Sabin Wine Journeys

January 26, 2024.   Days like this day don’t normally come around until June: high clouds, blue sky and warm breezes.   We came to Endhardt Vineyards along the North Fork and Lincoln Roads, Loudoun County, still wet and puddled from the left-over from early morning rains.   Johannes (Hannes) and Sarah Endhardt have built their winery among the steep hills south of the town of Lincoln (address is Purcellville).   Hannes, a German dual citizen, learned to appreciate wine from his father a wine aficionado in Bavaria who favored Italian and Austrian wines.   The tasting room is by the shores of a pond with a great vine-covered hill rising behind it.     We spent a pleasant afternoon with General Manager, Jason Deaver, an accomplished chef in his own right.   We appreciate his hospitality. All 46 acres of the property are under a conservation easement.   In 2019 they planted 11 acres of vines growing Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Petit Verdot...

January 26, 2024.   What a difference a week makes.   Seven days ago, the temperature had been suppressed below 20 degrees for days and piles of snow blanketed the landscape with a sense of permanence.   But we emerged more each following day from the Polar Vortex so that by the Friday when we set out to the wineries it was in the upper seventies and the snow beaten back to tiny resistant enclaves of shade.   To celebrate leaving our cocoon, we drove out to Good Spirit Winery near Round Hill in Loudoun County.   Good Spirit is just one turn off of the scenic Snickersville Turnpike, less than a mile from the cross-roads that is the community of Airmount.   Disabled parking is a quick jog to the right on the winery driveway.   There is a fairly steep path from the main parking to the wrap-around porch that leads to the tasting room.   The porch is made of stones that resemble light Emperador marble. Good Spirit is the retirement project of Mike ...

January 13, 2024.   We decided to squeeze-in our first winery visit of 2024 in advance of a predicted Polar Vortex arriving in the Nation’s Capital early next week.   The heavy rains from earlier in the week gave way to a crisp, bright, breezy day that promised well for a return trip to Fleetwood Farm Winery.   Nicely located a few minutes from Virginia State Route 50, between South Riding and Aldie, Loudoun County, take care with the sharp turn and steep drive onto the property. On a rise above the parking lot is the 1765 Federal-style manor house originally built by William Ellzey.   Also called “Peggy’s Green,” the house is on the National Register of Historic Places.   Fleetwood has three main properties: the manor house and tasting room, which we’ll get to in a moment, the Grand Terrace, and the Loft.   Most private events such as wedding receptions, are in the Loft, a barn-like structure next to the parking lot.   In past visits to Fleetwood,...

January 4, 2024.   Hello Gentle Readers and Welcome to 2024!   We are beginning the year with our third annual interview with Annette Boyd, Director of the Virginia Wine Marketing Office in Richmond.   Our discussion took place on January 4, 2024.   As with last year, this post paraphrases our discussion and does not directly quote Annette.   I hope that I have captured the discussion accurately. Question #1 .   In July 2022, Wine Enthusiast Magazine announced that it would limit its reviews of U.S. wines to wines from California, Washington State, Oregon, New York, and Virginia.*   In November of 2023, Wine Enthusiast named the Charlottesville area as “the 2023 Wine Region of the Year Wine Star Award.”**   I imagine that the Virginia Wine Marketing Office played a role in the magazine’s decision in favor of Virginia over other states that it could have included (like Texas), and more recently in favor of the Charlottesville region.   How d...

What’s Been Going On.   Well, 2023 is coming to end, dear readers. It's tme to summarize what we've been up to. We began 2023 by checking-in with Annette Boyd for our second annual interview.   We hope we’ll have another conversation with her next year.   Over the course of   2023, we also interviewed Gabriele Rausse (May), Dr. Mizuho Nita (July), and Kirk Wiles (October).   These are in addition to informal chats with at least 17 winery and vineyard owners who unfailingly offered unique insights on their passion of growing and making wine in Virginia’s challenging environment.   We expanded our Facebook reach through the Sabin Wine Journeys page and regularly post to the Virginia Wine Mafia Facebook group. I also was privileged to attend the upper-level undergraduate/graduate-level “Introduction to Wine and Beer” course at George Mason University (March – May).   My sincere compliments to Professor Kerri LaCharite who must be the hardest worki...