Sabin Wine Journeys

  Moss Vineyards July 5, 2021 The small winery of Moss Vineyards is in Nortonsville, Greene County.   We found out about Moss through a virtual tour Barry conducted for The Hospitality Information Service (THIS) which highlighted the architecture of the place.   The vineyards sit on a hill overlooking a gap near Conner’s Ridge in the Blue Ridge Mountains.   The winery facilities were designed and built by Barry Moss, architect, artist, and co-owner of the vineyards with wife Ellen.   The buildings are bright white and stark against the green of the surrounding hills.   There must be an incredible view from here when the fall foliage comes.   We are very thankful to Ellen for spending some time with us. Moss produces up to 1,000 cases a year from 9 acres on site and from sourcing from within the Monticello AVA.   The winery began in 2008 according to Virginia State records.   The vineyards are planted on a hillside that ranges from 800 t...

  In early July, 2021, Kim and I took a wine trip into the Monticello American Viticultural Area (AVA).   We planned our route with several criteria: (1) we would avoid going to wineries we have visited before; (2) we would use the Monticello Wine Trail as geographic organizing tool; and (3) we would select wineries that won a Gold Medal in the 2020 Virginia Governor’s Cup competition.   Putting these criteria together we made an initial list of five wineries.   Unfortunately, our visits also had to conform to when wineries were actually open and so the list had to be revised.   Many wineries are not open Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.   Traveling the AVA from North to South and East to West took longer than we anticipated. That and the 95+ degrees and humidity led us to alter our plans again on the fly.   We finally visited nine wineries on this trip, six of which we had never visited before.   The nine wineries are (in order of our visit): ...