Located in Purcellville, off of Charlestown Pike (route 9) near the West Virginia border. Bozzo Family Vineyards was launched by Stephen Bozzo, a Leesburg resident, as his “Second Act” after a legal career. Vines were planted in 2013 and the winery opened in 2018.
Wine. Tier II. Bozzo Family Vineyards are a regular presenter at the state-wide Virginia Governor’s Cup wine tasting competitions. Twice, in 2022 and 2018, a Bozzo wine has been awarded a gold medal, in 2022 for their red blend “Sei What,” 2019 vintage. At the 2023 Governor’s Cup, their 2019 B3 and 2020 LSP (both red blends) were awarded silver medals, while their 2020 “Erin” (a Viognier) was given a bronze medal. Two other Bozzo wines, the 2019 “Timmy” (a Pettit Verdot) and the 2020 “Lisa” (a Sauvignon Blanc) were awarded silver medals at the 2022 competition. At the Best of Loudoun wine competition, Bozzo received four silver medals in 2022, while at the 2021 event their 2019 vintage “Tish” was voted the Best Cabernet Franc in Loudoun County. Bozzo had made a splash in their inaugural year: at the 2018 Virginia Governor’s Cup state-wide wine competition, their 2016 Second Act red blend won a Gold Medal, and at the 2018 Best of Loudoun wine competition, they won two gold medals, for their Second Act and their Murph chardonnay. Wines also include Petit Manseng and Chardonnay. Most of the grapes have been sourced initially from Maggie Malick’s; starting with the 2018 vintage Bozzo wines are now largely from their 9 acres of estate-grown grapes. Producing about 1500 cases.
Setting. Small and simple but elegant tasting room with a small deck overlooking nice Loudoun County countryside and hillside views, on the slope of Short Hill Mountain. Crackers, cheese and salami available. The winery is sustainability-focused. Waste-water is pretreated and put into EPA approved injection wells. Energy needs are reduced by attention to insulation and by use of passive solar technologies and heat pumps, and an onsite wind turbine is envisaged.
Stories. Making Wine in Virginia: Keeping it in the Family. With so many wineries opening across Virginia, it is not surprising to see many different types of business models. Northern Virginia in particular, where many wineries have been launched by transplanted urbanites or suburbanites, has tended towards bringing in experienced winemakers and/or vineyard managers. Smaller family-run operations can be found throughout the state, though typically coming from family-run farms that have diversified towards grape growing and processing, as wine has become more economically attractive. At Bozzo Family, we have a bit of an exception to the generalities. Transplanted suburbanite has gone into this second career, or “Second Act” as their flagship red blend has it, with the intent of keeping things in the family. Indeed the vision of a longer-term family business is what took him from Law into winemaking, via classes at Piedmont Valley Community College. The large and growing family operates and manages all aspects of Bozzo. The Bozzo wines call out “family” from each label: the Murph is named after Steven’s wife family, Patricia (a Petit Manseng) is Steven’s mother-in-law, Alma (a Viognier) is named after his mother, Paul (Cabernet Sauvignon) after several Pauls in the family. Lisa and Thad So (another Petit Manseng) are a daughter and son-in-law, you get the picture. Even the wine club is named “La Famiglia.”