Eagletree isn’t your typical winery experience. Whereas most wineries have charcuterie plates & baguettes, perhaps paninis or pizza, this place is a full service restaurant with cuisine made by a guy with a culinary degree (who doubles as the winemaker). Think of it as a restaurant which happens to have home-made wine as opposed to a taste-and-go winery, because EVERYTHING here revolves around food.

As they say in real estate – it’s all about LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. Although the farm is in a somewhat residential nook north of Leesburg, it’s surrounded by other wineries with Hidden Brook, Lost Creek, Winery 32 and Fabbioli just minutes away. Suffice to say, you won’t go hungry OR thirsty in these parts.

While the vineyard has around since 1999, the restaurant is a new edition. Owners Jeff Judge and Lori McKeever previously ran McKeever’s Pub in McLean, but decided they wanted to work closer to home. Since they had plenty of available land, opening a restaurant/tasting room seemed a natural choice.

Today Eagletree has 6.5 acres under vine – so except for some upcoming Merlot all their wines are 100% estate. They even have (when in season) blueberries you can pick on your own. As Lori explained, grape vines and blueberries are a good way to help your property pay for itself, so it looked like their planning paid off.

Dining is as much about the experience as the food – and this place delivers. Eagletree feels like a mix of quaint French country cuisine meets your home dining room. When I said this to Lori she gave me a big smile because that’s exactly the vibe they were hoping for.

The oven-made pizza is very popular, but there are other options as well. I was deliberating between the Bahn Mi Thit and French onion soup until Jeff convinced me to go with the later, and ended up adding a pear & pistachio salad as well.

And yes – of course they have wine! But again, things are different here. I suppose you COULD visit for only a wine tasting…but you wouldn’t want to. These wines are designed to complement their dishes, so come hungry. When I visited, a Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Tannat and red-blend were all available (their Viognier wasn’t available on this trip). My favorite was the peppery Cabernet Franc, although I suspect their Chardonnay would have been an equally good pairing with my salad.

I enjoyed the wine, but this was definitely a culinary experience first and foremost. If you’re ever looking for a place to eat while winery-hoping in the Leesburg area, skip the cheese plates or food trucks and visit here instead!