Virginia’s Wine and Cheese: The Ag District

By Kurt Jacobson
Updated on October 16, 2024
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by Kurt Jacobson

Thomas Jefferson had a vision for Virginia to become a major wine-producing state. To many at the time, his vision seemed far-fetched, especially when his own grape-growing experiments continued to fail. Two hundred years later, Jefferson might be proud to see Virginia’s wine industry finally take off. Today, the state has more than 300 wineries (up from only six in the 1970s), making it one of the fastest-growing grape-growing regions in the United States.

Perhaps another agricultural product from the region, Virginia’s quality cheese, pairs so perfectly with wine that it’s at least partially responsible for the state’s viticultural proliferation. After all, the only place I’ve visited both a dairy and vineyard occupying the same land is on Jennifer McCloud’s farm in Aldie, Virginia.

When I visited The Ag District, McCloud’s 412-acre diversified farm in Loudoun County, I was amazed to see how this self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur has successfully cultivated not one, but three successful on-farm enterprises just about an hour west of downtown Washington, D.C. Tucked among the Bull Run Mountains, visitors to The Ag District can tour – and taste the labors of – Chrysalis Vineyards, Locksley Farmstead Cheese Company, and the Little River Bakehouse. Yet, McCloud’s triple-threat farmstead dream wasn’t always guaranteed, and she’d use several innovative legal tools to see it through.

Of Land and Legacy

Development pressure around Washington, D.C., has been growing for years, tracking with the District’s booming economy. Loudoun County’s population has grown nearly 30 percent since 2010, making it the fastest-growing county in Virginia. McCloud knew she’d need to act fast to protect her land from encroaching development. She chose to employ conservation easements, a legal designation that puts a deed restriction on a property that prevents commercial development. No subdivisions or strip malls will be built on the property, regardless of future ownership.

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