Sabin Wine Journeys

October 24, 2025.   Originally, our plans to visit eastern Albermarle County did not include Keswick Vineyards.   Instead, we were going to visit the Southern Living Idea House nearby.   But when Kim saw the abundance of chintz, floral curtains, throw pillows, and your grandmother’s formal furniture, passing as ideas, Kim opted out.   She is a Frank Lloyd Wright girl and digs that  aesthetic.   To fill the hole in our itinerary, we decided to return to Keswick Vineyards. When we last visited Keswick, we watched the rain come down beneath a covered porch on a slow mid-week afternoon in July 2022.   All of the seating had been moved out of doors because of COVID, leaving the old tasting room forlorn and hollow.    Since 2022, owners Cindy and Al Schornberg added an innovative new glass Pavilion tasting room that fully converts from open air Summer to cozy Winter with the flick of a switch.   It being October, the glass walls were closed ...

July 13, 2025.   The Summer of 2025 might be remembered for the fierce heat waves with short daily doses of thunder and rain.   In the foothills of the Blue Ridge where Fallen Tree Vineyard and Farm sits, you have a 180˚ view of the mountains where the storms brew and brood.   Todd and Lisa Hales began growing vines here around 2018 splitting their time between Albermarle County and Virginia Beach.   They opened their quaint tasting room in October 2024.   Fallen Tree is about a half-hour northwest of Charlottesville.   It has a Crozet address, but it’s really White Hall we’re talking about.   The vineyard is just past Stinson Vineyards. We had a nice visit with Mikayla Thompson, who manages the tasting room, and her associate Carol-Linda.                                                            ...

April 13, 2025.   When Southwest Mountains Vineyards opened in 2023, it completed a little triangle of newish wineries with Keswick Vineyards and Merrie Mill Farm, all near the junction of scenic routes 22 and 231 and the crossroads at Cismont in eastern Albermarle County.   The famous Keswick Hall is a short drive south on Route 22.   While Keswick and Merrie Mills are close to average sized Virginia wineries (see note below), Southwest Mountains is the newest and by far the largest of these three with 72 acres under vine and between 16,000 and 19,000 cases annually.   We're told there is no gap in those vines. The winery and vineyard sits inside the Castalia farm estate that once belonged to Meriwether Lewis.   They renovated and expanded a 1903 pole barn into a cavernous two-storey lodge.   I call it a lodge because on the inside, this barn more resembles a large hunting lodge.  The owner, Paul Manning, appears to have spared no expense in either ...