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Tarara Winery
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
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$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
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30 reviews for Tarara Winery
If you are coming to Tarara for the first time, I definitely recommend signing up for a premier tasting (which only happen on Sundays). Those who found their regular tasting to be a little too much like a 1920 Ford assembly line may appreciate the care and attention that they will receive. According to their website, the premier tasting is an "intimate, hour-long tastings of seven premium Tarara wines, including limited quantity and pre-release selections, in our board room overlooking orchards and Shadow Lake [. . .] Walk-ins welcome on a first come, first served basis. $20 per person". Steve was our guide and I found him to be quite knowledgeable about Tarara's wines and oenology in general.
I have also participated in a regular tasting--on a Saturday afternoon at the end of June--and found it to be pretty chill. M and I snagged a spot on the porch and were later joined by some friends. One of the of the staff actually came to our tables and gave us a semi-private tasting! It was a real treat.
While the wines in VA may still not be up to snuff with other wine-growing regions in the United States, I have found Tarara's wines to be consistently quite good. If you like Tarara's wines, sign up for their wine club...it's really a no-brainer. It's $240 per year and you can be charged quarterly ($60). We get three bottles of wine quarterly. Our last package included the D9, Rose, and Charval; the D9 alone is $50. So, it's a pretty good deal. Plus, you get 2 free tastings each time you visit the winery...not to mention discounts, 2 free passes to their summer concert series, and invitations to special events.
My favorite wines include:
Reds: D9, Long Bomb, and the 2006 Cab Franc Reserve
Whites: 2007 Viogner
And, as virtually everyone before me has mentioned, the property is absolutely lovely.
Comment from Heather A. of
Tarara Winery
10/23/2009
Thanks Sarah for your feedback! So glad you enjoyed your…
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I agree with David R on the tasting experience. It was like an "assembly line." The service was average at best and the wines a little overrated. However, you could taste a couple of the same wines if you were on the fence as to purchasing them. The Rose and the Wild River were the favorites of the several my girl tasted. There were a few wines that were $20.00 and under. Most of the wines were very expensive. The scenery and the cellar are quite impressive though.
Shadow, the black lab has health issues and is no longer roaming the grounds. He is upstairs resting. He even has his own postcard (75 cents) in the gift shop. He's a good dog! :)
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I haven't been to many VA wineries but have gone to many other wine regions in the USA and abroad. I found this winery to be lovely. The setting is gorgeous, and I thought the $10.50 tasting was very generous. I believe you get nine tastes (2 whites, 1 rose and 6 reds), but our wine "pourer" added in two reserves. He was also very nice and knowledgeable but not a wine snob. You can bring a picnic here and sit on the beautiful patio, as well as take a cave tour. They also sell a small selection of food goods to make your own picnic.
I don't know if this is the "best" winery in Virginia, but I had a very nice experience here.
At first I was excited by what appeared to be a larger selection of wines on their tasting list then others in the area however I quickly regretted the $10.50 I had spent on the tasting. After waiting a half hour for a spot at the counter the staff where rushed and couldn't remember what they had poured last when they finally got around to pouring a glass. They were unable to answer most basic questions about the wine. All of the wines offered had the same strong oak flavor (not something I care for to begin with) that only got stronger with each selection. No variety in flavor. Will not recommend or return.
I visited Tarara for a romantic weekend getaway and it's definitely one of the nicest wineries I've been to, anywhere. They have a lake view bed and breakfast upstairs from their winery which consists of three guest rooms with private baths, plus one suite. Each room is named for one of there wines. The room we stayed in was well appointed and comfortable and breakfast the following morning was a 5 star dining experience - absolutely delicious. The common area where breakfast was served had granite floors, a fireplace, a grand piano and beautiful furnishings. The underground winery inside a massive cave is one of a kind. I'm not a big fan of VA wines but they did have a few that I enjoyed. The proprietor Whitie (who sadly passed away last year) and his wife were very gracious hosts and we learned a lot about the history of the winery. Whitie even let us take one of his golf carts to explore the property. It was a holiday weekend so that afternoon they had a BBQ on a large patio. The food was amazing....lamb kabobs and unlimited wine. The atmosphere was priceless...more stunning views, an acoustic guitarist and great convo with the vintner a gregarious Aussie....good times.
