Sabin Wine Journeys

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...

February 1, 2025.   Morais Vineyards and Winery is a surprising outpost of Portugal off Route 17 in Bealton, Fauquier County.   José Morais opened the winery and wedding venue in 2011 promoting traditional Portuguese wines and winemaking.   His daughter, Linda, is now CEO.   Their winemaker, Vitor Guimarãis, is from Portugal - born and educated - and has been with them since the beginning.   Drive through the newer part of the vineyard adjacent to the road, and for the moment, drive straight ahead past the round tasting room into the courtyard a typically stark-white Portuguese villa which serves as a large wedding venue.   The main building, – ballroom, bar- and smaller outbuildings buildings host over 100 weddings a year.   It’s like a little village.     Our focus, however, is on the wine and we came back to the tasting room, a round stand-alone building with a cone-shaped roof, reminiscent of the roofs in Algarve.     ...

June 23, 2024.   The unexpected heat of late June continued through Sunday and our visit to Monroe Bay Winery in Colonial Beach, Westmoreland County.   The winery is next door to the recently established James Monroe Birthplace Park and Museum and in fact sits on part of the old Monroe family land.   The winery is also minutes from the town of Colonial Beach, home of the second largest sand beach in the state (after Virginia Beach itself).    Monroe Bay Winery is mostly a wedding and special events venue.   It features a 3,000 square foot “Strawbale Barn,” which is built ingeniously of straw bales encased in siding.   Colored glass walls have been made from the butt-end of empty blue and green wine bottles.   The barn can accommodate up to 200 people. From the barn, the land slopes gently to a pond.   Chairs were still set-up for a wedding that happened the previous afternoon.   There may have been some vines visible across the pond....