Virginia Wineworks

I’ve been twice and I can definitely say that this is my favorite winery in the area. Some other local wineries focus more on the view/​wedding venue aspect of things but Michael Shaps is about one thing — wine! My first trip was years ago when the tasting was done right in the barrel room which had a great ambiance, but they’ve now added a tasting room which is nice. As others have said, there is a VA wines tasting and a French wine tasting and you can pick one for $ 10 or both for $ 15. We did both this time and I honestly liked every single wine I tasted which rarely happens. Two neat concepts — they have a white and red growler wine and two boxed wines (Virginia’s first!). I’m not normally huge on the super sweet dessert wines, but theirs is red and has a lot of depth with raisin tastes, especially paired with chocolate.

Excellent Wine, Reds wines are best in Virginia. If you are going for well made quality wines go here. If you just want a fancy tasting room experience go somewhere else.

This winery was recommended to us from another local winery. We were disappointed almost immediately with our server, Roger who had an attitude. Roger acted like we were putting him out to do our tasting. We were interested in getting some additional tasting glasses. He told us that each glass would require an additional tasting fee. We had already spent $ 48 dollars and felt that he could give us some break on additional tasting glasses. He was arrogant and unrelenting. We will not patronize this establishment again.

The wine was okay, but the wine tasting left a lot to be desired. Roger had an attitude and was condescending. As the price of the wine increased, the tasting got less and less. Will not return. There are too many other wineries in the area that are more accommodating.

Great stop for a wine lover, especially if you’ve heard of the name Michael Shaps. It’s possibly disappointing for people looking for a ‘traditional’ wine tasting with all the accoutrements (fancy tasting room, music, ect) but if you like his wine then you must visit.
Wine: 4 stars. Consistently good tasting for whites and reds
Facilities: 2 stars. The tasting room is a corrugated metal shack, and you have to walk thru the production area to get there. Not a place to hang out.
Staff/​Ambiance: 3 stars. I was alone when I visited. My server was kinda quiet but attentive.
Note: this review mixes together two different wine flights: the ‘standard’ tasting and his flight of Bordeaux wines (yes real Bordeaux… straight from France!). Each flight by itself was $ 10 or both for $ 15.
Michael Shaps is something of a legend in the Virginia wine industry. Having been to several of the 27 places where he’s the wine maker (Hague, The Barns at Hamilton Station, others), a pilgrimage to his own place was inevitable.
Whites: 5 whites; all fairly good. The Chardonnay in neutral oak wasn’t buttery at all. The Mon Bidon Blanc was nice and bright, and the 2013 French Oak Chardonnay was just a little creamy (and ironically enough, sold in a box). And the 2014 Viognier was floral. All in all, the whites were above average for me, and I’m not a white drinker.
Rose: 1 Rose, the Mon Bidon, which has Tannat!
Reds & Desert: The 2013 Mercury Rouge Pinot Noir I liked a lot, and possibly my favorite red. The 2012 Cab Franc was a bit too earthy for me. The 2012 Merlot was really smooth. But my absolute favorite was the 2011 Raisin d’Etre Red Desert wine. It comes in a half-​sized desert bottle for $ 25, which I guess was about average for what you get.
If I had one complaint, is the name «Michael Shaps» is so famous you’d think that his place is wine heaven on earth. I guess once you’ve hyped something in your mind for so long, anything less than an stunning tasting is a let down. While I certainly recommend Wineworks, don’t think you’re going to taste his best wines (which he might have for sale but not for tasting). But visit for yourself and decide.

I have to say this is the best vineyard in the area. Now the Charlottesville area has a lot of great places and you can’t go wrong with any of them. Being born and raised just over the mountain I’m very familiar with what the area has to offer. This is just a great place to relax and have a few glasses with friends.

We stopped in while in the area and although the looks of the tasting room and outside don’t look like much, the taste of the wines were pretty darn good and the customer service was great!
They have two tastings; one that is of their French grown and manufactured wines and one that is done here in VA. Between the group of us, we tried both tastings and the VA wines were definitely much better, but to each their own — so you might prefer the French wines.
The chardonnay was amazing — had to have it — GOT IT!
We also found it interesting and slightly odd that they sell growlers for $ 10 and you can fill them with table white or table red, directly from the barrel in the tasting room. They also have boxed wine — the first VA winery we’ve ever seen offering boxed wine and the first winery we’ve ever heard of using growlers.
Definitely worth a try… Judge for yourself and let us all know what you think!

