Sabin Wine Journeys

We are now home after our second annual excursion to the Monticello AVA.   Over 320 traveling miles took us to eleven wineries or vineyards in three and a half days.   We sampled 51 wines and brought 11 bottles back with us.   You’ll see those wines listed at our year-end round up of best wines.   We dodged innumerable rain drops but got caught by just as many.   We met some interesting folks along the way working the wineries and customers relaxing like us.   On the last morning of our trip after checking out, we needed to kill some time until the first winery opened.   Kim and I drove to the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Museum on Pantops Mountain, about 15 minutes east of downtown Charlottesville.   This gem of a museum is the only one dedicated to Australian aboriginal art in the United States.   It opens at 10:00 and is free.   You will be startled by the intricate beauty of native art, and it will get your brain moving again. It is a perennial problem having some time on your hands

July 10, 2022.   Our last stop before turning resolutely towards home was Montifalco Vineyard in Ruckersville near Route 29.   Seating is out-of-doors in the garden of owner, Justin Falco’s home right up on the vines.   In the colder months, they bring out the firepits and space heaters.   There is a very small tasting room inside.   Pets and outside food are welcomed – outside.   Limited cheeses and charcuterie are available.   The Virginia Wine Pass accepted for discounts off purchases.   This small adults-only operation opened in 2016 and produces around 1,000 cases per year from five acres at this location and another five acres from their estate vineyard in Barboursville with Merlot and Petit Verdot.   Sometimes, Montifalco supplements their fruit with grapes from vineyards in the Lodi area near Abingdon.   Kim and I sat in the “Rainbeaux Lounge” and listened to live folk music as we sipped along.   (Kim wants you to know that the décor choice of cushions was excellent.)   We ha

Now that the rain finally stopped and after indulging in a number of good wines and conversations, we began our trip home.   Our first stop on the return trip was Chisholm Vineyards at Adventure Farm in Earlysville.   The vineyard lies just west of the Charlottesville Airport.   In fact, you will probably have to drive around the main runway to get there.    Adventure Farm was originally a cattle farm, founded in 1950 by Morris and Gigi Chisholm.   Gigi still lives on the property and visits sometimes.  They still sell beef, corn, and soy.  All of their wines are from estate-grown grapes although Chisholm relies on Early Mountain for winemaking.   The small and comfortable tasting room was opened in 2014.    There is ample outside seating both in front of a stage that features entertainment or under a trellised patio if you want shade.   If swaying to the music is what you want, the Cajun band we heard that afternoon made you swing.   Lots of room for families and for dogs to play f

July 9, 2022.   We finished a long day of sampling with a visit to Eastwood Farm and Winery in Charlottesville.   Eastwood is a small winery which impresses with its open design.   The tasting room flows onto a side porch with comfortable seating.   Outside food is ok.   We had a good time talking with fellow visitors and tourists, some happy groups, and some couples playing quiet board games.   (We learned places to avoid in Florida should we ever want to move there.)  A nice place to sit and watch the rain come down.  Eastwood is a woman-owned winery led by Athena Eastwood who formed it in 2007, and who purchased this property in 2016.   According to Maggie, the tasting room manager, the winery opened to the public in February 2020 with the tasting room opening a year later.   They produce around 1,000 cases a year from ten acres under vine which I believe are mostly acquired in their partnership with Silver Creek Orchard and Vineyard near Tyro.   Eastwood’s lead winemaker is Cla

July 9, 2022.   Kim and I got some whiplash driving from Hazy Mountain to Wisdom Oak Winery in North Garden.   It wasn’t that we were driving especially fast – the road up to Wisdom Oak is a a narrow single-lane mixed dirt and asphalt path with stout trees closing in the sides.   It’s the kind of road where one car will have to back up if two meet on the road in a standoff. No, the whiplash was from following a 15,000-case winery (Hazy Mountain) immediately with a 3,600-case winery.   We put Wisdom Oak on our itinerary on the strength of is 2019 Nineteen wine, which made it into the 2020 Virginia Governor’s Cup Case – a high accolade for this small winery. Formed in 2015, James and Laura Lavallee have around 6 acres under vine at North Garden and a larger vineyard of 14 acres three miles away.   They produce small batches wines from Chardonnay, Petit Manseng, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot.   Individual wines are usually produced at 200 cases or less.    When we vis