Sabin Wine Journeys

January 16, 2023.   To start off our new year of winery visits and tastings, we decided to pick a brisk and sunny holiday to visit Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, Fauquier County, within the Middleburg AVA.   This was maybe our third trip to Barrel Oak since they opened in 2008.   Over the years, Barrel Oak has added a brewery, which we aren’t going to review for this trip, and just last year changed ownership when founder Brian Roeder wanted to return to family in California.   According to Jennifer Schaefer, Barrel Oak is now owned by White Star, although Virginia State Corporation Commission records show Barrel Oak is a fictitious name for Grape and Grain, LLC, a corporation with the same principal address as White Star in Bethesda, Maryland.   Some reports are that the sales price set a record for Virginia wineries at around $14 Million. Let’s get past the wonky stuff.   The winery has always been fun and welcoming to families and their dogs, achiev...

Hello Gentle Readers and Welcome to 2023!   We are beginning the year with our second annual interview with Annette Boyd, head of the Virginia Wine Marketing Office in Richmond.   Our discussion took place on December 12, 2022.   As with last year, this post paraphrases our discussion and does not directly quote Annette.   I hope that I have captured the discussion accurately.  Q. 1.   When we last spoke in January, you were anticipating publication of a new Vision Statement for the Virginia Wine Industry.   The Statement was released in March.   What’s been going on as far as implementing the plan?   What big initiatives are on tap for 2023? A. 1.   So far so good on plan implementation.   Different groups and associations are leading implementation of different parts of the Vision.   The Virginia Wine Board will begin seeing updates from the plan implementers starting with the March 2023 meeting. For the Marketing Office,...

What’s Been Going On.   Well, 2022 is coming to end, dear readers.   In this, my first year of retirement, I thoroughly enjoyed driving around the Commonwealth with Kim, meeting winery owners, growers, wine makers, and staff.   Much is going on in the state – lots of experimentation with varietals and blends to see what works best in the unique climate that is Virginia.   For example, we applaud Justin Montifalco’s work with Rkatsiteli and Saperavi blends, Adam McTaggart’s work with Carménère at Casanel, and Kerem Baki’s work with Fer Servadou at Hillsborough Vineyards. We began the year by interviewing Annette Boyd of the Virginia Wine Marketing Office.   She offered many useful perspectives on the state of the industry and anticipated publication of the Virginia Wine Vision Statement which happened in March.   We hope to start off 2023 by visiting with Annette again.   We spent some time in Loudoun County this year and made the acquaintance wit...