Virginia Wineworks must have heard our cries — they’ve opened a new tasting room! The outside parking is still a little bit of a mess and it’s still not the fanciest looking winery, but they are moving in the right direction.
My girlfriend and I got to try their second tasting menu of Michael Shaps. For $ 10 (it includes the glass) you try three of the Michael Shaps Burgundies from France, which go for $ 32-​$ 54 a bottle. Our pourer was very knowledgeable about the wine and pointed out where in France these wines were made. I have to admit, the French know how to make excellent wine — it’s some of the best you’re going to taste and is a definitely a step-​up from most of the local Virginia wine. My favorite was the Savigny-​Les-​Beaunne ler Cru Les Narbantons 2012 red — it was simply one of the best reds I’ve ever tasted.
Although you only get three tastings, definitely try out that Burgundy line. You’ll thank me later.

So here’s the deal, this is not a winery that you are going to go sit at or spend time in a fancy tasting room. You’re going to walk through the crush pad, straight into the barrel room, and do your tasting there. And that is fine. (Note: they are building a tasting room with time). In fact, it provides an entirely different type of experience where you get to see how a winery really works.
People may be familiar with this winery because Michael Shaps does custom crush for many vineyards throughout Virginia.
What is remarkable about Virginia Wineworks though is the wine management. Wineworks is currently pouring ’09 reds. They make sure to truly barrel and cellar the wines before releasing them thus really allowing the reds to develop.
What you get here are two different lines of wine. Virginia Wineworks is the more fun label where you get some experimentation and different wines then you might expect. Don’t knock this line though! The box wines are actually quite fabulous and the price point is great. 35 – 40 for a box that is 4 bottles. Michael Shaps is the higher end line with the more traditional old-​world style wines. These are the wines you can lay down for years and have open beautifully. I just opened a 2007 Michael Shaps Cabernet Franc, and it was a great wine.
A recent addition to the winery is the Michael Shaps French wines. You can now do a separate tasting of the Burgundy wines from his vineyard in France. The Pinot Noir I sampled was excellent!

Like others have said, it’s a working winery without the views, however it is WORTH a visit. The MICHAEL SHAP wines are really really good… Wineworks is more of his «fun» label, also some reviewers have said other close wineries had better tasting wines, well he could have actually made those too. He makes wine for 25 different wineries, ie Pippin Hill… so I am sure if you have gone around tasting in the Charlottesville area you’ve tasted his handy work and not even known it!

We went here on a whim and the experience was very good. Our server had recently sprained her wrist and she impressed us with her skills and knowledge (as well as her ability to open bottles one handed!). We liked several of our pours and left with the Box Viognier and the Shaps Petit Verdot. Not a place for ambiance or kid entertainment — it is truly all about the grape.

Delicious, delicious wines; get the Michael Schaps varieties. This place is basically a warehouse, but it doesn’t matter, the wine is sooo good.

Overpriced sewer water. 30 – 40 dollars a bottle for non-​descript wine made mostly with grapes grown elsewhere. This was THE WORST tasting experience I have ever encountered– from the engagement of the staff to the quality of the wine this was incredibly poor. The tasting cost of $ 10.00 exceeded the norms in the area. The wine, a s mentioned was to me very poor and the staff acted like they wanted us out of there. This is the first winery in years that I left without purcahsing even one bottle. As a reference point, I visited this winery after spending several hundred dollars at another close-​by winery. I will not visit this location again.

Right off the bat, don’t expect a breathe taking view. Or for that matter, any view, because there is none. Now with all of this said, give it a try. My wife and i did some research and knew ahead of time we were going to a working winery that isn’t known for its view. We went into the warehouse/​tasting area with one thing in mind, taste wine!!! We sampled 10 wines for $ 10.00 and had a great time. The majority of the wines were very good and the staff was friendly. Well worth the trip!

