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Chateau O'Brien at Northpoint Winery and Vineyard

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April 20, 2024.   Chateau O’Brien sits at the top of a steep hill just off the Markham exit from Interstate 66 in Fauquier County.   To get to the winery, be prepared to make a quick hairpin turn off of Old Markham Road (Route 688) onto a heavily-rutted 45%-incline gravel road across an unguarded railroad track.   Shortly you will pass under the gate for the winery as you continue to climb through the vineyard.   But the trip up the hill is worth it. Chateau O’Brien at Northpoint is the creation of Howard O’Brien who bought the site in 2002 and opened the winery in 2006.     Instead of the typical Virginia red brick, Howard renovated a pale yellow farmhouse, accented by a rust colored roof as his winery.   It appears to be have been built in terraces as part of the hillside.     Entering the main doors, you come out of bright sunshine into a cool tile vestibule with tasting bars on either side.   Straight ahead of you is a circular gathering space called “the Rotunda” with a pano
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Philip Carter Winery

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April 20, 2024.   Today we find ourselves toward the western end of Interstate 66 and Fauquier County at the Philip Carter Winery in Hume.   It’s early afternoon in the bright sun of late spring, and I am on a tour of the property with Vic the guide, standing in their rows of Cabernet Franc where a couple of leaves are unfolded on each cane.   I reckon they were at EL-9, about three weeks ahead of growing schedule.   The lyre trellises stand like scaffolds waiting for the vines to climb them.   There are 15 acres under vine at Hume and an additional acre is to be added this year.   The 25-year old Cab Franc vines are a holdover from the old Stillhouse Farm that Philip Carter Strother, owner of the winery, bought in 2008.   Philip Carter Winery is a fictitious name under Stillhouse Vineyards LLC.   The Strother family also owns Valley View Farm about ten miles away.   The farm has some grapes under vine but is focused on other fruit and orchards.   According to Vic, altogether they gr
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Magnolia Vineyards

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March 29, 2024.   Throughout the day on this Good Friday, the wind continued to grow shaking the blossoms down like snow.   The temperatures leveled in the 50’s in spite of a friendly sun.   While we were in Amissville, Rappahannock County, we decided to take an unplanned visit to Magnolia Vineyards which is on the road to Viewtown south from Route 211. Magnolia sits on the crest of a hill so that it captured all of the wind that was blowing that day.   It almost blew us off out feet.   We were fortunate to find owners Glenn and Tina Marchione at the winery along with their rescue dogs who welcomed us in from the gusts.   Glenn is the winemaker and vineyard manager, a tall man with a close-cropped grey hair and reticent smile.   Tina is petite with dark eyes.   They met while working on an IT project for two different government contractors and discovered they were both grandchildren of Italian immigrants.   On a trip to the Old Country, they discovered a love of wine and first
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Narmada Winery

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March 29, 2024.   About five minutes west of Amissville on Route 211, you will find the driveway for Narmada Winery, a unique outpost of India in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.   Dr. Pandit Patil, a mechanical engineer, and his wife Sudh, an endodontist, both natives of western India, purchased the land in 1999.   They named their vineyard “Narmada” after Pandit’s mother, Narmadabai Patil, who sold her jewelry to pay for her son’s airline ticket to the United States.   Unfortunately, Dr. Patil passed away in 2018.   The tasting room, built in 2009, sits high overlooking vines and a small lake.   They have a fine wood burning fireplace for the colder months and mostly table seating.       Outdoors, their wide balcony was still sheathed in heavy protective plastic.   A strong wind flapped the plastic angrily.   Still, people were enjoying the sun on the deck amid the wind gusts.   Children and pets are welcome at Narmada.   Outside food is not allowed in the tasting room.
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