Hunter’s Run Wine Barn [Closed in 2022]
- In the Village of Paeonian Springs, 10 minutes northwest of Leesburg just off the intersection of State Routes 7 and 9. Geri Nolan from Glenosheen, Limerick launched “a taste of Ireland in Loudoun County” in 2009. One of the smallest wineries in Loudoun, with production of only about 600 cases a year.
Wine. Tier II. Traditional line of whites: Chardonnay, Viognier, Riesling and a more unusual Traminette. Reds are fairly light-bodied. Many reviewers applaud the sangria.
Setting. Irish/ Celtic themed tasting barn, with occasional Irish music. Casual and relaxed atmosphere. Owner Geri frequently participates in the tasting, as does her sister Anne. Baguettes and Irish cheeses available. - Stories. Virginia History: an escape from Malarial Washington. The village of Paeonian Springs is named after Paean, the ancient Greek physician of the gods. It was developed in the late 1800s as a resort town for Washingtonians trying to escape the Summer heat and malaria of the District of Columbia. While the young capital of the country was not in fact built on a malarial swamp, as urban legends often have it, it did have extensive tidal marches, and the National Mall was prone to floods which provided breeding grounds for mosquitos. George Washington suffered from lifelong bouts of malaria, and the mosquito-borne menace was so prevalent in Washington that in the late 1800s, a prominent physician petitioned for a wire mosquito net as tall as the Washington Monument to be erected over the city. Enterprising entrepreneur Theodore Milton founded the Paeonian Springs Company in 1890 to develop the village as a resort town and market the local spring’s water’s healing properties. Paeonian Springs water was touted as “a fountain of health flowing out of the deep rock ribs of the Catoctin Mountain for the healing of the people.” He took advantage of the passage of the Washington & Old Dominion railroad – which made eight stops a day in the village in the early 20th century. The town flourished until the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 called into question many of the health claims made about the water. Shame about those health standards…