Sabin Wine Journeys

October 21, 2022.   Our last stop on this first blog trip into the Shenandoah AVA was Chester Gap Cellars, whose address is Front Royal, Rappahannock County.   Actually, by my reckoning, Chester Gap Cellars lies just outside of the Shenandoah AVA, like by a couple hundred feet.     But that is a very small point.   Come for the wine and please stay for the view. Even though you will be at only 1,000 feet elevation, it will feel like a mountaintop excursion.   Views from the winery go for thirty-five miles on a clear day.   The tasting room feels as if it is clutching the side of a mountain to keep from sliding down the hill.   Parking can be an issue.   Lots of interesting features: like the Adirondack chairs on the tasting room balcony were designed and built by the Rappahannock High School woodworking shop to be raised so the balcony railing does not block your killer view; like the availability of a hiking trail that includes the headwaters of the Rappahannock River, which flows

October 21, 2022.   It is not unusual for people we meet in our travels to recommend local wineries to us.   On this trip, we met a winery person and a brewery person who independently told us we had to visit Muse Vineyards in Woodstock, Shenandoah County.   When you get a recommendation from a competing winery, you need to take notice.   So, we adjusted our itinerary to visit Muse.   The vineyard is a short drive out of Woodstock, down a narrow gravel road and across a single lane bridge over the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.   Geese were bobbing for fish in the river.   The approach seems to meander through the vineyards like the river itself, until the modern tasting room appears on a hill between the golden grape leaves.   We agree with the advance notices - Muse Vineyards is a must see. Even though we were unannounced, Lauren and Hope on the tasting bar were very welcoming to us.   And we had a great visit with co-owner, Sally Cowal.   Dimutive and dynamic, Sally is a form

October 20, 2022.   Only about five miles from James Charles winery we came to our next stop on this Shenandoah wine trip.   This was the beautiful manor house of Valerie Hill Vineyard and Winery, Stephens City, Frederick County.   Built in 1807, the stately Federal style home house sits on a hillock by a circular drive.   Inside is split in small cozy rooms as you’d expect of a house of that period.   There is seating out on the back porch and eight tables under umbrellas in back on the patio.   Heaters are available in the cooler months.   The Virginia Wine Pass is not accepted.   Outside food is allowed.                         Shawn and Kelly Steffey and Tyler and Tracey Newsome bought the property in 2011 and opened for business in 2012.   The property is for sale again for $1.290 Million.   The farm is around 18 acres, of which six acres are in grapes.   From these and other grapes grown in the Shenandoah Valley, they produce around 2,500 cases of wine per year.   Valerie Hill ha