Sabin Wine Journeys - the Virginia Wine Journeys Blog

October 25, 2025.   The old river town of Scottsville is found at the bottom of a long downhill run where State routes 20 and 6 cross at the southern end of Albermarle County.   Before you come to the small town on the river plain, the shoulders on both sides of the road rise sharply to houses and businesses  striving to keep level as the ground drops away.   In the 19th Century, Scottsville was the center of the farming community that stretched all the way into the Shenandoah Valley.   From here farmers loaded their produce on barges to ferry down the James River to Richmond and even into the Atlantic.   Plans were made to link to the Ohio River from a starting point at Scottsville, but the Civil War and the efficiency of the railroads put an end to that scheme. Today, Scottsville features casual dining, canal history and river adventures.   Most of the dining is along Valley Street, where you can get a good sandwich at the Tavern on the James, or a c...

October 24, 2025.   Originally, our plans to visit eastern Albermarle County did not include Keswick Vineyards.   Instead, we were going to visit the Southern Living Idea House nearby.   But when Kim saw the abundance of chintz, floral curtains, throw pillows, and your grandmother’s formal furniture, passing as ideas, Kim opted out.   She is a Frank Lloyd Wright girl and digs that  aesthetic.   To fill the hole in our itinerary, we decided to return to Keswick Vineyards. When we last visited Keswick, we watched the rain come down beneath a covered porch on a slow mid-week afternoon in July 2022.   All of the seating had been moved out of doors because of COVID, leaving the old tasting room forlorn and hollow.    Since 2022, owners Cindy and Al Schornberg added an innovative new glass Pavilion tasting room that fully converts from open air Summer to cozy Winter with the flick of a switch.   It being October, the glass walls were closed ...

September 23, 2025.   Imagine you are on a curvy country road.   Forest all around.   You are ascending.   You know you are ascending by the push of your body into the back of your seat, by the strain of the car engine on the hillside, and eventually by the pop in your ears from the altitude.   You are in west Fauquier County near the town of Linden.   Soon you emerge from the forest and immediately recognize the regimented rows of a vineyard.   You are at Fox Meadow Vineyard and Winery.   Park your car above the tasting room, and you may see all different shades of blue and mist as you look back across a range from the top of Blue Mountain.   There is teal in the foreground, azure for the far mountains, and haint blue for the sky. Fox Meadow began in 2003 with Dan and Cheryl Mortland as owners and Tom Payette as the esteemed consulting winemaker.   Fox Meadow had great success in the early 2010’s, winning best red wine at the 2011 V...

September 4, 2025.   Interstate 64 runs the spine of the newest of Virginia’s   American Viticultural Areas (AVA), Virginia Peninsula.   A short distance from the Interstate, you can find several wineries to relieve the monotonous drive between Richmond and Newport News.   We have profiled all of these wineries before, with the exception of Gauthier Vineyard in Barhamsville, New Kent County.   Time to rectify that gap in coverage! We approached the winery passing a large barrel head boldly announcing the place.   Opposite this sign, three acres of Norton grapes sloped coyly under white gauze netting, installed to keep the birds away.   It was a sign that the harvest was close at hand.   A gravel drive takes you past a quiet lake and fountain, up a grade to the front of the tasting room. The tasting room building, built in 2012-13, has a wide wrap-around porch that you can follow around to a view across the lake and the vineyard.     In...

August 16, 2025.   Reitano Vineyards opened in June 2024 to much fanfare with local elected officials from Warren County and nearby Front Royal in attendance.   Reitano is the brainchild of Shelly Cook, who took her family cattle farm and turned it into an “extravagant vineyard.”   The name “Reitano” comes from Shelly’s grandfather who immigrated from Reitano, Sicily through Ellis Island into America.  We are in the Shenandoah AVA. Reitano has two main buildings with a third one due to open in October 2025.   Currently, the Old Springhouse serves as the tasting room and the main event space.   A pavilion allows for other large events.     The Springhouse rises two stories on exposed wood beams to a clearstory.   A long open hall runs the center of the floor.   Three sofa sitting areas branch off on either side.   The tasting bar occupies the fourth quadrant.   The space is cavernous, modern, and bright.   We saw no firepla...