Sabin Wine Journeys

August 16, 2025.   Reitano Vineyards opened in June 2024 to much fanfare with local elected officials from Warren County and nearby Front Royal in attendance.   Reitano is the brainchild of Shelly Cook, who took her family cattle farm and turned it into an “extravagant vineyard.”   The name “Reitano” comes from Shelly’s grandfather who immigrated from Reitano, Sicily through Ellis Island into America.  We are in the Shenandoah AVA. Reitano has two main buildings with a third one due to open in October 2025.   Currently, the Old Springhouse serves as the tasting room and the main event space.   A pavilion allows for other large events.     The Springhouse rises two stories on exposed wood beams to a clearstory.   A long open hall runs the center of the floor.   Three sofa sitting areas branch off on either side.   The tasting bar occupies the fourth quadrant.   The space is cavernous, modern, and bright.   We saw no firepla...

August 16, 2025.   For some reason, we have neglected visiting Glen Manor Vineyards all these years.   It is not especially far away from our home – being just a little over ten miles south of the town of Front Royal in Warren County and just inside the Shenandoah AVA. Glen Manor sits on land that owner and winemaker Jeff Raymond White’s family has farmed for four generations.   The Commonwealth officially recognizes it as a “Century Farm.”   Jeff learned his trade from Jim Law on the other side of the mountains at Linden Vineyards, and after five years, Jeff established his own Hodder Hill vineyard on the western flank of the Blue Ridge.   The vineyards rise from 1,000 to 1,400 feet elevation with slopes up to 35 degrees.   Lots of granite in the porous soil.   From his original six acres of grapes, Jeff expanded the acreage to its present 19 acres with an annual production of around 2,500 cases. The winery is a small place with a big view of the vine...

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 headw...