Sabin Wine Journeys - the Virginia Wine Journeys Blog

January 11, 2026.  Welcome to 2026.   For the curious readers who may have wondered over the answers to the 2025 Winery Challenge, here are the clues and their answers: 1.   Vidal Blanc Heaven.   Caihailian Vineyards makes nothing but Vidal Blanc wine.   November 2025 2.   “Chicken N Dumplins.”   The loud music duo at Reitano Vineyards.   August 2025 3.   Cuckoo, Va.   Everleigh Vineyards is near the town of Cuckoo, Va.   June 2025 4.   Vineyards where “the earth and the sky meet.”   Ankida Ridge Vineyards   - “Ankida” means “where the earth and sky meet” in Sumerian April 2025 5.   Roger’s “worst wine, ever.”   Stella Rosa L’Originale Black .   Roger’s fateful trip to a convenience store in Miami Beach. April 2025 6.   Tasting Room in a greenhouse.   Domaine Fortier.   May 2025 7.   Notable official who began career teaching at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts...

6 January 2026.  Hello Gentle Readers and Welcome to the Year 2026!   We are beginning the year with our fifth annual interview of Annette Ring Boyd , Director of the Virginia Wine Board Marketing Office in Richmond.   Our discussion took place on January 6, 2026.   Annette has been involved with marketing Virginia wine since June 1987 when she became the wine marketing specialist for the Virginia Department of Agriculture.   She was instrumental in creating October as “Virginia Wine Month,” establishing the Virginia Governor’s Cup wine competition and recently the Governor’s Cup Wine Trail.   In 2007, she was awarded the contract to manage the Virginia Wine Marketing Office as its Director.   As with last year, this post paraphrases our discussion and does not directly quote Annette.   I hope that I have captured the discussion accurately. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Roger.   Just so you know, my wife and I made it to around 40 Virginia winer...

What’s Been Going On.   Well, 2025 is coming to an end, my friends.   Last year we despaired over the total absence of wine books on the shelves of our local bookstore’s “Wine Beer, Spirits” section.   This year there are a couple of wine books but, with the exception of Hugh Johnson’s annual wine guide, most were printed before the 2020’s.   Instead, the shelves were packed with gifts covering all manner of beers, selected hard spirits, and an abundance of cocktail books.   We began 2025 by checking-in with Annette Boyd for our fourth annual interview.   We hope we’ll have another conversation with her next year.   Over the course of 2025, we also interviewed AJ Greeley with the Virginia Vineyards Association, and George Hodson with the Virginia Wineries Association.   These were in addition to informal chats with at least 20 winery and vineyard owners or winemakers who unfailingly offered unique insights on their passion for growing and making...

Over the course of 2025, we posted on our visits to over 30 Virginia wineries and vineyards.     The clues below relate to some trait or feature about a winery or the owners or their wines.   It’s a testament to the uniqueness of Virginia’s wineries.  Match the winery or the person to the clue to WIN!.  For example, if the clue were "Clean Wine," the match would be Arterra Wines.   The person who gets the most correct matches to the clues by Saturday, January 10 th 2026 will get a congratulatory gift card worth the paper it’s printed on plus the stamp OR a wonderful email of appreciation.    You can post your answers to the POST A COMMENT, below: https://vawinejourneys.blogspot.com    OR If you don’t have your GOOGLE account and password handy, you can send your answers to me on FACEBOOK.   Be sure to identify yourself for the prize. Best of Luck to You All!    Here are the Clues   CLUE ...

December 19, 2025.   Encountering Jason Murray – owner and winemaker at Arterra Wines – must be what it was like to meet a passionate disciple of a new faith.   The faith in question is “clean wine,” and his pursuit is in hostile territory, so goes the received wisdom.   All shall be explained. First, some preliminaries:   Arterra Wines is to be found between Interstate 66 and Route 17 (Winchester Road) in the northwestern part of Fauquier County.   It has a Delaplane address.*   Sandy and Jason Murray purchased the property from Bob and Phoebe Harper (of Naked Mountain) in 2014 making the Murray’s in a sense the second generation of Virginia winemakers.   At purchase, the land was completely wooded, and the Murray’s have since hacked out an 8-and-a-half-acre estate vineyard from the hilly forest.   The A-frame lodge that holds the winey and tasting room opened in 2015.   It seems to rise organically from the hillside while remaining largely ...