Charles F. Shaw

Who is Charles F. Shaw?

Charles F. Shaw is an American businessman and former winery owner whose name is used for Charles Shaw wine, a brand of inexpensive table wines.

Shaw graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1965, Stanford Graduate School of Business and was an investment banker. He became enamored of Beaujolais wine while living in Europe and moved to Napa Valley in 1974 to start a winery. In 1991 Shaw and his wife divorced and sold his original Charles Shaw label to Fred Franzia's Bronco Wine Company. The label had a good reputation, so Bronco used the name to market an inexpensive table wine.

Shaw moved to Chicago, Illinois, and found employment there working for the healthcare software company Heartbase. In 2003, he announced he was considering starting a winery in southwestern Michigan. He did so, founding Oerther Vineyard, which specializes in Riesling.

Shaw is conductor Robert Shaw's second cousin.