Fabbioli Cellars
• In eastern Loudon County, just north of Leesburg off of US Route 15. Doug Fabbioli started Fabbioli Cellars in 2000, after beginning his wine career in the Finger Lakes and California. He has since become one of the most sought-after winemakers of northern Virginia, and one of the key figures in Loudoun County’s wine industry. Having Doug Fabbioli as a consultant is a seal of approval for lesser-known wineries.
• Wine: Historically one of the elite wineries in Northern Virginia, Fabbioli Cellars’ recent vintages have been less well received. The 2019 Cabernet Franc Reserve was voted Loudoun County’s #1 Cabernet Franc in 2024 at the Loudoun wine awards. At the 2025 and 2024 Virginia Governor’s Cup state-wide wine competition, Fabbioli’s eleven entries received eight silver medals and three bronze medals, after many years of gold medal awards for the winery. At the 2025 event, silver medals were received for the 2020 “Tre Sorelle,” the 2023 Cabernet Franc and “Something White,” and the non-vintage “Ladies’ Man” (an apple-raspberry wine). Fabbioli wines were awarded two gold medals at the 2023 Governor’s Cup state-wide competition, for the 2019 Cabernet Franc Reserve, and the 2021 Cabernet Franc – which is a good hint of what varietal to target when at the winery. Fabbioli’s main focus has generally been more on red wines, such as Cabernet Franc, Tannat and Petit Verdot, with Chambourcin and on the white side Petit Manseng coming into their own more recently.
• Setting: Pleasant site off a small road, a couple of miles from Route 15. Outdoor tables in the summer, and an upstairs seating area with good views on all sides available in all seasons. Even though this is very close to Leesburg, the feel is still pretty rural – especially when mud has taken over the access road
• Stories: One star. Civil War – Ball’s Bluff Battlefield. Fabbioli is a great place to combine tasting of excellent wine with taking in history of the US Civil War. The winery is close by to two significant Civil War sites: Ball’s Bluff battlefield and the site of Robert E Lee’s crossing of the Potomac, at White’s Ford Regional Park. Ball’s Bluff was unique as the only battle ever where a sitting US Senator died on a battlefield. While a relatively small and early battle, Ball’s Bluff went a great way to changing the North’s expectations of a quick and victorious outcome to the war. Coming on the heels of the unexpected Union defeat at the Battle of Manassas, Ball’s Bluff was a flat-out embarrassment. Over 200 Union soldiers were killed and 500 captured, in a fight that featured faulty intelligence, vague orders, atrocious selection of terrain by Colonel – and Senator – Edward Baker, and Union infantry firing at trees which they had mistaken for Confederate troops. It was a wake-up call that forced recognition of the incompetence and politically-focused leadership of the Union army, gradually leading to the rise of the much more able generals who eventually helped the North prevail. The site includes a small cemetery of mostly anonymous Union soldiers, which has a reputation for being haunted. Ball’s Bluff is off of Route 15, 4-5 miles south of the turnoff for Fabbioli (when driving north on 15, turn right onto Battlefield Parkway, and the sign for Ball’s Bluff Road will be visible on your left), while White’s Ford is at the end of the road on which the winery is located.