Fairfax County launches 250th anniversary wines, beer and spirits campaign

Fairfax County opened its America 250 push with bottles, not banners: anniversary wines at Paradise Springs Winery in Clifton and The Winery at Bull Run in Centreville turned the county’s semiquincentennial into a tasting-room event built to draw visitors in person.

The first wave landed on April 19, with both wineries hosting launch events from noon to 5 p.m. Paradise Springs and Bull Run poured limited-edition wines tied to the county’s 250th campaign, including a red blend called 250 and a white blend called Independence. At Bull Run, the ticket was set at $20 plus tax and included tastings of each wine and one glass of choice, a familiar tourism play dressed up as a history lesson.

That is the point of Fairfax County’s broader campaign. The county’s 250th Commission, the official body leading the semiquincentennial observance, is charged with creating an inclusive countywide celebration, and county planners have been at work since at least three town halls in April 2024 gathered public input. The result is less a single commemoration than a coordinated marketing effort that stitches together wineries, breweries, historic sites and seasonal prizes under one Fairfax 250 umbrella.

The county is leaning hard on place branding. Its 250 materials point visitors toward Mount Vernon, Gunston Hall, the National Museum of the United States Army and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, while Visit Fairfax frames the campaign as an invitation to move across historic sites, trails, parks and living-history programming. A mobile passport-style Fairfax County History Trail adds another nudge, with monthly prizes in 2026. April’s incentive is $250 in wine gift cards split between The Winery at Bull Run and Paradise Springs Winery, a small but pointed attempt to turn one-time visits into repeat traffic.

Beer is the next test. Fairfax County’s official Fairfax 250 beer is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend 2026, and the release is being billed as a limited-edition Hazy IPA designed to stay approachable while reflecting the county’s diversity. It is also a true collaboration beer, brewed by Bike Lane Brewing & Café, Bunnyman Brewing, Fair Winds Brewing Co., G34.3 Brewing Co., Hawkley Brewing, Lake Anne Brew House, Ono Brewing Co. and Settle Down Easy Brewing Co.

That roster gives the project more than a commemorative label. It gives Fairfax County a brewery-to-brewery story that can be marketed alongside historic landmarks and future bourbon releases, all inside a countywide anniversary campaign that Visit Fairfax says will also include limited-edition chocolates and specialty menu items from local makers, restaurants and hotels. The big question is whether those releases become durable drivers of visitation and sales, or whether they function mainly as short-term promotional props around a once-in-a-generation milestone. For now, Fairfax County is making a clear bet that history tastes better when it comes with a pour.