Sabin Wine Journeys

  October 20, 2022.   A little over a half hour drive from Veramar Vineyard, we came to the newest of the three facilities of the Bogaty Family Wine Group, James Charles Winery and Vineyard in Winchester, Frederick County.   James Charles feels more elegant than Veramar and, indeed, it is designed to accommodate weddings and other special events.   From its distinctive green doors, to its sleek events room, to its tasting room capable of opening up to a rolling lawn, James Charles is party central to the Wine Group.   It is fitting that this winery carries the name of its owner since, we understand, Jim and Della Bogaty met and married in the same weekend.    Outside food is only allowed outside. Otherwise, have some appetizers from the winery menu.   The Virginia Wine Pass is not accepted.   For colder months, be sure to reserve one of the outside firepits.   We met Matt, the tasting room manager who offered wines we did not see at...

October 20, 2022.   Kim and I began our first real foray into the Shenandoah Valley AVA by stopping at Veramar Vineyard near Berryville in Clarke County.   The winery is convenient to west bound Route 7.  The interior of the tasting room is basic, but we did notice a nice woodburning fireplace.   If weather permits sitting outside, however, that is where you want to be.   The tasting room faces the west side of the Blue Ridge Mountains with gentle fields of vines sloping down from an Italianate veranda.   Veramar opened in 2001 after a first harvest in 2019.   The focus is on wine making.   The facilities are not set-up for large events. Veramar is the so-called “Mother Ship” of the three vineyards and wineries owned by James “Jim” Charles and Della Bogaty, which are formally called the Bogaty Family Wine Group. (We will review one of the other locations, James Charles Winery and Vineyard, in the next post.)   The main vineyard is at Verama...

In mid- October 2022, this Blog takes its first excursion into the Shenandoah Valley American Viticultural Area. (AVA), the first AVA established in Virginia in 1982 on petition from Shenandoah Winery.   There are several origin stories for the name “Shenandoah,” most involving the Iroquois people, but it is unknown whether it comes from “River Through the Spruces” or “River of High Mountains” or some other derivation.   Native peoples used the valley and its rivers as a highway including for their intertribal wars.   Europeans mapped the valley in 1706, and soon thereafter settlers began to arrive:   Quakers and Mennonites from Pennsylvania, English settlers from eastern Virginia, Germans, Scots, and Irish.   The valley also served as a highway for Confederate and Union forces during the Civil War with three major campaigns being fought within its confines. Given the national historic prominence of the Shenandoah Valley as a name and location, labels of win...

September 16, 2022.   If location is everything, then Dry Mill Vineyards and Winery certainly has a prime location.   Advertised as the closest winery to Leesburg, it is minutes west from downtown.   We last visited in 2016.   The somewhat rustic tasting room sits on a hillock with its back to the traffic along Dry Mill Road.   Walk around to the front and the road noise disappears.   You are in the country again.   The tasting room inside is quite small, but outside there is an extended covered porch with heaters for the winter months.   The lawn rolls down to picnic tables and forest.   The building also features a balcony from which, we understand, the Fairfax Jubil-Aires can often be found serenading the patrons.   We appreciate the hospitality from Tricia, Sandy, and Lou on our short visit.   Dry Mill is part of Vanhuss Family Cellars which has its principal office and its eight acres of vineyards in the Lovettsville area. ...