Sabin Wine Journeys - the Virginia Wine Journeys Blog

October 26, 2025.   Brent Manor Vineyards is one quick turn from northbound Route 29 in Nelson County onto the winery driveway and up an abrupt hill to the tasting room.   From the ridge where the tasting room is situated, the view is southeasterly, encompassing a sweep of red and burnt orange mountain foliage and the town of Faber in the distance. Jorge and Tracie Raposo had been looking for property to build on for some time before Brent Manor came on the market in 2009.   Jorge emigrated to the United States from Portugal as a child in the 1980’s but tells me that Nelson County doesn’t remind him of his native land – he Tracie just love it on its own.   Jorge and Tracie built a career in insurance.   As if those jobs weren’t demanding enough, they built a tasting room and processing facility and opened for business in 2015.   They completed construction of a separate event building in 2023, but for the foreseeable future, says Jorge, that building will...

May 14, 2023.   It was time to get back on the road for our annual wine trip to Mr. Jefferson’s neighborhood.   We have traveled Route 29 South so many times over the years that we can tick-off the landmarks almost by memory:   the life-size statute of a white bull alone on a   hillside next to the American flag; Clark Brothers where men were celebrating Mother’s Day by emptying magazines of ammo into targets; Cowboy Church, Yowell’s Lake at Culpeper; the turn for Kelly’s Ford (site of a real- life Twilight Zone encounter); Bavarian Chef in Madison; Waffle House in Charlottesville, and on and on..   Our first destination on this year’s pilgrimage was Delfosse Vineyards and Winery in Faber, Nelson County, around a half-hour south of Charlottesville.   Rather than the mythical town in “Animal House;” Faber is a small community within the Monticello AVA.   And Delfosse Vineyards is the top winner of the 2023 Virginia Governor’s Cup.   Claude ...