Tastings

Have a restaurant in a wine store? OK, I’m in. Bill, the wine guru will come over, ask you what you are eating, what kind of wine you like, and he’ll hook you up.
Bill’s sommel-​essence worked for us: his Gewurtztraminer pick was good with my wife’s pork shank order, and his Chenin blanco paired well with my dish of mushrooms. We’d have never ordered those wines. So why not 5 stars?
Service was off, lacked a pace. Even though the place was empty, it felt like long stretches between visits. There was a bread plate, but they never brought bread until they asked. The atmosphere felt odd with this weak classical music. Little things I guess.
At the end of the day, the food was good and the wine pairing worked.

I stopped in for a glass of wine and had the worst experience at a wine bar I’ve ever had other than meeting some other very nice customers. I’m sorry if this sounds like just complaints but I can’t think of something good to say.
When I asked for a wine list the person at the bar just pointed at a bunch, probably 20or 30, open bottles and said they didn’t have one. I asked what had been recently opened and didn’t get an answer. Only that they had a wine preservation system. With that many open bottles these things can only do so much and was told about one that was on special so I ordered it but since it was the bottom of the bottle asked if she could open another bottle and was

We waited an hour and 20 minutes for our food, and the waitress never came by during that time to ask if we wanted refills on drinks — we finally had to flag her down. The Pinot Grigio my sister had tasted like it might have gone skunky, but it might have also just been a not-​so-​great wine. The crab casserole was more like a crab dip appetizer than a stand-​alone meal. The crab cakes and grouper, however, were spectacular. Would have given it another if we hadn’t waited for so long to eat.

Fabulous food. Perhaps the best kept secret for a great lunch in Downtown Charlottesville. Lobster bisque, veal cutlet, wild mushroom ragout. Wow!
The owner keeps it all fresh, local & fabulous. Highly recommended.

Tried out this place on the recommendation of a friend. Went there for lunch. Though I am a vegetarian, and they only had one item on the menu, I loved it. Everything was fresh and local. I was expecting the sandwich to be cold, but it was hot. Great sides too.
Don’t go there if you are in a hurry. Service is a tad slow!

Found this accidentally while wandering around trying somewhere to have a drink. Beautiful shop, amazing selection and good food. I wish they had a printed menu when we had gone as we had no idea the prices of the wines we got.

This restaurant is part wine store-​part restaurant. Only a few tables available but so worth it! The food was amazing! Locally grown produce and organic meats. Delicious. The wine recommendation was spot on too! Definitely worth a visit if you are in Charlottesville!

Based on several five star reviews, four of us made reservations at Tastings for an anniversary dinner. The store/​restaurant is kind of dumpy looking from the outside, and not much better inside. I guess I had expected a more upscale place, but the décor was not very attractive, and the interior was dark and sort of dingy. We knew what we were looking for in wine, and made our selection from the shop. This was the best part of the dinner. The service was very slow. There was no attempt to check on our needs, and we had to go looking for the server twice. The salads were nothing special, and the rolls were right out of the plastic bag, although nicely heated.
We waited a LONG time for the entrees. The dry aged beef at $ 32 was a large portion, but had an «off» flavor, that was none too pleasant. Could have been the dry aging, but if that’s what it gets you, I would pass. The fish was good, somewhat over cooked, and the accompanying veggies came from a frozen bag. In mid summer there is no excuse for anything but fresh.
In summary, there must be better choices than this place. The idea of a wine store with dining is nice, especially with the $ 5 corkage. The reality is that the dining experience was third rate, and that is no bargain.

I haven’t sampled the restaurant fare at this establishment, but a friend of mine and I did stop by to browse their wine selection. The food may be great, the wine selection may be excellent, but the owner is a racist. I guess it was because we were both white, but the owner struck up a conversation with us about yard work, and we shared about a friend of ours that had recently gotten hurt clearing his gutters. It was at this point that the owner made a reference about that being why you send «yard apes» up to do that kind of work. I didn’t say anything at the time, because I thought *surely* I must have misheard him. He can’t possibly have really just said that. But after we left, I asked my friend, and she verified that was indeed what he said. She thought maybe there must be some other definition. I don’t think so. So, if I ever step foot in that place again, it won’t be to buy wine, or sample tasty delicacies, it will be to give the owner a piece of my mind.

