We had such a great experience on our visit here, Alexis Bailly is easily in my top 5 for Wineries... read more
We had such a great experience on our visit here, Alexis Bailly is easily in my top 5 for Wineries... read more
One of our favorite places to go! We are wine club members and always love the selections. Nan is... read more
I'm not sure what the bartender's problem was with our group, he seemed to be nice enough to most other people. There were 4 of us and 3 wanted to do the tasting. He took our money, then proceeded to walk around the area explaining the wines to others and filling their glasses. We waited about 5 minutes for our first tasting. He finally came back to us, poured the wine, then turned away with no explanation of what we were drinking. Honestly, I didn't care for any of the wines I sampled, but even if I had I would not have purchased anything. The tasting room is nice and the grounds are beautiful but I will not return.
I have never been to this winery before.
Today would have been an awesome time at the winery except for one thing...the owner.
I was out with my cousin, we were in the neighborhood, just down the road at the Little Log House. I called to see what time they were open until. The young woman on the phone said, "5:30". We arrived at 5:10. A woman was putting down the table umbrella's. As I walked up to the building she said, "Are you just arriving?" I said, "Yes" She said, "Oh that's to bad, we are closing, we close at 5:30" Well it wasn't 5:30 yet. So my cousin and I proceeded inside. There were a lot of people drinking full glasses of wine and people ordering wine. So we walked up and started asking questions about the wine. The nice young man behind the counter had me taste a couple of the whites and I choose one. At this time the owner came over and seemed to be upset and said, "I said, we were closed." She told us we could not buy a glass, but we could buy a taste of wine. Then she pulled the young man aside in front of customers and reprimanded him saying "We don't serve after 5:15, don't you remember we talked about that?" I looked at my phone and it said 5:14. I said, "Excuse me but my phone says 5:14" The owner was rude, brassy and didn't want to serve me a glass of wine, but gave in with the snotty remark of, "You'll have to drink it by 5:30". My cousin and I went outside with our plastic glasses of wine. Soon two young women came out the door with what looked like fresh glasses of wine. There were at least 25 to 30 people left on the grounds playing games and walking around enjoying the day and some inside still enjoying their wine. The owner came back up to the deck where we were sitting and proceeded to give the excuse that it was a long weekend and they wanted to get out of there and some other things, but in the end it was to tell me how wrong I was and that I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me. I said, "Oh no I get it." I told her she was rude and it was not right that would be reprimanded her employee like that in front of customers and that she handle the situation badly. I told her I have been in the customer service business for years. I said I have never been treated so poorly before. She actually slammed the door in my face. Of course I was sitting a few feet away but it was a show of , "I am done with you." The two other women sitting there looked at me and thanked me for saying what I said, because they were treated rudely as well. It was 5:30 and we were done with our tiny little glasses of wine. The owner sent out a bouncer to bounce us out of there. He said, "It's 5:30 you have to leave." I looked around I saw still people on the ground enjoying the day. I said to the bouncer..."A bit of advice for the owner. When someone calls in and asks when you are closing, you should tell people you stop serving at 5:15pm" Here's some more advice to the owner, you may of had a big busy weekend, but that should never, ever be the reason you treat customers so poorly. I guess you made enough money, you didn't need a measly $10.00 more dollars. If not for the owner... that one little glass of wine, for that little bit of time spent with my cousin, would have been so worth it. As the bouncer said after I complained to him about his boss and how she handle the situation, "But it's still a cool place." Sadly the owner's behavior and attitude has left a really, really bad taste in my mouth. Thank God more and more winery's are popping up everywhere and this is not the only game in town.
I'm not sure if it was because the winery was busy or what the case was but during our visit to Alexis Bailly Vineyard we truly felt unwelcome. Our small group did a tasting which we were rushed through and spent time after that browsing for wine to purchase and taking in what is a truly amazing building but left empty-handed. This is one case where a business seems to have forgotten that all customers matter.
We had a nice time the staff was friendly and knowledgable. We did the full tasting loved a summer white Golden Girl and red was the Voyageur I believe. The grounds had flowers and shrubs around the property the had a cute store attached the inside had cool decor in the tasting area.
We did a 2 day get away for our 35th. Of course the end of April things are not in swing yet. Of all the places we visited we can't wait to return. Our tasting experience was the best ever. The owner was busy being interviewed for a documentary or something. The 2 staff members were so gracious & friendly. I don't believe there was any of their wine we didn't really like. Excuse me for the lack of name but their ice wine was delish. I seriously would have liked to buy one of every one they sold. Again the staff was excellent. Would like to return now that green has arrived to MN. and enjoy some wine and music. :)
Local vineyard that makes great wine made from grapes grown locally. Nice variety, friendly staff. I've visited several times with friends and had great experiences there. Definitely recommend a visit for those who enjoy great wine.