

Winemaker Jordan Harris of Tarara Winery with the sign a customer tried to pilfer. Despite the warning and the chain draped along the lake, “We have people go skinny dipping all the time,” Harris says. (Tarara Winery)

The second of a two-part series on local wineries

It was Easter Sunday, one of four days of the year Breaux Vineyards in Loudoun County, Va., is closed to the public. Traffic cones and a “Closed” sign blocked the driveway, but that didn’t stop a group of about 20 people who moved the cones aside, opened a gate and proceeded to hold a family reunion, complete with volleyball, soccer and a buffet.

Jen Breaux, a vice president at the winery founded by her father, Paul, in 1994, left her own family celebration at her home on the property to investigate. The scene she found could have cost Northern Virginia’s largest winery its license.

At local wineries, such scenes are not uncommon. In fact, it was the fourth Easter in a row that a private party had crashed the peace and quiet of Breaux’s day off.

Wineries strike a balance between wine production and entertainment. Some decide to be open to the public by appointment only or do not allow large groups, buses or limos on the property. Others, like Breaux, emphasize hospitality with regular festivals, concerts and other promotions. Some thoughtless customers don’t respect either business model.

“It looked like they had gone to Costco and bought boxes and boxes of food,” Breaux said. “There were children running everywhere, including in the vineyard, and they had brought wineglasses and big bottles of Woodbridge,” she added, referring to an inexpensive wine from California. Virginia law prohibits outside alcohol at farm wineries, but it punishes the winery rather than the customers who bring it. “They looked at me like I was crazy: ‘You’re going to make us leave?’ I told them not only are you invading my space, but you’re putting my license at risk.”

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Breaux has frequently found unattended children climbing on the winery’s tractors and other farm equipment. She tells the story of one frantic father who, after his toddler wandered off among the vines, yelled at her, “How dare you have such a big vineyard?” (Breaux has 104 acres under vines.) And then the pets: “Cats on a leash, an iguana on a leash, large rodent on a leash,” she says. “Yes, it happened.” She has also seen people jump the fence after hours to pick grapes or harvest grape leaves for stuffing.

Vineyard weddings are popular, but generally you expect to pay to rent the view. Not so for one couple who showed up at Tarara Winery, north of Leesburg, with a wedding party of about 60 guests, groomsmen and bridesmaids, complete with a minister and caterer for their romantic nuptials among the vines. The only problem: They hadn’t informed the winery.

When Tarara’s winemaker and general manager, Jordan Harris, discovered the gate crashers on the property, he offered to let them stay if they agreed to pay rent for the space. When the bride and groom refused, he told them to leave.

“It was a fully catered, fully run wedding party that decided they could use us as a public park for free,” Harris recalls.

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Lucinda Smith, a former wine retailer who now handles wholesale sales for several Virginia wineries, says that “probably the biggest complaint I hear from wineries is about people using their property as public parks.” Smith moderates a private Facebook page where winemakers trade information and stories.

People also swipe things. “A few weekends ago, we had this really attractive woman who grabbed a wooden ‘No Swimming’ sign we have by our lake and stuck it under her blouse,” Harris says. “She was really slender. I don’t know how she thought she’d get away with it. When I asked her for my sign back, she said, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ ”

If people aren’t stealing the sign, they’re ignoring it. “We have people go skinny dipping all the time,” Harris says.

Back at Breaux, located north of Purcellville, “a man came up to me right as we opened one Sunday and said, ‘My wife left her panties here yesterday. Do you have a lost-and-found?’ ” Jen Breaux says. “I felt humiliated for him.”

And then there was the French couple engaging in l’amour in the vineyard. “My dad called and told me to get them out of there,” Breaux says. “The Frenchman lit a cigarette and said he’d leave when he was ready. It was a walk of shame back to the public area — my shame. They were happy!”

When you go, here are a few things to remember:

■ Wineries are private businesses. If you spend some time, spend some money. Winery operators often live on the property, so respect their privacy.

■ Don’t bring your own wine. It’s an insult, and it’s against the law in Virginia and Maryland.

■ Not all wineries host events or large groups; check their websites for details. If you are coming in any group of six or more, call ahead and reserve a time slot. That will allow the winery to have additional staff on hand to help you (and other customers) have the best possible experience. If you make a reservation but can’t keep it, call and let them know.

■ Respect “adults only” areas at wineries. Sure, you want to bring your children, but wineries want to accommodate customers who are there to experience the local wine.

A visit to wine country is not a competition to see how many wineries you can visit or how many wines you can sample in one day to get a cheap buzz on. It’s an opportunity to experience the wine revolution happening in our back yard — while enjoying beautiful views and, often, delicious food and great music.