This place was amazing. We live in DC and would go back to Charlottesville just to go here.
We were a little confuse at first as to how everything worked, but once we figured it out, it was great. It’s confusing because this is a wine store with a restaurant in it, so we didn’t really know how the whole thing worked. The staff was knowledgable, courteous and extremely accomodating.
My husband and I each ordered a flight of wines to start, which is 3 half glasses — he got a flight of white and I got a rose one. You tell the staff what you like and you don’t like and they pick the wines for you — you can pick if you want, but there are hundreds to choose from. Also, we didn’t see a meat and cheese plate on the menu, but asked if they had one and they said of course, we’ll put something together.
For dinner, we each got a flight of reds and split the roasted duck entrée. Again everything was amazing. We ended up buying several bottles of wine from the ones we tasted, they were so good. The tasting price is relative to what they pour you. We tried wines from $ 15/​bottle up to $ 80/bottle.I’m sure you can tell them if you want to stay in a certain price range, but I think its a good way to try some expensive wines I wouldn’t normally buy.
This place is very casual, laid back and definately a fun place to go.

An excellent find slightly off the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville (a town blessed, it seems, with more than its fair share of good eating options if my short visit is anything to go by).
Tastings is a combined Wine Shop /​Wine Bar /​Restaurant, and offers diners the option of ½ sized glasses to increase the range sampled during a meal (great if you’re driving).
For starter I went with Wild Mushroom and Shallot Soup with truffle oil (complimented by a very good Chester Gap Viognier, Virginia 2009), and the main course was Veal Strip with wild mushroom risotto (local Ox-​Eye Pinot Noir — also very good, and a nice light style rather than the fruit forward approach often found in New World).
Food, wine and service (which was in part from Owner Bill Curtis) all excellent.

If you are looking for an exceptional meal with wine in Charlottesville, this is the place. I’ve eaten at first class restaurants all over the world, and the quality of food here is comparable. The appetizers my wife and I had — fried oysters and crab casserole — were the best we’ve had anywhere. Our entrees — veal chop and grouper — were also excellent. And you can pick your own bottle of wine from the hundreds of options in their integral wine store and drink it for a $ 7 corkage fee. We had a nice Amarone. Our young waiter was very knowledgable on both the wine and food. This restaurant is part of the downtown mall. Bypass the more visible restaurants on the main street of the mall, walk one block, and enjoy a meal with wine you won’t forget.

Went to Tastings with my parents and sister on a Saturday night — my father’s choice of several restaurants that sounded appealing. The daily specials outnumber the relatively small standing menu. There were many appealing offerings. My mother said they had the best succotash she had ever tasted. Since she has tasted a lot of succotash, all 4 of us had the Grouper with Succotash. We also each had a different flight of wines from their selection which was great fun. On a purely local interest level, my sister and I ran into a couple we knew and my parents knew three different couples who were there (in a fairly small restaurant). The wine store that you walk through has a great selection. My father has been a regular customer for years. The restaurant is open for dinner only Thursday through Saturday, and lunch, Tuesday through Saturday.

Tastings was one of the worst dining experiences we have ever had. The food and wine were very good but the service was so horrible we left no tip. Our server rolled her eyes at us and acted visibly annoyed when we asked about our food after waiting almost 2 hours, and she blamed us for not telling her sooner that we had a concert to go to later and needed to hurry the service along.

I visited my grandmother over Easter weekend, and she took us to tastings for a nice dinner on Saturday. It was fantastic. Pro/​con list below:
Pro
— Food was outstanding. They are known for their lobster bisque, and it is a deserving reputation. The main menu is a bit small, but only because they have a large daily menu. I had the cassoulet, and it was very good. The white beans were very flavorful, the duck confit was perfectly cooked, and the fennel sausage was an excellent foil. Save room for dessert, if you can, as they are outstanding as well.
— Wine. I mean, it’s a wine shop. You walk in through bottles and bottles of wine. They have a great list, and the proprietors are very knowledgeable, as you would expect. We had an excellent local white, I’m terrible at wine names, and an excellent pinot noir, both recommended by the chef/​owner.
— Scene. It is a quiet place, and we went on a particularly quiet night. It is what it is. If you want loud and bumping, my guess is that this won’t be it. However, if the main room fills up, it could get lively.
Con
— Not really a con, but the service was a bit on the slow side. However, this could be just how they operate. Also, they had a large table initially, and they were short staffed, so this should be taken with a large grain of salt.
Overall, highly recommended. I don’t come to Charlottesville very often, but I’d definitely go back.

I went to Tastings only once, and it was about 10 years ago. I don’t remember at all what I ate, and I was too young to drink, so I also can’t say anything about the restaurant’s main draw: its wine. So this will be a bit of a dud review.
But it was an incredibly embarrassing moment for me because I had just started my first year at UVA, and my parents were visiting for Parent’s Weekend in October. I was taking a poetry workshop, in which I let out all kinds of teenage angst about my life, including my family, of course. And guess who our waiter is. My damn poetry teacher!
It was so horrible. First of all, who wants to be waited on by your professor? And secondly, who wants to be waited on by your professor who knows all your deepest secrets and has read rant after rant about your family and personal issues?
Okay, so my rants weren’t SO bad, but it was still pretty awkward.
And that was my experience at cute, homey, tucked away Tastings restaurant.