October & November 2008   Barley & Justice
Barley and Justice are two lucky Golden Retrievers who are growing up at a dog-friendly Virginia winery about an hour west of DC, just off I-66 between Marshall and Delaplane. Their owners, husband and wife team Brian and Sharon Roeder, first met when they were graduate students at Georgetown University. Four years ago, Sharon confided to Brian that she had seen a vision of herself in a vineyard walking through an early morning mist with her dog and a cup of coffee, inspecting the vines (she had to admit she didn’t know what she was looking for, but she was checking nonetheless). Brian, a native Californian who had once put “owning a vineyard” on his dream list, was instantly intrigued. Last Memorial Day, Barrel Oak Winery (BOW as in bow-wow!) celebrated their Grand Opening, and Brian and Sharon have been busy selling their award-winning vintages to a wine- and dog-appreciating public ever since.

The couple’s first Golden Retriever, Bogart, was their faithful companion during the early plantings and the long construction process. Barley, who is 3, was already named (Isn’t Barley a beer ingredient, we asked?), when he was acquired from a friend of a friend. But Justice,—their 6-month-old puppy—was so named because the winery he lives in overlooks the former Chief Justice John Marshall’s Fauquier County boyhood home.

Barley and Justice don’t just have several portraits of themselves hanging in the tasting room, they are the wine label models for the new vintages of Bowhaus Red and Bowhaus White, which will be released in 2009. If you make the drive out to their new winery, Barley and Justice promise to give your dog a warm welcome. So plan to visit soon for a Friday night sunset tasting on the winery patio, or a weekday/weekend respite engaged in reviewing all the various possibilities at the tasting bar.

More images of Justice and Barley appear in Gallery 1.

Click here to read about a previous Dog of the Month winner.