chateau o'brien

Great views from up on a hill, nice place to have a picnic, and very nice tasting room. They offer tastings for reds and whites separately, at opposite ends of the building, and you have to pay for them separately. Their prices overall are a bit steep.

Toni the bartender was very nice, he knew his wines and is a great guy. He is not very generous with his pours, and that is an understatement, but I can live with that. The tasting facility is great, very nicely decorated, with a nice view over that nice part of Virginia. Really a beautiful place.We like white wines and rosé st lunch time, so we selected a flight of three whites and a rosé: a Pinot Grigio, a Chardonnay, a Rosé and a Petit Manseng. Taste is subjective, of course, but I must say I didn't really like O'Brien's white wines, but the Pinot Grigio. The Chardonnay was lacking in depth, with no flavor, mediocre, the "Rosé" is a complete joke and the Petit Manseng was nothing to write home about. When I say Rosé is a joke, it is because it is a mix of 90% Chardonnay and 10% Cabernet Franc. I told Toni: "Hey, I too can make Rosé at home, I'll just add 10% of red wine in a bottle of white wine...I know Rosé is very much on the rise here in NoVA, but mixing white and red to make a so-called Rosé is pretty outrageous. The best part was the free taste of their delicious apple wine.Because the place is beautiful, we asked for a $15 meat and cheese platter, a baguette and a bottle of Pinot Grigio.The meat and cheese platter is a joke (see picture). Meat is made up of two slices of salami and one single tiniest slice of ham. The cheeses are a little bit better, but that isn't too hard to achieve.The bread is just bread, nothing in taste or texture like a baguette, and I was born in Pairs, so I know baguette.The $22 bottle of Pinot Grigio was not as good as the one we tasted. It is not better than many of the $6 bottle we can get at Wegmans. A beautiful place, a great bartender, lousy food and expensive wines that didn't meet my expectations. I've had much better wines in the area at a better price point. I know it's tough to survive for a boutique winery, but with 12 varietals on 15 acres, Viognier, Chardonay, Tannat, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Malbec, Petit Mensing, Syrah, Pinot Grigio, and Tramminette, I wonder if they wouldn't be making better wines if they wold concentrate on just two or three varietals?As I said, I just tasted the white and the ersatz Rosé, may be the reds are the best of them. Anyway, the nice staff is the reason I gave two stars, not one to Chateau O'Brien. If I rated Dino, he wold have gotten a solid 4, if not a 5.

Took out of town family members here today. Very small tasting area so had to wait and wished we hadn't. Wine not great, not bad....not work $109/bottle. Winemaker, owner very narcisistic and egotistical, displayed little if any interest in customers, constantly self agandizing and dropping examples of his past accomplishments. He also had doused himself in aftershave or cologne so you could not detect the wine bouquet. Save yourself th $15 per red wine or $8 per white wine tasting. Many good wineries in northern VA to pick from.

...and they charge what they feel is an appropriate price for them. Unfortunately, we don't concur. The wines we tasted were mediocre at best. Even their $100+ bottle of red was just "ok" and nothing special.They also charge a LOT for a basic tasting, but they did offer a decent pour, enough that my wife and I split a tasting and got a couple good sips. But $15 to taste red only and $8 more to taste white only is too much when the wines are mediocre and you don't keep the glass.From reading comments that others posted, the same issues seem to apply:1. Pretentious2. Signs ("Don't park here" or "no dogs" or "no one under 21")3. Mediocre wines4, Beautiful tasting roomWe agree with everyone who posted similar and have also noticed that this is one of the VA wineries with the worst TripAdvisor ratings and rightly so.The good - The tasting room is gorgeous! Very well built and decorated with nice copper accents throughout.Would we go back? Only if the owner did read TripAdvisor to see what guests are saying and "fixes" the issues. There are much pricier vineryards, nearby in fact, which much higher ratings. There are also a couple wineries nearby which are much more exclusive. Those are all rated much better than this one. So, price and exclusivity aren't the reasons for the poor review.

