Michael Shaps Wineworks
- There is a location, but this hardly tells the story for Michael Shaps. Virginia’s hottest winemaker today, Shaps has a multifaceted operation based a half-hour south of Charlottesville on route 20 (old timers may remember this as the site of the old Montdomaine winery). There he both produces his own labels, and contract crushes not for 2 or 3, but more than 20 clients. There is also a tasting room in Charlottesville. Shaps was for a time the winemaker at Jefferson Vineyards, partnered with King Family Vineyards, and manages production for The Barns at Hamilton Station: no lightweights here. Oh, yes, and on the side he produces some small wines out of Burgundy…
- Wine: The #1 winery in Virginia. Michael Shaps once again in 2023 was awarded more gold medals at the annual Virginia Governor’s Cup state-wide wine competition than any other winery: eight. In fact, the only time a Virginia winery has won more gold medals at a Governor’s Cup competition was… Michael Shaps (back in 2021). Gold medal winning wines at the 2023 Governor’s Cup included the 2019 vintage Chardonnay, Petit Manseng and Petit Verdot, the 2020 vintage Cabernet Franc, Roussanne, Tannat, Petit Verdot and Meritage. At the 2022 Governor’s Cup tasting competition, six Shaps wines were awarded gold medals: the 2016 vintage Meritage, 2018 Petit Manseng, and 2019 vintage Chardonnay (also named one of the top 12 wines in Virginia at the event), Cabernet Franc, Petit Manseng, Meritage, and L.Scott red. A wide range of offerings here, both in reds and whites and difficult to go wrong. Try the wonderfully named “Raisin d’Etre White”, an excellent dessert wine. The winery also often offers a discounted package of all their gold medal winning wines in the weeks after the annual Governor’s Cup – as good a “sampler” as one gets in Virginia.
- Setting: Wineworks is not about the setting. A fairly non-descript tasting area, without the sweeping views you may find at other Charlottesville area wineries. This place is strictly about the wines. However, since 2016 there is a second option, the Wineworks Extended tasting facility closer to downtown Charlottesville – however as of 2017 this has his “everyday” wines rather than the higher end ones.
- Stories: Founding Fathers: James Monroe’s home. One the way to or back from Michael Shaps, instead of using highway 20, take instead County Road 734. 10 miles from the winery, and only a couple of miles south of Interstate 64, you’ll find Ashlawn-Highland, home of the 5th President of the United States, James Monroe. Monroe, the 4th President from Virginia of the first five American Presidents, is best known today for the Monroe Doctrine, which declares both North and South America “an area of influence” of the United States. Florida was also acquired from Spain during his Presidency, while Maine, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama were admitted as new states to the Union. Monroe even had a foreign capital named in his honor: Monrovia, the Capital of Liberia, established in 1822. As President, he was the first to live in the painted-white White House, and before that was ready for him, he lived in a house by the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 21st Street, across from today’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) Headquarters. Aside from his two terms as President, Monroe also served in the first session of the US Senate, and as Governor of Virginia. Interestingly, he is the only President other than George Washington to have run unopposed (difficult to imagine these days…). Monroe purchased the plantation at the encouragement of his friend and neighbor, Thomas Jefferson. He owned it until 1825, splitting his time between there and his other home at Oak Hill, in Loudoun County, before selling it off to pay debts. The estate is now owned by Monroe’s alma mater, William and Mary College. The current house, which is open for visitors, is actually the old servants’ house; the foundation of the actual Ashlawn House nearby were only rediscovered in 2016.