Capel Vale Wines & Cellar Door — Attraction in Capel

My experience for a weekend lunch was very sub-par.

Our group of 13 were asked to pre-select our orders more than a week out from our booking – apparently due to staff shortages.

It was unusual but understandable considering the current state-wide skills shortage and boom in regional tourism.

So, I was surprised when we arrived at an almost empty restaurant.

It took almost 20 minutes for our drink orders to be taken. When they were, our waitress was very friendly and polite.

But for a place that prides itself on its ability to ‘match’ wines to its food, there was no explanations given.

The entrée plates of bread, dukkha, oil and olives were good, as well as the sparkling rainwater (actually delicious, glad we asked for sparkling).

Our lunch dishes were very, very disappointing.

Most of the plates had meat that was either dry and overcooked, or oily and mushy.

The serving sizes wildly varied from plate to plate – some had lots of meat, others very little.

The only consistency was all the sides were cold. Some did not match at all to the dish served (eg. cured fish on a pork plate and overpowering droplets of a salty Worcestershire -like sauce)

When one of our guests complained about his dry and burnt meat – the chef came out and handled it surprisingly poorly.

He was rude, unapologetic, and refused to replace the dish – instead offering a glass of wine. It was eventually discounted at half price.

The dessert plates were fine, and the waitress was great at coordinating cake for two of our guests who were celebrating their birthday.

With so much competition for fine dining in the South West region - and considering the cost - this was really disappointing experience.

While Capel Vale has been around for many years, it would appear its well beyond its hey-day (as its décor...

Well well well ... On our recent visit to Capel Vale it was fabulously refreshing to find a Winery that has a great range of wines and the server/host has both an extensive knowledge of the wine she was serving us and personality 😀. We tried both reds🍷 and whites🥂 which were very much delicious, and much to our palate as are the bubbles 🫧 🍾. We did phone ahead to see what was on the menu, to be informed that the restaurant as this time was closed, but we where more than welcome to BYO our own little platter so we could sit and enjoy with a glass or 2 whilst we enjoyed the beautiful views of the gardens and vineyard. We will be back on our next trip southbound, but in the mean time we can do a phone order and have our wines of choice delivered 😀 Thank you to Nicole for making our visit very enjoyable and entertaining. See...

What a hidden gem! A charming winery tucked out of the way just off the highway opposite Capel, so glad we took a look. The wines are what you would hope for - good variety and real depth with the Chardonnay surprisingly ( we usually fall for a red) winning our nod to have with lunch. The restaurant is bright and inviting with winery and garden views all round. The staff are very pleasant and welcoming which made us feel relaxed and set the scene for the treat ahead. What a clever concept - " Match Plates" so all we had to do was choose between 8 skilfully designed "luncheons" including red and white wine platters , a Gluten free option and a vegetarian platter which was what my partner enjoyed ( myself the Chardonnay platter). All up a truly delightful experience making us even more keen now to go back and...