Kris C.
Yelp
I found this winery through a Google search--they advertised special "wine and food" private dinners. I called to find out more and booked it. Kristin, my contact, tried to talk me into a tasting also but I said no. She said oh but you will learn how to pick out wine. I told her politely, no, my husband and I lived in wine country in California for 20 years, so we are familiar with wines, how to drink them and how to pick them out. I said your winemaker dinner sounds like a great thing because we can taste the food and the wines at the same time.
When we arrived at the winery, Kristen greeted us and led us to a small bar where she showed us how to drink wine, so it landed on a certain part of our tongue. She also showed us how to swirl or not to swirl and how to hold a wine glass. Everything I told her that I did not want.
There were four of us for dinner, at $100 each. Now, when I pay this much for a dinner, I want it to be something special, something I could not make for myself. The pasta and overcooked chicken we were served were very disappointing. And, while the winery harvests and bottles red wines, we were not served any. The white wines were mediocre at best.
During dinner, we were given a presentation by the winemaker and chef, Ron, who has five degrees in chemistry and is very erudite and well-traveled. Just ask him, he'll tell you, and tell you, and tell you. But no, you won't have to ask him, he'll tell you anyway. If we would have known that we were going to have to sit through an hours-long speech, and have to pay for it, we wouldn't have booked the dinner at all. Ron, instead of telling us a few facts, then leaving us alone to eat, stayed in the dining room the whole time and watched us eat. My friend said afterwards, I wanted to talk to you during dinner, but the winemaker/chef guy wouldn't leave. At one point my friend sent me a text that read "Will this guy ever stop talking?" I felt like I was at a time share presentation, but without the gift at the end.
He didn't engage us at all. He didn't ask us where we were from, what kind of wine we liked, our dog's name, nothing. He didn't pause at all while talking about himself. His speech was not about wine, or the winery, it was about him, and how great he is.
Overall a disappointing experience that did not live up to our expectations. I hope if you read this and decide to book the dinner, you have a different experience.
I think these people mean well but don't have any self awareness about how they present themselves to customers at their winery.
