Barry B.
Yelp
My wife and I went to a wine tasting/tour at Brian Arden Winery on Memorial Day - it was our anniversary. We booked the Reserve Private Tasting. Overall, we were very disappointed. The ambiance was great and the wines were fine - but nothing special, but there were a number of things that led to our disappointment.
First, the literature (and my discussion with one of the tasting room associates before I booked) touted the tour portion of the experience - not much of a tour. We saw a chicken coop and the small garden in front of the winery, the wine cellar consisting of a few barrels in an air-conditioned room and a bunch of pictures of the owner and his wife. Beforehand I was told that there would be a tour of the wineries' kitchen, but that did not happen at all. Certainly not what we expected especially considering other winery tours we have been on - Domaine Carneros, Hall, Schramsberg and Alexander Valley to name a few. Granted, the winery is very small and there's not much to tour, but that should be made clear in wineries' literature and what is communicated to guests prior to booking a tasting. We were looking for a unique experience for our anniversary and this definitely was not it.
Second, our wine pourer was just that - he poured wine, told us a little about the wine and that was about it. After each pour, he simply left the room until the next wine was poured; we had little if any interaction. When I asked about the % blend of the grapes in the Bordeaux blend, he didn't know - he went to speak to the GM, who he said also did not know. That's pretty shocking - not to know the % blend of the grapes in your own wine.
Third, and somewhat minor, while the charcuterie plate was lovely, the oil on the toast pieces was rancid - my wife has been in the cooking industry for over 50 years and knows rancid oil when she tastes it.
In short, big disappointment. We are local to the Napa Valley and have been to many wine tasting/tours in many California/Oregon/ Washington regions. The cost of this tasting ($95 per person) certainly did not reflect the anticipated experience. It seems the winery should either reduce the tasting cost, or upscale the tasting experience.
After the experience I e-mailed Brian Harlan (Winemaker, Proprietor) with the above concerns and received no response after a week - guess he doesn't care about what his guests think.
I would avoid this winery - there are so many other excellent wineries in the Napa Valley which provide unique and wonderful experiences.