New York’s Brooklyn Winery is bringing its winemaking operation to D.C. (Photo courtesy Brooklyn Winery)

By DCist contributor Evan Caplan

Oenophiles, rejoice. Construction on District Winery has begun.

Washington’s local spirits game has grown rapidly within the past few years, yielding both brewing and distilling operations inside city limits. But there is still no made-in-the-District wine, despite a thriving winemaking community in the nearby Virginia and Maryland suburbs. Slated to open in 2017, District Winery plans to change that. It will open in Yards Park at the corner of Water and Fourth Streets SE, offering a winemaking facility, tasting room, restaurant, and events space with expansive river views.

District Winery will be the second major winery from the team behind Brooklyn Winery, which has been crafting and pouring small-batch and artisanal wines since 2010. Plans for the winery were initially announced last year, but construction has started and they’re finally getting closer to getting those doors open.

The New York vintners have used grapes from more than a dozen vineyards to make up to 20 wines per year, including Riesling, rosé, and pinot noir, led by winemaker Conor McCormack. The New York location is a popular space for weddings.

Why D.C. for the new spot? Brian Leventhal, Brooklyn Winery’s founder and CEO, told DCist, “I haven’t seen any city grow so much and so quickly in the hospitality scene. We wanted to be a part of this and once we started looking closer at D.C., we zoomed in on the Navy Yard area.”

Wines will be produced and aged on site, but since the actual winemaking process takes several years, the first wines sold when District Winery opens will come from the Brooklyn facility; they’ve crafted and designed a specific portfolio of reds and whites that have been set aside just for the D.C. location until the locally made wines are ready for sale.