Hi guys! I am back with an awesome post featuring some of my favorite wineries! My friends over at Virginia Wine Pass reached out and asked if I could feature some wineries that participate in the VA Wine Pass!
If you have never heard of the VA Wine Pass you need to listen up! The Virginia Wine Pass is a membership that gets you exclusive offers at participating Virginia Wineries and Cideries. It often pays for itself after your first winery visit! There are a couple options you can choose from when it comes to your membership. There is the Virginia Wine Pass App or Card. If you decide the app option, you can choose a monthly or yearly membership. If you decide on the card, it expires Dec 31st of the corresponding year ~ the time to buy the card is at the beginning of the year to get a full year of benefits! Since it is July, they are offering the Wine Pass for only $39.00! As a member, you and a guest will enjoy exclusive offers only available to VA Wine Pass members.
Some of my FAVORITE wineries participate in the VA Wine Pass which makes visiting even more fun!
Michael Shaps Wine Works – We recently revisited Michal Shaps this past week and had a fab time. I wanted to revisit ever since I tasted the Governors Cup Case ~ so many were Michael Shaps wine! There are two tasting options you can choose from when you visit. There is the Michael Shaps Wine Works label wines ~ this tasting is $10 for six wines. There is also the Maison Shaps label ~ these wines are produced and bottled in France. This tasting is $10 for three wines. We had so many favorites! We loved the Maison Shaps Aligote and Rosé as well as the Michael Shaps Odette. Another unique thing Michael Shaps does is boxed wine, that is my kinda thing! He offers Cab Franc, Rosé and Viognier boxes! Michael Shaps produces about 8,000 cases for his own label but he also is the wine maker for over 20 wineries! If you are a Virginia Wine Pass member you get 20% off bottle purchases! Uhm…. that’s a good deal!
Thatch Winery – I was eager to visit Thatch because it was formally First Colony Winery. They recently renovated their loft and extended their back porch. Their tasting room and facilities are gorgeous and we loved hanging out in the loft playing with their giant scrabble board and enjoying our picnic. They have three tasting options, the standard tasting is $9 for seven wines, the reserve tasting is $8 for three wines or the full tasting for $15. If you are a Virginia Wine Pass member you get buy one get one tastings (cost of second tasting waived with the purchase of three or more bottles! Hello… buy three bottles!!!) Thatch produces about 3,000 cases and has 16 acres under vine. Our favorite was their Rosé ~ it is super bright with strawberry notes.
Wisdom Oak Winery – This is our new FAVORITE winery in Charlottesville and we cannot wait to go back. First off, their hospitality was amazing. I had called ahead because we were visiting during a day their tasting room was closed and they graciously opened for us to taste their wine. Wisdom Oak is family owned and operated. Jason is the winemaker and tends to the vineyard and Laura runs the tasting room as well as their wine club. They produce about 1,200 cases but plan on making 4,000 in the next three years. We loved so many of their wines but our favorites were their Sauvignon Blanc, Petit Manseng and their Rosé . I feel like Petit Manseng is the new white of VA and Wisdom Oak nailed it. It is steel aged which makes it clean and crisp ~ you pick up notes of floral and pear. Their tasting is $9 for ~seven wines. If you are a Virginia Wine Pass Member you get 5% off bottle purchases! You have to go visit Jason and Laura!
I hope that you check out the Virginia Wine Pass to see if this is something that will help save you $ while visiting local wineries! Lots more posts to come… make sure you are following my insta ~ @sipsandtripswithpaige to follow my wine visits in real time!
Cheers, Paige
Sips and Trips with Paige 