County, Virginia. Hazy blue mountains beckon romantically in the distance as you pass lush green fields, quaint farmhouses, and roadside markets bursting with jars of ruby-red rhubarb chutney and freshly popped kettle corn. [...]

Going Native: A Norton Conquest

By Walter Nicholls, Photos by Molly McDonald Peterson Despite the critics, a Virginia vineyard owner embraces a true American grape. Chrysalis Vineyards owner, Jennifer McCloud could rightfully be called the Queen of Norton. A full 40 of her 71 acres of vines, near the town of Middleburg in Loudoun County, are devoted to the little-recognized [...]

Flavor Cafe: The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm

Beverly Morton Billand is the Capital foodshed’s ultimate, farm-to-table pioneer, and chef Christopher Edwards brings what she grows to the plate. By Walter Nicholls • Photographs by Molly McDonald Peterson In the late 1990s, organic farmer Beverly Morton Billand had what she calls “my crazy idea.” She took the otherwise farmers market–bound vegetables and herbs, [...]

Winemaker’s Notes: Lori Corcoran

This Loudoun County vineyard owner is one of  Virginia’s newest winemakers.

Corcoran Vineyards is on a farm in Waterford, Virginia, about an hour [...]