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Nice looking place, nice atmosphere, nice staff. Sub par wine. Not much flavor, although the tasting had a lot of options. I was waiting to be wowed, and it just never happened.
Consider this the Barboursville of Loudoun County. Except that Barboursville has a few good wines that justify a touch of the hype. Its like the McDonalds of VA wine, very commercial, warm place, but no substance to speak of.
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I came here last summer and really enjoyed the atmosphere of the place. Tasting the six or seven regular reds was absolutely worth the five bucks. My friends and I split a bottle of Cabernet Franc Reserve, which I found very smooth and easy to drink, yet with deep flavors. We also got some camenbert and crackers, and sat down underneath the trees by the glistening lake and spent a wonderful sunny and lightly breezy afternoon there. It was a memorable trip and look forward to going back this summer as well.
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Unfortunately many of the reviews regarding the staff seem to be true to my experience. It is a nice vineyard but our pourer had attitude. Still, if you are looking to hit the outlets and a vineyard its not bad for a $5 tasting and you get to sample many things.
Very tasty reds here, my favorite being the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. It is only $20/bottle and tastes of bitter dark chocolate and smoke. My friend preferred the Long Bomb, a Bordeaux blend, and the other star is the Meritage, though I found it overpriced. The smaller production Syrah wasn't available to taste and is only available by the case, which is a shame since it is delicious and made in a Northern Rhone style. At the tasting I would avoid the whites, which seemed comparatively limp and watery.
One of my favorite wineries in Virginia, though the one sore point is the tasting room, which is windowless and cramped. As long as you are there primarily for the wine, however, it's definitely worth a visit.
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I've never visited a winery I didn't like... until now.
Almost every wine we tasted was very bland and the service was terrible. At times we waited 8 minutes or more between our samples.
I was impressed with the property when we pulled in but the tasting room is in a basement (they say cave but it's a basement). There was mold along the bottom of the wall that our tasting area was facing. I'm not talking about a couple of specks... it was all along the baseboard. I felt like I was in the basement of a friend's house who hadn't taken care to dehumidify the place.
The one positive note was the Long Bomb wine. I did buy one bottle of this but I won't be going back again. Sorry Tarara.
This is one of the busiest spots in Northern VA; in all of Virginia, in fact. The tasting experience is "assembly line." Get your ticket, find an open spot at one of the three counters, and wait until the next tasting event starts. They do have a lot of wine, and many of them are very good. My favorite was a red blend called "Long Bomb," with a clever football chalk board on the label. There are a few tables on the patio near the entrance, but not nearly enough for a winery of this size. Seems like the one winery most people in Northern VA have been to is Tarara.
Not my type of wine. All -even the whites- have an intense tannins flavor, Bordeaux-like, as Takaki said.
Aside from having to wait in their cave (where the wines are stored) for several minutes while they prepared for us, our group got great service during our tasting. Our server was a short, older gentleman who described the foods he cooks that work best with each wine. His foods sounded so good, we wanted to have dinner at his house. He also gave people a second serving if they requested. However, one of the tasters for our group wasn't as friendly and refused to give a second serving upon request.
Scenery here is ok - has lots of overgrown vegetation and a pond. It's hard to come after Hillsborough Vineyards. Our group got to hang out on the deck at Tarara, enjoying wine, cheese and crackers. Tarara accomodates a good time.
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I forget that farmland is not too far off from DC. Wineries do exist in our area!
I attended Tarara's Blackberry Days Wine Festival in early August. Yes, it was a bit of a drive but it was worth it. $15 included admission and wine tasting. For $5 more, you can try the reserve tasting as well.