The property is beautiful and the winery is one of the nicest we've visited in VA. The wine is good, but extremely over priced - tasting are ridiculously over priced. The song 'Sign' by the Five Man Electrical Band strikes me each time...warning signs everywhere regarding who's welcome and not, which group is allowed to park in what lot, etc. Each time we visit, we are made aware of the time and that you will be ushered out precisely at closing...and the owner comes at you with aggression to ensure the doors are locked not more than 1 min past - gulp the remaining wine in your glass and have a good evening! We were speaking with a nice couple who, as we do, would like to visit and enjoy the experience more often - but, we have all felt unwelcome and made to feel as if unless you own a private plane and fly in to buy massive amounts of wine (stories many of his customers have been told repeatedly about a client base that consists of the upper 1-3%), your company is not valued or welcome. Others shared a story of a milestone celebration where they called ahead to confirm and were met with resistance because of the type of vehicle their group arrived in and, although they all paid for tastings (group of 14 x $30 to taste both red & white) AND bought over $1,000 in wine, they were reminded of rules and treated rudely. The owner had no idea who this person was and had to ask questions to be reminded of the event and their name. Understanding he couldn't possibly remember every customer's name - at least fake it to make someone who felt they deserved to be remembered because of the business they bring you feel valued. They have the right to position themselves in any light they see fit and cater to whatever socioeconomic status they desire or feel they are aligned with, but a brush up course in customer service and a little compassion for the other 97% would go a LONG way!!

There were only four of us for a wine tasting on a slow Monday. The Monday pricing was $8. The view was beautiful! The wine was good. Everyone loved the apple wine. However, it would have been overpriced for the normal tasting of $15 for four reds or whites. The owner shared the history of the winery and answered all of our questions, but wasn't overly friendly. Maybe because it was a slow Monday. Probably would not go back again, but maybe would for the view! Wow!

My husband and I went to Chateau O' Brien over the week end (Friday) We love the winery, and been going for years. The outside and inside is so beautiful, when you see this winery, you can tell that ( Howard ) the owner gave a lot thoughts on how he wanted his winery to look, and it shows!The outside looks like something you may see in France, and the indoor with a lot copper counters is gorgeous !We love all of the wines, whites and reds. Our tasting was very nice, we had Elizabeth this time, and she was very informative.Shortly after, three ladies came for tasting too and another couple, so it was fun!We bought a bottle of red and sat indoor looking at the beautiful view !This winery has some of the best wines in Virginia that we been to, and we been to many in twenty years! Some of his red wines, you can also keep them of your shelf for many years, and they will become even better than ever.All of the staff is always very nice and cheerful ! We did both tastings, the whites and reds:)If you like good wines, you should try it.Another thing we like about this winery, is that it's for those who are over the age of 21 only:) Finally ,a winery where you don't get disturbed by a bunch of children. After all, when you go to a winery, it's for relaxation and not to listening at kids.I love kids, but there is a time and place for everything. And other wineries should give it a try and make it for over 21 years of age only ! When you think about it, you have to be 21 to drink, so why not enjoy it !After we enjoyed some of our bottle, we purchased some to take home.I really recommend this winery, where you can also bring your own picnic:) where some wineries out there don't allow it. Chateau O' Brien also sells some very foods....cheese plates with baguette, etc... There is a lot space indoor and outdoor, with also a beautiful gas fire pit outside for the fall:)We recommend this winery !

You have to make a decision pretty quickly upon walking in the door - one way to 4 wines, mostly whites, or the other way to mostly reds for double the price. Wines overall were quite good, as was the food and relaxing atmosphere. A bit overpriced for the area, where about 8 bucks gets you 7 - 10 wines to taste.

My husband and I stopped by Chateau O'Brien for a tasting ($15 to taste 4 wines and a souvenir glass was not included). We found the wine mediocre and overpriced. The facility was nice, but not a winery we would recommend or visit again.

