Shaw + Smith — Attraction in Balhannah

We are huge fans of Shaw + Smith SB - it’s our favourite Australian Sauvignon Blanc. So we were very excited to pre-book our visit and do a tasting. Unfortunately it was a disappointing experience - Very basic information was given as they poured the wines, and then we were ignored for the rest of the time! Being a Monday afternoon it wasn’t very busy and there were plenty of staff floating around. And then we were charged $20 each for the experience (not refundable against purchase).

We were in the area early so popped into Nepenthe Winery across the road where we had a wonderful service and excellent experience.

• Update / Reply *

Thank you Millie for your reply- I wanted to send you a private message/ reply but it’s not possible on here.

Yes, you are absolutely correct, we did have a blended tasting flight as we don’t drink reds- and we much appreciated this flexibility.

We were not told about the refund against purchase otherwise we would have picked up a 6 pack of SB! (Could not see it written anywhere either unlike most places where it’s made clear).

I do a lot of research when I plan my trips and in doing so I read the good and the not so good reviews , which sets my expectations for visit. After a visit I hate writing a negative review and seldom do but when I leave a place thinking “gee, that was a waste of my time” I feel it only fair that I should share that experience for the benefit of other users- so that it will help set their own expectations. I feel the person who poured our tasting / flight wines had very little information about the S+S wines and winery - they couldn’t answer our very basic questions (one question was about the unusual Portuguese grape variety included in our selection) So after the person disappeared- never saw them again- we sat in the middle of the beautiful tasting room googling answers to our questions and information about S+S. We could have done this at home ourselves and didn’t need to visit the cellar door, and hence our disappointment. In comparison to your competition across the road it was a chalk & cheese experience.

Kind...

Walked away feeling purchase dissonance as the money spent, did not match the experience our group expected. And we didn’t have high expectations either. I went bc I have drank Shaw and smith most of my life. It included Purchasing it during most family dinners, lunches, work functions and business dinners. I even purchased it for our office bar. So I really looked forward to experiencing their cellar door. Sadly Ive walked away disappointed from their tasting experience. And I feel it’s my duty to explain to others. Mind you The tasting room is lovely and has a incredible views. And I’ve always mentioned to everyone all over the world, how good their Wines actually are, they really are first class, but sadly their cellar door experience was not one I’ll recommend. You pay $25 pp for their entry level of 5 wines, and unless you spend over $100 in take away wine bottles, you won’t receive any money off your tasting... So theoretically, in order to reduce your $25 tasting fee each person is required to buy over $100 in wine. (Two bottles will do that) That does not include the food or merchandise your purchased. Because I felt a bit ripped off, our group decided not to buy two bottles of wine as we all intended. All other tastings I’ve been to usually offer a little extra taste of one of their better wines, which we usually succumb to buying. Not here. They make you pay for anything extra you might want a taste of, and charge you buy the glass. The presentation of the winemakers was a bit too scripted, still interesting, but most of their story would be known by serious wine...

What a disappointment. We were there on a Monday morning (today). There was only one other group being looked after by a fellow. They were getting informative, focussed attention. We on the other hand (group of 3) were seated, then the lady looking after us disappeared, reappearing only to seat more people (at least another 2 groups! Eventually she came back to us. No mention of the $20 tasting fee. Very quickly giving us info about wines. She spoke so quickly, none of us took any info in. Once we finished tasting, without seeing the lady again, we looked to purchase some wine. We couldn't find her. We waited and waited. Eventuallyreturning. This was the most impersonal wine tasting we had in any of the wine regions in SA. Such a shame as we like the wines. Oh, and the $20 tasting cost was not redeemable (unless we purchased $100 of wines) none of which was explained. Give the...