Centennial Vineyards — Attraction in Bowral

The team at Centennial Vineyards are an absolute dream to work with. My husband and I looked at a few venues in the Southern Highlands for our wedding and both walked into Centennial Vineyards and knew it was the one. That was further cemented following our chat with Garth, who ran us through how the process worked moving forward and the flexibility offered by the venue around the day.

When it came to working through the details over the following 12 months, Rebecca and Melissa were extremely helpful and knowledgeable, providing guidance and advice to all our questions.

Our menu and wine tasting proved to be another highlight along the way too! And nothing was too difficult for the Chef, after noting we had several food allergies among our friends and family. Centennial pride themselves on their catering and they certainly delivered. Our guests all commented on the quality of the food and how delicious the menu was. The wine was also excellent and we had a fabulous time sampling the array of sparkling, reds, whites and roses before selecting our final list.

To be expected at the moment with Covid-19, we had a few last minute drop outs with guests, including the night before, and the venue handled it without issue.

On the day of the wedding, everything ran seamlessly. The Cellar Door opened for our guests while they waited for the ceremony to start and the staff kept us on schedule. After months of rain we lucked out with the weather and had a beautiful sunset following our ceremony, which made for gorgeous wedding photos and a magical afternoon.

We couldn’t have been happier with the service provided by Centennial. The staff — namely Rebecca and Garth — were excellent and looked after us throughout the entire wedding journey. We certainly look forward to returning to the venue in the years to come to reminisce on our...

Big, elegant, bold……adorable? Not how i normally describe a winery but Centennial Wines is adorable, especially the people.

Here are the stats to help you decide if its a must visit, or not:

You like big red wines, and are looking for something ‘different’ that only a cold climate can offer (and you couldnt be arsed figuring out how to get to Tassie) You need a few white wines on the menu to keep the missus fooled into thinking the trip is for her You only drink wine in mid-century industrial looking wharehouses with 20m high ceilings and massive nondescript barrels that remind you of what it feels to be a mans man You enjoy a sweet after dinner liqueur because you really arent that much of a mans man Your wine sommelier is the absolute driest wit in the world with a whip-like sense of humour whose name is Kate and she made your whole group feel important, cherised and welcomed…. including your missus who didnt deserve it cause she refused to buy you maccas breakkie in the morn because she was watching my weight, but im already working out again and watching my diet and its a cheat weekend. Whatevs. You’ve seen the head winemaker and believe he is a proper distinguised gentleman who only knows how to make glorious wines You bumped into the winemaker (Tony) at a local restaurant after your tasting and forced him to come over to your table to chat You forced Tony, to take a selfie with you during dinner and then posted the picture on social media and told everyone this was the guy that invented grapes in Australia

Phew. All in all 9/10 trip for us. The only thing that couldve been better was if they gave us free wine…..

Oh....

I had such a disappointing experience at Centennial Vineyards Restaurant on Sunday and sadly cannot recommend it.

I booked a table for 15 women months in advance to celebrate a special lunch, with ongoing communication with the venue and even a call with the chef to confirm dietary requirements. Despite this, everything went wrong on the day.

Drinks were slow — cocktails took 45 minutes to arrive, and only after I had to go to the bar myself. Bread rolls didn’t come out until 2:20 pm (an hour and twenty minutes after our 1:00 pm booking), and even then, my gluten-free guests were mistakenly served non-GF rolls and waited another 20 minutes for their correct meals. Entrées didn’t arrive until 2:45 pm, almost two hours late, and one guest with dietary needs was left without food for even longer.

Service was disorganised and unprofessional. The mains weren’t ordered until after 3:00 pm, To make matters worse, one server spilled sparkling water on a guest, swore, and didn’t apologise. When I raised issues with the manager, I was met with dismissive excuses about being busy and staff starting at 2 am. These are management problems, not excuses to pass onto paying customers.

I had put a lot of effort into organising this day, and it was incredibly disheartening to see it handled so poorly. While staff attempted to make amends at the very end, the damage was done — the experience was frustrating, upsetting, and not reflective of what Centennial Vineyards promises in its reviews.

Unfortunately, I will not be returning, and I cannot recommend this...