The drive takes through clay dirt, gravel roads and through a small neighborhood (or two). The scenic view to the Vineyard is great the scenic view at the Vineyard is non-​existent.
Virginia Wineworks reminds me of Hardywood (in Richmond) Brewery where its no frills but they know have good stuff to offer. The Michael Shaps wine was great! Surprised to find this quality of wine in the Central Virginia.
If you want to buy some really good wine — I would make a run here and just buy the bottles and go! This is will be a place we will come back to refill on!

We had fun here. It’s like the bare bones of wine tasting. The woman who served us our tasting was fun. The atmosphere was real, you got the feeling of being in a wine start-​up. Glad we went.

Wow — what a surprise find. I didn’t expect much when I saw the tasting and winery was in the storehouse but the wines are great and the price-​point is even better. The woman pouring wines was a lot of fun and just so authentic. She didn’t have the pretentious vibe so many of the other wineries have. We know our wine and go on wine tours often, we don’t need someone to tell us how to taste wine and we don’t want to be served sugary intro-​wines. This is just a great find if you are an educated wino and are not worried about how fancy a place looks.

Virginia has its own Dr. Frank. If you’re familiar with the Finger Lakes wine region, you’ll know Dr. Frank — one of the pioneers of Old World wine in the United States, and one who knew that to enjoy great wine, you have to forego certain luxuries, like a fancy tasting room and quarterly beast feasts (a’la Pearmund Cellars). Virginia Wineworks, located beyond a dense patch of woods south of Charlottesville, is the Dr. Frank of Virginia. And they have a line of economical wines to show for it.
Michael Shaps is the Dr. Frank of Virginia. The wines on his label are on par with Gabriele Rause and Jim Law’s (Linden). A bit on the pricey side, but about average (price-​wise) compared to wineries in Northern Virginia. The wines on the Virginia Wineworks label are economically priced and excellent — a bottle with the Virginia Wineworks label blows away most wineries in Northern Virginia. Sample the viognier on both labels and you’ll find how different viogniers can be.
As others have pointed out, don’t expect a fancy tasting room and sitting area. This place exists to move wine. And you can order online. Apparently a picnic area is coming soon (with a hilltop view of another winery).
Now about that box wine: Yes, they sell box wine here. Viognier, chardonnay and cabernet franc. But don’t expect Glen Ellen or Barefoot box wine. Just an economical way to present Virginia wine to your guests if you plan to throw a party in the foreseeable future. Just don’t plan on keeping your box of wine for more than 2 months.
Virginia Wineworks joins Lovingston as a shining star of what Virginia is capable of doing for red, white and rose.

I’m not a wine snob, but I don’t mind being «wined». I relish the opportunity to be educated, try new types of wine, etc. I specifically go to wineries for the tasting experience. I don’t need a tour, I just want to know what you have, why you have it, etc.
Frankly, this place just didn’t impress me. It’s $ 5/​per person to taste and they quickly run you through the list of wines. There’s no oyster crackers or water to clean your palette, but it goes so quick, I guess it’s not needed. There was no friendly banter between us and the pourer – just straight pouring. I sorta felt like I was being intrusive. Sorry, if I’m spending $ 5, I want to feel like it’s worthwhile. We did end up buying a $ 30 box of wine because I can never leave those sort of places without a purchase (even though we did just pay $ 10 for our sips of wine, too), but at least I now know to spend my time exploring some of the other wineries next time I’m in C-​ville and skipping this in the future.

Virginia Wineworks features the creations of French wine expert Michael Shaps. Two levels of wines are for sale here: Michael Shaps and Virginia Wineworks.
Michael Shaps wines are produced in small lots from vineyards that are leased and grown under the supervision of Michael Shaps and Philip Stafford. These wines are very high quality and have won lots of awards. As a result, they’re also on the pricier side for Virginia wines, with an average per bottle price of about $ 32. That said, they are superb. I particularly like the Chardonnay and the Cab Franc.
Virginia Wineworks wines are crafted to be more value oriented. The wines are made from Virginia grapes purchased from local grape suppliers and wineries. Shaps uses the grapes to create wines in the $ 12 – 16 price range. These wines are great bargains. They’re more easy drinking than the Micheal Shaps wines, and they’re also less complex. The still are tasty, though.
The tasting room isn’t much to look at, it’s more functional. In addition to making his own wines, Shaps helps other winemakers there. This place is about tasting and buying wine, not so much hanging out and drinking. The wines are so good, I always make a point to stop here.