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BY GERALD OCHS Rappahannock News Special Writer From the bonny bells of heather, / They brewed a drink long-syne, Was sweeter far than honey, Was stronger far than wine. They brewed it and they drank it, And lay in blessed swound For days and days together In their dwellings underground. —R.L. Stevenson, “Heather Ale” Rappahannock County will soon have occasion to quench its collective thirst for mead, an ancient honey wine said to have medicinal if not magical properties. Smokehouse Winery, located at 10 Ashby Road (off Route 231 south of Sperryville) will open its doors on Oct. 23 to welcome guests to its tasting house and its mead, crabapple hard cider on tap, and accompanying good food. An enterprise of Jen Cable and brewer John Hallberg, Smokehouse Winery’s tasting house is situated in a unique thatched roof cottage that evokes images j of Celtic inns, ancient honeywine makers, and purely Rappahannock good times. Smokehouse has a farm winery license, meaning that it produces at least 51 percent of the wine’s ingredients, and that will assure the quality of products offered. The primary product will be mead, said to be man’s earliest fermented drink and sometimes referred to as the “drink of the gods.” Traditional mead is made from honey and water, and can take up to a year to ferment and prop
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