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TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT WINEMAKING December 2015 WINES&VINES 53 will be in new French oak, depending on the vintage. Nadalie, Vicard, Ermitage-Berthomieu and Cavin are the barrel makers for the red wine program. Shaps uses Roanoke Valley Wine Co. as his distributor. "They're doing a great job," he told Wines & Vines. "The wines are selling through quickly, and we're getting placements in res- taurants. But it's also frustrating: Demand is higher than our supply, so we sell out before the next vintage is available. We're increasing production and trying not to sacrifice quality, and still meet the demand." The tasting experience The new tasting room reflects Wineworks' basic philosophy: The room is comfortable but not fancy, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the wines are excellent. Shaps won the Virginia Governor's Cup in 2004 (when he was winemaker at King Family Vineyards in Crozet, Va.), and has won numerous gold medals in the Governor's Cup competition since then. Three of his 2012 vintage wines—Tannat, Petit Verdot and Raisin d'Être White (a blend of Riesling and Petit Manseng)—won gold medals at the 2015 Governor's Cup competition. The tasting room walls are paneled with metal siding from old tobacco sheds; the tast- ing bar is made of reclaimed soapstone and barn boards; the tables were constructed from recycled barn boards stained with red wine must, and the high-top tables are made from barrel heads with a metal hoop as the finishing edge. What is unique about the tasting experience at Wineworks is the variety of wines that are available to taste and their packaging. The menu features wines made by Shaps both in Virginia and at his winery in Burgundy. In Sep- tember, eight Virginia wines were available to taste, while the three Governor's Cup gold medal winners and seven others were for sale as well. Included in the $10 fee for tasting the Virginia wines was one bag-in-a-box white wine and two wines in growlers called Mon Bidon Blanc and Mon Bidon Rouge (mon bidon is French for "my canteen"). While growlers are available at many craft breweries, Shaps is one of the few wineries in Virginia that is currently selling wine on tap. According to Virginia law, the winery cannot pre-package wine in growlers, but they can be filled and sold at the winery tasting room be- cause a growler is considered to be "a glass of wine." The growler wines are unfiltered and unoaked; the white is a blend of Chardonnay and Vidal Blanc, and the red contains is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin. Stainless steel kegs sit in a cabinet below two wine barrels, and spigots deliver wine into the growlers, creating the appearance that the wine is being poured directly from the barrels. (See the photo at the bottom of this page, where the cabinet doors are open and the kegs are visible.) A 64-ounce glass growler costs the customer $10; the price for each fill is $25. When the cabinet doors are closed, wine from kegs appears to pour straight out of the barrel.