Sabin Wine Journeys - the Virginia Wine Journeys Blog

January 16, 2026.   Last July marked the 40 th Anniversary of Doukénie Winery near Hillsboro in western Loudoun County.   Dr. George Bazaco and his wife Nichola (Nicki) first planted vines in 1985 with the encouragement of George’s grandmother, Doukénie Babayanie Bacos, who emigrated from Greece as a young girl in the 1920’s with a just few possessions including her mandolin.   Doukénie’s mandolin is on the wall of the tasting room to remind everyone of their deep winemaking roots. Grandson George created the winery within the 328-acre Windham Farm that still grows corn, soy, and hay along with Black Angus beef cattle.   Doukénie’s daughter and George’s mother, Hope, also served wine at the winery for many years before she passed away in 2024.   We had a chance to speak very briefly with Dr. Bazaco who still practices pulmonary medicine at his Reston office.   He has also long participated in the group Medical Missionaries that brings medical supplies an...

January 16, 2026.   To begin our winery tours for 2026, we are continuing an informal project started last month to return to some near-by wineries that we have not written about for this blog.   This allows us to take some short trips in the doldrums of the winter while catching up on developments at local wine places. We’ll start with Bluemont Vineyard in western Loudoun County near the town of Bluemont.   Passing the brewery and the bakery on the valley floor, you ascend vertiginous but well-maintained roads to the winery and tasting room at 951 feet of elevation.   Bluemont sits in the first ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, looking like an eagle’s nest from the valley below.   While we have been to higher elevations to taste wine (I think the highest was Stone Mountain at 1,700 feet), there are few with such a panoramic unobstructed view.   On a winter’s day, you can see little squares and rectangles of dormant farms in yellow stubble and sage green...

November 15, 2025.   The area near Lovettsville around the crossroads of Taylorstown in northern Loudoun County is replete with stone farmhouses and stone barns whose walls and foundations contain the memories of plowing up endless rocks from this exhausting landscape so many years ago.   And tucked into one of those fields behind the derelict, mustard-colored Taylorstown general store, down a gravel driveway is Tedd Durden’s Creek’s Edge Winery.   Tedd and his family began planting grapes in 2009 with a plan to sell grapes to local wineries.   However, in fairly short order, they decided to make their own wine instead.     Tedd applied his background in the construction industry to build the three-storey wine production facility and tasting room and opened it for business in 2014.   We visited Creek’s Edge in 2016 and noted the wide field that slopes down to the edge of the Catoctin Creek.   The Furnace Mountains form a gentle horseshoe around th...

November 15, 2025.   We can easily forget how rough and ready our region has been in its history.   Out west in Loudoun County, for example, back in colonial times, the old Carolina Road was the main trade route that ran from Fredrick, Maryland through Leesburg and ended in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina (today, a prime wine producing area for that state).   Unfortunately, cattle thieves and highwaymen so frequented the road that it was called “the Rogues Road.”#   Cheryl and Mike Morrison started Rogues Hill Vineyard in 2012 and changed it the next year to the more obscure “Terra Nebulo,” which they translate as “Land of the Rascal” to commemorate this area outside of the town of Waterford for its history of banditry.   The Morrison’s opened Terra Nebulo in 2015.   The winery is contained within a reproduction of an old hay barn, constructed with great care by Amish craftsmen.   The barn sits in a hollow framed by tall grass and a view of a large...

May 10, 2025.   Domaine Fortier Vineyards is in many ways still a baby in the wine world.   Stephen and Jennifer Fortier opened their winery to the public less than a year ago out in a field, minutes south of the town of Lovettsville in Loudoun County.   The operation is surrounded close by to its vines and bounded in the distance by Short Mountain to the North, the Furnace Mountains to the South, and the Catoctin Range in the further distance.   A greenhouse serves as their temporary tasting room with two sofas and table seating for eight to ten people.   The openness of the glass ceiling with hanging wisteria gives an intimate feel.   The bar can accommodate maybe five people if they’re all very close friends.   Even on a mild day, the green house was warm.  I expect it gets uncomfortable in there in the summer.  Our server Christian, ran a small fan on the counter to keep him cool.  You might consider taking your glass of wine or yo...

February 28, 2025.   Nate Walsh is devoted to the production side of winemaking.   Nate is the owner of Walsh Family Wine near Hillsboro in western Loudoun County and more than many winery owners, has applied his experience, starting as a cellar rat up to being a full-fledged winemaker, to improve winemaking in the region.   With Nate approaching business from the production end and wife Sarah applying her background in wine wholesale, they founded their winery in 2014, a year after they married.     According to Nate, back then, there were few places in Loudoun where new owners could get started without making huge investments in land and equipment.   The Walsh’s started with equipment loaned by a vineyard in Waterford.   Remembering this beginning, Walsh Family Wine has established a winemaker’s incubator program to encourage three or four new winemakers every year to use Walsh equipment and guidance to produce their own brands.   Nate loves...

February 28, 2025.   Looking for places we have not written about that are open in this bleak mid-winter, we came across Kalero Vineyard in the Loudoun Heights cluster of wineries near Hillsboro.   Owner Ann Fortin purchased 130 acres on Short Hill Mountain west of Hillsboro in 2015 with the goal to start a vineyard.   The focus of the property is the Heartstone Barn, whose cornerstone is etched 1834.     Restored with wood that glows in the sunlight and offset with the rustic stone wall, this is a nice large interior vaulted space in which to host the weddings and private events that are their primary business.      Seating in the barn is at new wood tables that can be configured in many designs depending on the party.   There is no fireplace.   Without the sun, the barn may seem dark except for the two-storey windows facing the West Virginia line just a couple of miles away.   Wedding receptions may flow out from the huge windo...

November 9, 2024    Loudoun County is celebrating 40 years of the wine industry this year - 2024 - because in 1984 Willowcroft Farm Vineyards released its first commercial vintage and became the first winery in the county.   Owner and winemaker Lew Parker bought an old farm on Mount Gilead in 1979 after a successful career in the medical device business.   He planted his first vines in 1980 and replanted in 1981 when the first plantings died.   Lew was the Virginia wine person of the year in 2002 and the winemaker of the year in Loudoun County in 2023 showing long-term recognition by his peers.     The old red barn from 1875 houses the wine production area on the ground floor, a small wood-beamed tasting room on the second floor and a loft room on the third floor.        The tasting room itself is cramped with virtually no seating.   Go upstairs for that.       Or better yet, take your picnic and your w...