Many vendors were selling food, crafts, and other products. I grabbed a chicken kabob with rice. We also came home with some yummy cheese spread from a stand selling Country Pride Cheese House.
Now for the tastings... it was incredibly busy for the festival so they had a large tent set up where tastings occurred. We squished in to claim a spot for the regular tasting. I found them all pretty mediocre. We gave our taste buds a little break and then came back for the reserve tastings. I highly recommend paying the extra $5 to try these. We came away with the Viognier, a delicious white wine I had never tried before.
The scenery is just lovely (see pics). Wish we had put some chairs or a blanket in the car, but we found shady spots to sit. Many people chose to buy a bottle of wine and walk around enjoying it on the property. The blackberries were abundant and I couldn't help but sneak a few before going home to washing them.
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Beautiful property! Lovely wines. Decently priced.
My only complaint was that we were herded through the tasting and I felt rushed to taste a few of the wines more quickly than I would have liked. Excellent pourers who make good recommendations about pairing certain wines with certain foods.
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Awesome wines, and they offer a great tasting room. This is a local winery that can well stand with Napa's finest wines. I highly recommend their wine club, as well as a cool day to visit their winery.
Bottom line: Worth the time, and mighty fine wine!
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Went there for a wedding a few weeks ago. The lake there is very beautiful. The drive into the winery is incredible.
They had the Tarara wine at the wedding and I really enjoyed it. I had a few glasses of the Cabernet Sauvignon. I'm not a wine expert, and have never claimed to be, but I do know when something tastes good. It tasted good.
I'm not sure if they allow it, but this would be a great place to take a date for a picnic.
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Wow. Definitely the best reds I've had from Virginia wineries. If you like strong, dry Bordeaux-type red, try their reserve tasting ($10 for 5 generous pours). Their 2004 reserve Cab Sauvignon is excellent. They also have 'featured' tasting ($5 for 10) which is still pretty good. Their wines are not those Virginia wines that taste like honey (not that I don't like those either). Staff is friendly and knowledgeable.
Their large and beautiful property has 5 mile hiking trails, some of which go along Potomac. They also have festivals featuring local Jazz bands. I think next time I should bring picnic lunch and spend an afternoon there.
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This winery seems to be a lot more commercial than many of the others in Loudoun County. I feel like the hype far exceeds the quality and taste of the wines.
I've never really had a great visit to the tastin groom. It feels like you're being herded through so that they can get the next group in. Sometimes when I'm there, there is scheduled tasting and other times, they say to just go find an open spot.
When they do have the scheduled tasting, they do the last one 1/2 hour before close. On one visit, I was with my family, and we had 2 guides - one said the tasting room was open until 5pm, and another said they were open until 6pm. We were told that the last tasting had started at 4:30, and that we couldn't taste.
I like to support the local wine industry, and I visit Tarara every year so that I can complete my Loudoun Wine Trail, but other than that, I don't visit.
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I love wine. Wine is such a personal thing for me. I know that what I enjoy and appreciate in a glass is most likely going to be different than the next person, so I won't review the wine.
Many of the wines were enjoyable here-some extremely fine, but the entire tasting experience ruined it for me. We make it a point to go to vineyards on off-peak hours and weekdays when we can. This way you don't fight the crowds, can take your time with the wine and judge the wine and company fairly. There was only one other couple tasting when we went to Tarara-it was quiet, but we felt rushed through the $10 tasting nevertheless. Many vineyards offer free tasings. The flight consisted of 6 or 7 not-very-generously poured glasses of wine. The server treated us with civility but no ceremony, and it seemed like an over-rehearsed and bored script: "Which one was your favorite?" was repeated robotically more times than I could count. I wouldn't have minded paying money for an exceptional experience. The grounds are delightful. I really wanted to like this vineyard, but the company did not, sadly, win me over. I would rather drive an extra hour and deal with the commercialism of Barboursville, which I happen to enjoy. It is the experience I go for. I like to mill about casually and take my time. I want to feel comfortable talking about the wine and comfortable asking to try something again. I like a company to be enthusiastic and proud of their product and really want you to try their wine. I just did not get that here.
