Sabin Wine Journeys

Rappahannock County is situated next to Shenandoah National Park in the northern Piedmont.      The mountains in winter are ever-present wearing their olive-colored fleece jackets for the cold.   The town of Washington is the county seat for the 7,300 residents.   There are more cows than people here.   Some call it “Little Washington” to distinguish it from Washington, District of Columbia, which is a little over an hour to the north.   It is an easy day trip from Washington, DC and the counties of Northern Virginia. The big noise in Washington has to be the Inn at Little Washington , the only 3-star Michelin restaurant in the mid-Atlantic or southern United States.   (There are only 14 3-Star restaurants in the United States.   The closest to Washington are the five in New York City.)                                             ...

December 12, 2024.   John Guevremont is a compact muscular older gentleman, bald on top with piercing eyes of the Marine Corps flyer he once was.   That he is now owner and winemaker at Quièvremont Vineyard and dairy farmer at Reality Farm may surprise you.   He is also more talkative than farmers or flyers tend to be.   We are happy to have spent an hour with him, and I think he was happy to have a respite between herding cows and doing administrative paperwork.                                                                                     John and Nick G...

November 23, 2024.   It takes just minutes to drive to Star in the Valley Estate Winery, northwest from the town of Strasburg in Shenandoah County.   The grape vines were dormant when we passed through them up a steep hill; the air a seasonable Fall coolness, strong winds marshalling clouds through in their own Thanksgiving Day Parade overhead.   The sun flashed around like a search light on the mountainsides illuminating the grey denuded trees holding onto their last colors.   At an elevation of over 1300 feet, the tasting room and production building for Star in the Valley looks back at Signal Knob which is part of the mountain range that splits the Shenandoah River into its northern and southern forks.   Star in the Valley Winery has its name from the glorious night viewing of the heavens made possible by the elevation and the undeveloped park land that surrounds the property.   Owner and winemaker Shane Waller and wife Cara have their home and are r...

November 9, 2024    Loudoun County is celebrating 40 years of the wine industry this year - 2024 - because in 1984 Willowcroft Farm Vineyards released its first commercial vintage and became the first winery in the county.   Owner and winemaker Lew Parker bought an old farm on Mount Gilead in 1979 after a successful career in the medical device business.   He planted his first vines in 1980 and replanted in 1981 when the first plantings died.   Lew was the Virginia wine person of the year in 2002 and the winemaker of the year in Loudoun County in 2023 showing long-term recognition by his peers.     The old red barn from 1875 houses the wine production area on the ground floor, a small wood-beamed tasting room on the second floor and a loft room on the third floor.        The tasting room itself is cramped with virtually no seating.   Go upstairs for that.       Or better yet, take your picnic and your w...