Located on Spinks Ferry Road, off of US Highway 15 in Leesburg. Owners Eric and Deborah Hauck established Hidden Brook in 2001, literally next door to Eric’s parents, three years after their first planting of vines. Back then it was still one of the first ten wineries in Loudoun County. The log cabin was built by them, and completed two weeks before the winery’s opening.
Wine. Tier II. Eric and Deborah’s favorite varietals are the French-American Hybrids, Vidal Blanc and Chambourcin. Hidden Brook’s approach to wine is Italian style. Reds are softer in tannins and exhibit more fruit. There are seven acres of grapes.
Setting. Hidden Brook Winery is nestled between the Potomac River and the rolling hills of Loudoun. Visitors will find a long cabin with a fireplace for colder seasons, and a covered porch and deck facing stands of white pines.
Stories. Making Wine in Virginia: All in the Family… but not too close. Winemaking is a family affair in many places across Virginia. In some places, farms that have been in families for generations are getting a new lease on life from vineyards and wineries (examples). In others, winemaking involves multiple generations working together, while in some cases the winery is an older generation’s plan for the inheritance of younger generations. No need to touch on families who drink wine together. Hidden Brook, in the northeast corner of Loudoun County, had a slightly different take on Keeping it All in the Family. Eric and Deborah Hauck decided to start a new winery, and saw winemaking as a way of being close to the family, specifically Eric’s parents, Bob and Carol Hauck. Close, but not too close. Eric and Deborah decided to locate Hidden Brook next door (indeed, really next door) to Lost Creek Winery, which had been founded three years earlier by Bob and Carol. All this after years of Eric’s working for his father Bob’s company, North Star Fire Protection, a sprinkler installation business. Though even then, they were close, working in the same company, but not too close: Bob was at headquarters in Texas, while Eric and a brother ran the Northern Virginia branch in Sterling. Winemaking gave the family a chance to come closer together. But not too close… After more than a decade of their being rare in-the-family-neighbors-competitors, parents Bob and Carol sold off Lost Creek for $2.3 million. The younger generation is still at it.