Calamus Estate Winery — Attraction in Lincoln

As the wine tasting concluded, our pre-ordered meals and additional wine orders arrived, immediately followed by our new server, Sarah alerting us to our cheque being ready. We found this odd as our meals had just arrived. That was the first of many requests to pay our bill within a half hour time frame.

While eating our meals and trying to have a good time as not to further cause any disappointment to the birthday girl, Sarah the server, additionally requested silence from our table as the private event, which turned out to be a wedding ceremony was about to begin. Annoyed but understanding the significance of a wedding ceremony, we respectfully departed the barn area to allow the ceremony some privacy and headed to the vineyard to take pictures.

Once the ceremony concluded we returned to our table were told we needed to leave the winery immediately. Apparently, we had exceeded our allotted sitting time at the winery and had to leave so they could accommodate another group. This came as a surprise to us as we still had unopened bottles of wine, we did not have dessert nor did we present our gifts to the birthday girl. Additionally, why was our group permitted to purchase more wine if our allotted sitting time was approaching its conclusion? At this point I had reached my limit and asked to speak to the manager. It is important to emphasize that during the two times I spoke with Calamus Estate Winery employees, I was not told of a seating time frame.

While waiting for the manager to arrive we tried to salvage the remaining time we had. A server, Rick, who until this point had not been dealings with us, was kind enough to bring us a fan and ice for the bottles of wine we had just purchased. This was enough for Karen, another employee, who also had no dealings with us to yelled at Rick “DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY ICE” and proceeded to ask members of our group if they were ”guests at the wedding?” that we “aren’t welcome at this wedding” and “how much longer do you plan on staying here?”

Karen’s behaviour, which was mostly caught on camera was so vile and despicable that we couldn’t believe she was speaking to us, paying patrons. It was infuriating and embarrassing to say the least. We packed up our belongings and were leaving when the manager and owner approached us. We explained what happened and were told that the area that we were sitting in closes at 5:00 PM and that we needed to vacate.

First, the employees at Calamus themselves set up our group in the barn area because they couldn’t accommodate us in the regular wine tasting area. Second, the website states that they are open until 8:00 PM. Third, our reservation was for 3:00 PM, two hours hardly being enough time for wine tasting, dinner and dessert. Fourth, we were told by Sarah that we needed to vacate to so they could set up for another group. Anyone could understand that many things didn’t appear right with this situation.

From the very beginning, our group felt like second class citizens while visiting this winery. It was very obvious to us that other guests’ experiences took precedence over our group. They were treated with kindness and respect while our entire visit was met with us having to compromise and disregard. What was also very apparent was that Calamus overbooked their reservations on this particular day and our group paid the price for their shortcomings. We also paid with our dignity and respect as management offered us vouchers to use towards our next visit.

I cannot speak to what was happening behind the scenes at Calamus Estate Winery but only to my own experience. We were made to feel unwelcome and were further insulted by numerous employees and even the owner and for those reasons we will not be using our vouchers to visit Calamus Estate Winery ever again! Continued from Candice Singh review If you scroll down to her name . Very disappointed especially my first time...

In anticipation of my best friend’s milestone birthday, I researched and subsequently booked a wine tasting at Calamus Estate Winery. Four weeks prior to our event, I made the reservation for 10. At the time of the initial reservation, the employee confirmed my reservation and reassured me that the reservation for my party of 10 wouldn’t be an issue as we were adhering to their Covid-19 guidelines.

Due to the escalating parameters around the developing Covid-19 pandemic, one week prior to the event, I decided to call Calamus Estate Winery to confirm our reservation. I was informed that the venue would now also be hosting a private event during the same time of our booking. When asked if they would still be able to accommodate my group, I was assured that my reservation would still be honoured. Being a business professional myself, I offered to pre-order our group’s meals prior to arriving in the hope that this would assist with a flawless day. The employee at Calamus accepted this suggestion and even commented on how this would be helpful.

From the inception, I quickly noticed that there were going to be some difficulties to our day, but was optimistic as not to ruin the mood. We were immediately informed of another party of 3 who were already wine tasting and they would only be able to accommodate only 7 out of the 10 people from our group. The others would have to wait outside or alternatively we could spilt our group into two, but the tastings would have to take place in different locations. Seeing that this was an event for a birthday celebration we all wanted to enjoy together, we didn’t want to be separated. We opted to wait and experience the tour together. During the initial booking and follow up call, Calamus Estate Winery neglected to inform me of the 10 person limit to for the tours and never mentioned the possibility of splitting our group.

Since they were unable to accommodate our entire group in the wine tasting room, we were setup and attended by a male server in their barn area where our wine tasting was done at our table. This was not our first time at a winery and we all have an understanding of how these types of tastings are done, keeping in mind that each establishment is unique and have their own practices. However, this particular server would pour the sample, then immediately leave to get the next bottle, not taking the time to explain anything about the product other than the colour or even asking our thoughts. We were also told that we would be required to use the same glasses for all of the three wine tastings. Which came as a shock to us as we imagine this drastically changing the taste of each wine sample. However, we maintained our composure and didn’t complain. After the second wine sample, another server came to take our wine order, to which we informed her that our wine tasting session was still in progress and didn’t know what we wanted to order. This prompted the male server to return with the third sample. Everything felt disorganized...

I attended my niece's wedding here recently. Though the venue is a very beautiful there were many issues that arose throughout the reception. There are pros but I am going to list cons first. CONS: The braised short ribs, which were an upgrade, were either 2/3 fat, too rare, stiff and too hard to cut. They served it with a butter knife instead of a steak knife. While watching main plates being taken away both myself and the Bride's mother noticed most guests did not touch the meat. The wedding cake was not cut and served to the guests. Huge oversight by the staff and DJ. $600 cake went to waste. They were promised cigars were to be passed around to guests and bourbon. DJ announced late in the evening to come to bar and get one. Cigar bar which was supposed to be upstairs. The pizza and fruit served at the end of the evening was served on the same tray. The pizza tasted like frozen pizza. The DJ had an agenda of things to do and forgot to mention the smores and fire pit. Basket of smores went to waste. DJ forgot to mention to guests to take flowers home on the table. He was supposed to decide how to distribute them. Dropped the ball. Guests were leaving and Bride's Mother had to tell guests to take flowers. The staff was removing the wine glasses from the table at 10:00. Guests were still drinking. Bride's mother had to ask for glasses. No mention of garden games outside. DJ Ryan disappeared for a while many things were not done on his agenda of things to do. He dropped the ball. The desserts were not great. The apple strudel was not fresh, very hard. PROS: The venue and grounds are beautiful. The serving staff were great and really tried hard to please. The butternut squash ravioli was amazing. The horderves were delicious. Bathrooms are clean. The outdoor/indoor dining experience was amazing. Delicious wine. The Rose, Meritage Reserve and Pinot Grigio were very popular. Excellent wines. The wine tasting bar experience for guests was fun up on the top patio. The salad was very good.

We were very lucky that the guests attending the wedding were such a great group of people that they made the evening special but the guest experience which was promised, upgraded and paid for, could have made it extra special. The ball was dropped on so many things that were promised to the Bride and Groom and the Bride's parents. The quality of food should have been as promised especially "The Main". Their saving grace is that the venue is beautiful. Overall the guests had a...