Closing Out 2024
December 30, 2024. Well, 2024 is coming to an end, my friends.
Early in the Holiday Season, we visited our local chain bookstore where I gravitated first to the shelves for “Wine, Beer, Spirits.” The shelves were packed with gifts covering all manner of beers, selected hard liquors, and an abundance of cocktail books. I suppose cocktails are the new thing. But I was distressed that among all of this printing there was not a single book on wine. I wonder what this foretells – an echo of an earlier time when cocktails were all the rage and wines were considered stoggy? If this is a cycle, let’s hope it moves on quickly.
We began 2024 by checking-in with Annette Boyd for our third annual interview. (We will hear from her again in 2025.) We also interviewed wine scientists Lucie Morton, and Joy Ting in addition to informal chats with at least 22 winery and vineyard owners or winemakers who unfailingly offered unique insights on their passion of growing and making wine in Virginia’s challenging environment.
Over the Summer, we posted a long article about our tour of the Rhȏne Valley in France and detailed visits to wineries in Châteauneuf du Pape, Hermitage, and Beaujolais. We had a wonderful time sharing the day’s wine buying with friends over dinners of lamb, duck, or fish garnished with seasonal veggies and sauces. This is what wine is about, after all. Back home, this Fall, I completed a wine-related course at George Mason University course called “Wine and Food Tourism.” It gave me some insights on how the industry might be structured to promote visiting the wineries. I suppose there is a kernel of information from the course that may help improve this blog with time.
We continued posting to Facebook friends and wine bloggers through the Sabin Wine Journeys page and the Virginia Wine Mafia Facebook bloggers group. We experimented posting once on Linkedin for all of my contacts on that site, but we’re not sure if this will continue as it seems out of place.
We were also referred to for the first time as“influencers” by a member of the wine trade. While I am not paid a penny for what we write here and reckon our influence as comprised only by you, dear friends and readers, it was funny to hear that title applied to us.
Our other new experiment is a Winery Challenge game where our friends can try to match wineries to a set of clues. Entries are open until January 4th. Any winners will be announced in 2025.
We already have in mind a couple of trips for 2025, including to Virginia's southern tier and a return to the Shenandoah. We’re also contemplating some interviews with prominent folks in the trade. Please stay tuned.
Our Top Wines for 2024.
As you know, we don’t buy wine at every venue we visit, but when we do, it’s generally a sign that we like the wine for the price. Over the course of 2024, we captured our impressions of 42 Virginia wineries, vineyards, and cellars on this blog and sampled 277 different wines. Below are the wines we bought or rated very highly. It is a mix of established varietals and experiments that keep Virginia wine interesting and vital:
Whites
2021 Chardonnay. Septenary Winery at Seven Oaks Farm
2022 Viognier Reserve. Septenary Winery at Seven Oaks Farm
2021 Chardonnay. Knight’s Gambit Vineyard
2021 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve. Barboursville Vineyards
2022 Vidal Blanc. Gray Ghost Vineyards
2018 Chardonel Reserve “Sur Lie.” Narmada Winery
NV Blue Crab Blanc (Lot 21) – Ingleside Vineyards
NV Viognier – General’s Ridge Vineyards
2022 Vignoles – Good Luck Cellars
NV Boer-Geaux Red Blend – The Estate at White Hall Vineyards
2021 Tellurian White – Loving Cup Vineyard and Winery
2022 Chardonnay – Cunningham Creek Winery
Blush/Rosé and Sparkling Wines
2022 Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon. Sunset Hills Vineyard
Reds
2017 Carriage House. Septenary Winery at Seven Oaks Farm
2017 Cabernet Franc. Flying Fox Vineyard and Winery
2021 Alexadra’s Cuvée Petit Verdot. Knight’s Gambit Vineyard
2020 Nebbiolo Reserve. Barboursville Vineyards
2022 Norton. Nokesville Winery
2021 Red Ranger Reserve. Gray Ghost Vineyards
2022 Vintner’s Blend. Capstone Vineyards
NV Coastal Red (Lot 20) – Ingleside Vineyard
2019 Petit Verdot Reserve – General’s Ridge Vineyards
2022 Excelsis – Notaviva Farm Brewery and Winery (1.5 Litre Pouch)
2020 Cabernet Franc – The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards
2017 Tradition – Afton Mountain Vineyards
2021 Loving Cup Red – Loving Cup Vineyard and Winery
2022 Cabernet Franc – Valley Road Vineyards
2021 Petit Verdot – Blue Quartz Winery
2023 Field Star Red – Star in the Valley Estate Winery
2021 Rouge de Ferme – Quièvremont Vineyard and Winery
2019 Delfino Rosso – Gadino Cellars
Fortified Wines.
2021 White Port – Vielle Chèvre - Quièvremont Vineyard and Winery
That’s it for 2024! This is an ideal time to get some Virginia wine. bubbly or still, red, white, rosé, or Port-style for the cold nights. I’ll leave you with some poetry to go with the liquid lyric I hope you’ll find in Virginia wine.
All the Best in the Holiday Season from Roger and Kim Sabin
from Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats
O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim:
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