Sabin Wine Journeys

June 25, 2023.   We continued our tour of the Southern Shenandoah Valley on Sunday with a stop at Barren Ridge Vineyards just outside of Fishersville.   This is near Staunton, a short toot east of Trucker’s Paradise.   The view to the east is of the Blue Ridge Mountains, arrayed like rows of shark's teeth, one row after another, worn down like some ancient wizened shark.                                                                                                                                                                                              The Barren Ridge property is in its 4 th Generation of ownership by the Higgs Family.   The apple orchard originally purchased in 1934 gave way to a vineyard and winery that opened in 2008, the first winery in Augusta County.   Apple crates are still used to display wines in the tasting room.   Today, John and Shelby Higgs own and operate the vineyard and winery.   Their son, Robert, is involved for the future.   While we didn’t

June 23, 2023.   For our second annual wine trip to the Shenandoah Valley we ventured further south than last year along that “Trucker’s Paradise” called Interstate 81.   After two and half hours of drizzle, clouds, and semi’s, we reached Rockbridge Vineyard and Brewery just outside the town of Raphine in Rockbridge County.   It was a welcome stop and a welcoming staff for us.   We had a nice prolonged visit with Gratia Bobbitt doing the pouring, owner Shepherd (“Shep”) Rouse providing lots of technical detail, and co-owner Jane Rouse spending time just chatting.                              Shep Rouse and Gratia Bobbitt Shep and Jane Rouse purchased the property in 1988 and incorporated the winery in 1992.   The Rouse’s worked out a deal with their son, Parke, that he could open a brewery if he helped Shep with the winery.   With that understanding, the brewery opened three and half years ago (2019), and Shep has assured the winery will continue to the next generation.   Shep has