Stratus Vineyards — Attraction in Niagara-on-the-Lake

RACIST Establishment - Visible Minorities Avoid at all Cost. Biggest mistake of my Life visiting Stratus vineyards with my family this past weekend.

Would like to give a MINUS 5 STAR if possible.

Did research and based on the articles "10 Best Dog-Friendly Wineries To Visit Near St. Catharines And Niagara On The Lake" on the website "The Travel" finalized that we would stop by this vineyard when visiting Niagara-on-the-lake. Travel included the entire family and our dog. We reached the vinery at 1:02pm Sunday July 28 and were greeted professionally and cordially by the greeter and showed to the table on the patio - the greeter was pleasant and even promised to bring bowl of water for our dog.

All pleasantness and cordial behaviour ended from this point onwards. Note- it was a warm sunny day with day time high of 30C

While we waited 4 other tables with guests who arrived after us were being attended to, while we were not even given a glass of water. Not sure of the number of servers - gave them benefit of doubt and decide to be patient.

Over the next 35 minutes while we sat on that patio patiently - saw 5 other groups of guests come in (one group included a party of 7). All were being offered their table, water, water for their pet, wine and whatever snacks they ordered. I counted the number of servers - noticed total of 5. So any excuse of being short staffed went out of the window- not to mention 5 group of guests who came in After Us, were all being catered to. To make matters worse, in all of the those 35 minutes while we waited Extremely Patiently NOBODY (none of the servers) made eye contact with our table.

We were not even served WATER

The Only difference between our family and all of the other Guests- we belong to a VISIBLE MINORITY group and the rest of the guests and staff were caucasian.

In the past of learning of such a Racist situation I would have thought I would naturally show Anger. However I was just Disappointed in the helpless Situation- extremely ---- that my daughters had to experience this. Unable to provide them with a plausible rationale as to why we were subjected to this behaviour.

My way of tackling the situation - asked the family to head back to the car. Asked for the manager for an explanation. Instead of a sorry all we got was " this was not our intention" before we even brought up race or discrimination. We left the place at 1:42pm with no resolution or attempt at an apology from the restaurants part.

This was by far the worst experience of my life which I hope is not something my daughters have to face... but now I know better than to visit...

Me and my husband did the Food and Wine Lab, which we got 10% off from being a Visa Infinite Card Holder. I chose this experience for my birthday getaway in NOTL. Recently having tried the Stratus Consorzio at Richmond Station, I wanted to try a bit more of what Stratus had to offer. I highly recommend this experience for those that enjoy wine and want to understand how to make better choices when choosing wines to pair with food. This is a very interactive tasting experience that takes place in a private room with a window into their wine making facilities. You get 5 in total and you will try different flavour profiles against the wine. You figure out what works and what doesn't. Yes, they even show you flavour combinations that do not work and apologize for making you go through that experience! Ben was our teacher for this day, and while the experience is advertised as 1 hour, he generously spent 2 hours with us speaking about the history of Stratus, the various wines they have, the types of wine regions and grapes around the world, and how to best figure out what you like as a wine pairing. He even gave us a lot of local recommendations on where to eat and where to get our fresh produce from. Overall, it was super educational, although I can't say I retained 100% of it. That said, they do give you a quick tips sheet to take home (or take a picture of) so that you can refer to them and apply it later. Overall I highly recommend this experience and the wines here. The winery itself is stunning with a lovely patio facing their vineyard where guests can do their wine tastings. Thank you Ben for making this a...

Stumbled across Stratus on a quiet Tuesday afternoon and our entire visit was extremely exquisite! We were visiting Niagara for the first time and wanted to see the towns close by so we made a detour coming back to the US border. We're originally from Northern California where we've been blessed with the location to have amazing vineyards all over up and down California - but our experience at Stratus has left us with a yearning to return to the east and Canada in hopefully the near future.

Noah helped us from behind the wine bar as well as was highly attentive to our seats outside enjoying the beautiful vineyard, we absolutely adore him! The offered flights were great as is but I chose to personalize mine and I have zero regrets as Noah was so patient and descriptive in providing the best pairings and preferences for my taste. I'm usually a reds type of gal but even the white options were just as enjoyable! My favorite was the Cab Franc, which we were told had a high alcohol content and truly I could smell it from steps away from my seat but when I tasted it, it was incredibly smooth and delicious! The root vegetables chips were so delicious and paired well with the white cheddar from Toronto. Welcoming environment, kind and helpful staff, great wine, the least sweet of ice wines in the area, calm and relaxing views, well worth the trip! Do not pass up your...