The Wine Reserve at Waterford — Attraction in Purcellville

Just moved here from San Diego, and never knew VA had such a plethora of wineries. Stumbled upon the Wine Reserve based on their 5 star yelp reviews. Made a reservation the day before using their website, and it tells you all the Covid precautions, etc.

Lucked out on a beautiful sunny fall Saturday, and the views of the neighboring land, horse farm, etc. were terrific. A kind gentleman checked us in and told us to pick whatever picnic table we wanted, and gave us a run down of how to order, etc. All of the deck tables were already booked, but not a big deal.

We got the $17 tasting flight (see pic) which had 6 large test tubes of a sparkling rose, Chardonnay, petit manseng, white blend, cab franc and meritage blend. All very drinkable but we found the Wine Reserve's Wandlerust/Meritage and the Hark Cab Franc to be stand outs and our favorites. Good legs, peppery notes, stone fruit...blah blah blah. The petit manseng and white blend were a tad too sweet for our personal tastes, but you'll love it if you're a fan of varietals.

The gentleman who first greeted us, and was kindly checking on all of the customers, turned out to be the owner Jon. We had a great chat about his background, his winery, winemaking, etc. which was actually quite fascinating. Just a down-to-earth, well-spoken, friendly guy who made our experience that much more enjoyable. We're used to the Napa valley environment which can be mechanical and pretentious so this was a very welcome change.

Due to Covid, they don't serve food, but had a food truck arrive at 12 or so that served some delicious Puerto Rican food (the pork, rice and plantains dish was terrific).

Anyways, we found everyone we encountered at the Wine Reserve to be friendly, polite and very accommodating, and the outdoor tasting area has terrific views. We never felt rushed whatsoever while we enjoyed our tasting flight and subsequently ordered a few full pours. We ended up buying half a case and we'll definitely be back for more. Hope the weather...

Beautiful autumn weather called us out for wine! Still adjusting to the new COVID normal and was very happy to find that while Wine Reserve at Waterford required reservations (in two hour periods) everything was easily done online the night before. We were even able to chose where we'd like to sit. Arriving at the winery (slightly late for our reservation) we were greeted on the exterior deck and led to our reserved deck table while the process was explained and menu was handed to us. Went back into the tasting bar for our order, XL tasting flight, and was greeted by super friendly staff. They made note of my order in the online system and I paid my tab before I left, I even did the swipe myself. The staff helped me bring out test tube style tasting (one of the coolest new ways to taste) with tasting notes and pleasantly surprising pour size for the provided real glasses. Side note I noticed they subtly put the tasting at the far end of the table so as not to violate social distancing. Four of the six tastings were from Waterford, one Italian sparkling (because on a previous visit we were told every tasting should begin with bubbles) and one from Hark Vineyards. While we enjoyed our tasting we noticed that tables were throughly sanitized between guests, and thankfully upon arrival there was no excessive scent of cleanser. We also noticed that some people were able to arrive day of if all the reservations were not taken, they were incredibly accommodating. One set of guests even brought a puppy and they offered it a bowl of water. It was a beautiful...

I don't usually write online reviews, but we had such a lovely time at this winery that I thought I should share. I went to celebrate my birthday with a large-ish group (7 people), and all of the staff were SO kind and accommodating. They showed us all of the indoor and outdoor options for a group of our size, including a tented U-shaped seating area outside where we started, an alcove with couches inside where we moved once the 99 degree heat got to be too much for us, and a speakeasy downstairs which we decided against but was a nice option for a private space. Three different staff members helped us during our time there, and all were so friendly and knowledgeable. They had a great variety of wines for all tastes, from dry whites and reds to a very sweet imported peach Moscato. The flight was a great value (each of the 6 portions was more than a half glass, for $20), included a nice variety of wines, and was served in a novel way (test tubes). The setting was beautiful, the wines good, but really it was the exceptional service that really put the experience over the top. I will 100% be coming back...