The wines here are good. What I have a problem with here is the scheduled tastings. The tasting room can get really crowded.
What I really like here is the hiking trails down to the Potomac, nice picnic area and pond.
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I know nothing about the winery building. We went to a music festival here that was sponsored by Tarara Winery, so of course there was a tasting. There was a flight of five wines, and I think they had them in a very odd order. The wine was ok. Nothing near that quality of CA wines, but not awful either.
We sat on blankets on the grass by the lake and listened to a very old cover band that was playing the songs of the 90s (my generation). Very nostalgic. Great friends, good food, and a beautiful atmosphere made this a really fun evening.
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If you live in DC, going to a VA winery is a nice change of pace. I've been to the blackberry festival twice in the last two years. Both times were pretty hot and humid so maybe I should wait until fall next time. This is still a great escape from the city. Some wines are better than others- the Meritage is a must try. The blackberries are good for the pickin' and are pretty sweet. The festivals are well run with plenty of food and various vendors. Took some awesome cheese spread home with me.
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For my roomie's birthday a big group of us rented a limo van and toured 2 wineries in Leesburg. Tarara was our first stop. Since this was my very first vineyard trip I had no expectations. The staff placed a menu of the wines we tasted. This definitely helped keep track of the glasses we enjoyed and didn't enjoy. I found the staff to be friendly, and answered many of our questions.
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Was there for an evening concert- summer time special event that they do every few weeks. Band played suspended over the lake, which provided a nice few, but you are in the trees, so it was very, very buggy. Kudos to the organizers for providing bottled water and bug spray! Admission $15, but you can bring your own food and non-alch beve, and buy wine there. It IS Virginia wine...so it's just ok, and also a bit steep for the bottle prices (17-30 depending on your choice), glass prices were a rip off (7 bucks and up), but it was nice to spend the evening outdoors, shaded, with a picnic and good company.
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I like wine, but I'm no connoisseur. I visited Tarara this Summer for their Great Grape Wine Festival. I had a good time with my little company, though I did not get to fully enjoy the venue. It's a nice place to go with a special someone and wander the vineyards and around the lake. I brought home 3 of their reserve wines: 2 juicy reds and a chardonnay that were all thoroughly enjoyed.
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Awesome place with exceptional wines. I liked their reds and the pourer was professional and very happy to pour us their wine. My only complaint was that the tasting room is a bit dark and windowless which is odd since the place is beautiful with stunning views. There are hikes and ponds and live music in the summer. It seems more like a 'whole day' destination with the winery stunt as a side job. All in all, I loved this place. Definitely going back!
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Of the Virginia wineries, this may be my least favorite... not because the property isn't beautiful... because it is. And the wines aren't bad... Simply put, they just don't satisfy my personal palate. I like lush, spicy reds and in comparison to other local wineries, Tarara hasn't delivered anything to my taste. But isn't that the great thing about wine tasting??? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and it's still fun to go out and taste the different offerings. I know many people who love the wine produced here and it's definitely worth the trip out.
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A fine local vineyard. I went to this festivity where they hired a subpar 90's cover band, or two, to play while you sit on the grass overlooking a lake and eat picnic food. It was a lot of fun. They also had some wines for us to taste. Two were good, two were yuck, one was OK. It was a cheap good time.
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I would not recommend this winery to even my worst enemy. The service was terrible. The staff was unecessarily rude and the experience was altogether unpleasant. A group of us went on a wine tour for my sister's birthday. Of all the wineries we visited, this was by far the absolute worst. I will not be making a return trip to Tarara Winery ever.
their wines gave me the worst afternoon hangover.
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