Woodstock Wine Estate — Attraction in Adelaide

My meal was awful, cold and barely eaten. It was the first day of there autumn menu. The waitress went on about dishes from the previous menu how nice they were, the lack of advice on the autumn menu should of been enough of a sign to get up and leave. This is not pub or café pricing so we expected exceptional meals. My meal consisted of charred COLD fatty lamb medium rare , raw broccoli and cold wilted spinach. The lamb was poorly cut and ridiculously fatty. I was able to eat one of the three lamb chops, that chop was 30% fat and not even cooked enough that the fat was raw (the joys of uneven poor cuts) After the waitress came back over I advised that I couldn't eat my meal. She took my meal to the kitchen and returned with out it advising that was how it was intended to be served. A meal described in the menu as charred, with vegetables was according to my waitress "it's more a salad, the kitchen said" even though the waitress agreed the menu did not have the dish listed as a salad or describe it as cold. For my complaint they offered me a dessert that I wouldn't order anyway, which I advised the waitress. She walked off to chat to manageress, but failed to come back. No alternative was offered, nor my original meal brought back. We were there for a friends birthday (which the staff knew) so I let it go, not wanting to ruin the birthday celebration. When we went to leave they cashier apologised, the manageress stood back and said nothing. In the end after 5mins of half hearted service they took my drink (soda water) off of the bill, but still were happy to charge me for my awful meal. It's a shame because Woodstock Winery has fantastic wine, but awful food and poor service from my experience. It also ruined a birthday with friends. I regret not complaining more at the restaurant, but I did not want to have it out with my friends standing next to me and let it ruin a birthday. My advice is avoid the food, even the meals that were okay were just that. They were only okay, not good, just okay (steak not cooked to order, and average or bland flavoured meals. For the price paid it's not good enough. It's worth going to the cellar for the wine (great reds and great cellar service), but if I go back I'll drink them elsewhere avoid...

Today we pre-booked a tasting for four adults at 3pm. We arrived at 2.30pm, ordered a platter and sat on a table outside. We had to go inside and ask for the table to be cleared, to which a disgruntled waitress eventually came to do. It was not wiped down.

When it came close to 3pm, we went to the tasting room. The room was full on every table. There would’ve been 8 others doing tastings. We offered to sit on a table outside the door as it did not seem we would fit.

At this point we still hadn’t received plates, cutlery or been offered any water. My husband went inside and asked and was told they’d be brought out. We waited another 20minutes before going in again and being told the same thing - to which my husband asked for them to be given straight to him instead. He brought them back out himself.

A young gentleman was working in the tasting room alone. He seemed flustered and unable to cope with accomodating all the guests. We had to go in two times and ask for the next wine to taste after waiting up to 15 minutes between each. A female staff member came from the restaurant to help and took over our table. We found her to be very abrupt and rude. She rushed through each remaining wine and came out to pour the next before we had even finished the last. We were made to feel like our presence was an imposition. Whilst pouring the final wine, she informed us they were closing and if we wanted to purchase they would need to sort it out straight away. Again, this was communicated in a very cold and abrupt manner. For a tasting that we paid $10 per head for ($40) plus $60+ for a platter and nibbles, we were VERY disappointed in the lack of attention and care we received - something you expect from basic customer service.

I give two stars because the platter was delicious and the children enjoyed the playground and...

Short: Female staff member working the tasting room was extremely rude, dismissive, and ultimately ruined out tasting experience.

Long: We came to the cellar door to do a tasting yesterday (1st November 2020). Unfortunately it was an unenjoyable experience...when we entered we were told to 'sit anywhere' with the only table available still having dirty glasses on them.

The only lady in the cellar door seemed extremely frustrated, under the pump, and came across quite rude. Instead of asking us what we wanted to taste, she stood in the middle of 4 tables and yelled out 'tell me where you're upto and what you want to drink'. Two tables behind me yelled something out...so she came to them with what they asked for.

She then returned to the counter to serve people, while we sat at this point having waited 15 minutes without being offered any tasting. She finally poured a tasting for us, but no explanation on the wine, was simply pour and walk off.

We waited for another 10 minutes before being served by a lovely gentleman who was actually on his day off & was having an anniversary lunch with his girlfriend and decided to step in to help after the other staff member seemingly walked out and left the tasting room. Over the next 15 minutes he tended to us and poured 3 separate tastings, taking the time to talk to us and explain each wine in detail. He wasn't meant to be working, and was the only reason why we ended up purchasing a bottle of the 'Pilot's view' shiraz. Hats off to that guy, I appreciate that COVID may be posing challenges for your winery...but you weren't that busy, and the female tending to the room was simply rude and disinterested. I can't say I will be...