Sabin Wine Journeys

February 18, 2023.   Our plans to visit Castle Glen Winery in Doswell, Hanover County almost went awry when both of our on-board navigation devices failed.   Thanks to the helpful young man who gave us directions out of the Wilderness.   The better approach to get to Castle Glen, with direction signs and everything, is from Interstate 95 using the King’s Dominion exit.  Do that. Castle Glen is a smallish winery with 4.5 acres of vine at the site.   The management has access to three other vineyards within a 30-mile radius.   However, Castle Glen is wedged between three working farms and a National Park, so their opportunities to expand the Doswell site are minimal.   The winery was incorporated in 2010 by Ed Cowdrey, and had their first sale in 2015.   The tasting room is small with few food options.   There was a good food truck on site when we visited, but it was good to have brought our traveling food in any case.   The place is...

February 18, 2023.   It was Kim’s idea to depart from our plans to visit Lake Anna Winery in Spotsylvania, and what a bit of good luck it was.   Lake Anna Winery is located, as the name implies, just three miles from the resort lake.   The winery is in a 1940’s converted and structurally reinforced dairy building situated among the vines that slope gently downward to the woods.   The tasting room is medium sized single barn-like room with lots of activity and noise.   At one end there is a gas fireplace and a comfy sofa.   At the other end is a two-station tasting bar.   Outside there are picnic tables looking over the vines.   There’s not much food selection here, so plan to bring your own.   Families are welcome and were having a good time strolling between the rows of dormant vines.      Bill and Ann Heidig first planted grapes on their farm in 1983 and first released wine in 1990, making it one of the older Virginia win...

February 18, 2023.   Kim and I decided to shake off the mid-winter doldrums in favor of road trip down the ever-busy I-95 corridor.   Our first stop was Mattaponi Winery in Spotsylvania a short side-trip from the interstate.   Named for the nearby river, the Mattaponi property owned by Janette and Michael Evans began as a Christmas tree farm and branched out as a hobby around 20 years ago.   Mattaponi Winery, Inc., was formed in 2002 with Janette as President and Michael as the winemaker, specializing if fruit wines.  The tasting room opened in 2014.   The winery has suffered much with Michael’s passing in 2019 and then COVID.   Janette is continuing the operation.   She wanted me to thank the whole local winemaking community in the Fredricksburg-Spotsyvania area for their support in those trying times.   In particular, she asked for a “shout-out” to Hal Bell at Bacchus Winery for helping her son, Calab, take over the role of winemaker fr...

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...