Sabin Wine Journeys

July 10, 2025.   Wolf Gap Vineyard and Winery is among a small pod of wineries located near the towns of Edinburg and Mt. Jackson in Shenandoah County.   While the winery has been around since 2004, current owners Janel and J.C, Laravie purchased the property in 2021 and have invested greatly here since then.   There are new production facilities in a renovated barn and a new indoor tasting room occupying space that the old production equipment used to cramp.   Finally, they added a new outdoor pavilion that we’ll get to in a moment.   We had a chance to sit down with the Laravie’s and their winemaker, David Lambert.     Right to Left: Janel, Jethro (the winery dog), JC, David, Roger. The mountain hump over Janel’s head marks Wolf Gap. The Laravie’s own a marketing business - Chacka Marketing – in Tampa, Florida.   But the location in the Virginia mountains was a coming home of sorts for both Janel, who is from West Virginia, and JC who hails fr...

July 10, 2025.   Our first stop on this year’s trip to Shenandoah Valley is to the winery that started it all back in 1976, the first winery in the Valley – Shenandoah Vineyards in Edinburg.   This is also the second oldest active winery in the Commonwealth.   Jim and Emma Randel started the winery after relocating from New Jersey to Emma’s family property in Shenandoah County in 1974 so that Jim could recuperate from a heart attack.   They began with seven and a half acres of vines in 1976.   They repurposed the ground floor of an old Civil War-era barn as their production plant; its stone foundation kept a stable coolness.   Upstairs they opened their tasting room to the public in 1979.   The barn is still in use today although the front staircase from the main parking area is, fittingly, densely overgrown in twined grape vines.  Jim Randel passed away in 1985 and left Emma to run the property on her own, which she did with great success. ...

November 23, 2024.   It takes just minutes to drive to Star in the Valley Estate Winery, northwest from the town of Strasburg in Shenandoah County.   The grape vines were dormant when we passed through them up a steep hill; the air a seasonable Fall coolness, strong winds marshalling clouds through in their own Thanksgiving Day Parade overhead.   The sun flashed around like a search light on the mountainsides illuminating the grey denuded trees holding onto their last colors.   At an elevation of over 1300 feet, the tasting room and production building for Star in the Valley looks back at Signal Knob which is part of the mountain range that splits the Shenandoah River into its northern and southern forks.   Star in the Valley Winery has its name from the glorious night viewing of the heavens made possible by the elevation and the undeveloped park land that surrounds the property.   Owner and winemaker Shane Waller and wife Cara have their home and are r...

October 21, 2022.   It is not unusual for people we meet in our travels to recommend local wineries to us.   On this trip, we met a winery person and a brewery person who independently told us we had to visit Muse Vineyards in Woodstock, Shenandoah County.   When you get a recommendation from a competing winery, you need to take notice.   So, we adjusted our itinerary to visit Muse.   The vineyard is a short drive out of Woodstock, down a narrow gravel road and across a single lane bridge over the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.   Geese were bobbing for fish in the river.   The approach seems to meander through the vineyards like the river itself, until the modern tasting room appears on a hill between the golden grape leaves.   We agree with the advance notices - Muse Vineyards is a must see. Even though we were unannounced, Lauren and Hope on the tasting bar were very welcoming to us.   And we had a great visit with co-owner, Sally Co...