Cara L.
Yelp
I cannot say enough about the utter beauty of this little Geneva winery.
You walk up and the first thing you lay your eyes upon is a gorgeous, old church. It was actually transported to this location and turned into a lovely place where you can sip South River Wines and nibble on your own snacks. Around back, you see this most insanely romantic, gorgeous patio of sorts--lit up warmly and so inviting. It appears to be the perfect place to have a dream wedding. Then finally, beyond the patio lies a stone fire place, covered by a roof with wisteria vines crawling up and seats to cuddle up in.
Essentially, this place would be the ideal place to spend a chilly fall evening, enjoying the fire and a glass of South River's delicious wine. Or at least, it seemed.
It wasn't the service, vino, ambiance or location that ruined this place for us. In fact, it was the rudeness of the owner that did our night in. My parents and I were enjoying a basket full of cheeses and grapes from home with a couple bottles of wine from South River. We sat outside by the fire and by a large group of people who were already there. Apparently they had built a fire with their own wood and had also brought in some beer.
I'm a very understanding person, so I can see why the beer from outside was a no-no. But, instead of the owner walking over to the group and talking to us calmly, he was enraged, rude and lumped the entire group of us into one. He shut the lights off on us, leaving us in pitch darkness (which was dangerous) and yelled at everyone. He treated us all like we were crap and called us "wild animals".
Really?? My parents and I did nothing to deserve that treatment! We were just calmly chatting and hanging out by the fire, following the rules. We didn't bring in anything we weren't allowed to, and for that, we were screamed at and essentially kicked out with the other group.
We respected his wishes and left, heading over to our favorite nearby winery. The atmosphere was warm, friendly and inviting--a complete 180 from South River. I've never felt so unwelcomed and wronged before and to top it off, this owner has a history of flipping his lid on customers.
Although this winery is gorgeous, I cannot see myself returning unless I was apologized to by the owner. The staff, wine and location was great besides him, which is why I give them 2 stars.