I have neither the time or desire to recount all of the issues that my wife and I experienced at this winery. We cut our teeth on the hospitality of numerous Virginia wineries. I suppose that the explosion of wineries has made it inevitable that there would be many upstarts that completely miss what customers expect or want from a winery. At every turn we were disappointed. Literally, at the turn to enter the grounds there was a sign stating that persons under the age of 21 were "absolutely" not permitted. A host that couldn't be bothered enough to make sure that one of the four wines was available for us to try. The fact that the tasting room offered four wines for $15. And I am fully aware that tastes will vary but neither my wife nor I were impressed.My opinion is that you can do better and be treated better by visiting any of the other wineries in the area.

My husband and I have been wine tasting in Virginia since 2002 and over the years, we have come across good ones and not so good ones, and have seen different pricing among different regions and wine tasting fees increase over the years. So this was our experience:1. There is a sign when you pull in saying no kids, no dogs. We came without our daughter but do bring her with us a lot so she can play outside with us sipping on our wine (away from the people there with no kids) and she is usually playing with other kids there. It is a slap in the face to read a sign saying we are not welcome if we bring our daughter or dog.2. We get in the building and find there are two tasting rooms, one for whites and one for reds. So for us to taste together in the same room, we have to agree on red or white.3. Tasting fee - $15.00... OK, not so terrible until you realize that the $15.00 is for only four wines (and if you want to taste both red and white wines - 8 total, you have to spend $30.00 each person for a tasting). 4. We only did the reds so I can't speak for the whites. Everyone's taste is different but we both only liked one of their reds... the one that is $20.00/glass or $79.00/bottle, it wasn't that good. 5. While tasting, we got to the third wine and the woman couldn't find a bottle of it so poured it out of a decanter that had very little in it. She poured mine first, then my husband, who ended up get way more than me (mine looked like residue at the bottom)... her solution? She takes his glass that pours some into my glass to even them out... so we both had a tiny taste. When we mentioned that the wine tasted very mild she tells us that the wine is bold so it must be from the decanter - "Who knows how long that wine has been in there." She did eventually have someone get a bottle for her to open and pour for us.6. It was busy when we first got there but after the first wine we tried, the tasting room was clearing out with only two other couples left. We literally had 5-7 minutes between wines and not because she was so busy engaging with us... she poured, told us the name of the wine and went on to clean up behind the tasting bar for extended periods of time instead of making us feel comfortable. The whole experience really ruined our view of Chateau O'Brien and we will not be recommending it to anyone. We have been to so many wineries in Virginia over the years and this one will be remembered as one of the worst.

In September of this year, my sister and I spent a day visiting VA wineries. We had tasted Obrien's apple wine but wanted to see what the others were like. I had heard about a few places that made and sold apple wine... so off we went to a few other wineries. We found some and though we would give it a try. My sister wanted apple wine to take back to FL with her. This was in her email to me today.... I can’t find any other that compares even the other apple wine was ok but not as good as O’Brien’s.Guess what she's getting for her birthday. She's gonna be a happy gal. Love My Sister

Today is our first foray into Northern Virginia wines. We have had mixed results. This was our last stop. We found it pretentious and the wines just ok. No dogs or kids (ok...not everyone wants that kind of family accessibility, got it.). No, you can't pull up a chair to the tasting bar (no one else in the room...). Wines are expensive. They are doing some innovative things with grapes no one else is using. That's a good thing. Not sure we would go back. Seems a little too much for a little too little. Just sayin'.

There are certainly easier wineries to get to and to find but for all of our searching around Virginia for wine Chateau O'Brien is certainly our favorite on wine quality alone. Their Reserve Tannat is to die for and usually sells out early. Big fan, we go back a couple time per year without fail.

The vineyards in Northern Virginia are always a must do for me as I enjoy the many varietals the wine-makers continue to evolve. But mostly because it is a great way to see the extraordinary beauty of Northern Virginia while visiting with my friends. Chateau O'Brien has one of the best views from its porch looking at the Shenandoahs. However, the $15 tasting fee for 4 samples of their red wines was pricey and the acoustics on the porch made it difficult to have a decent conversation with my friends. I may give this a try again on a warm day when we can sit outside, but I think I'll be trying some of the other vineyards in the area before coming back here.