Dark Horse Estate Winery Inc. — Attraction in South Huron

I usually don’t bother writing negative reviews, but my recent visit to this winery was so appalling I feel compelled to warn others. We came as a group of 10 friends expecting a quick, enjoyable wine tasting. Instead, what should have been a fun afternoon turned into a frustrating ordeal.

Right from the start, we were told our party of 10 couldn’t sit together due to some “group size rule.” Fine, rules are rules — except moments later we watched a group of 8 get seated together by dragging over a couple of extra chairs to a six-person table, so apparently the rules only applied to us. This blatant double standard was infuriating and made absolutely no sense. Our server did try to help by finding two adjacent tables for us, but the manager overruled that solution without any explanation. From the get-go, we felt singled out and unwelcome.

Unfortunately, things only got worse from there. The service was excruciatingly slow. We waited over 45 minutes just to receive our wine flights — unbelievably long for a simple tasting. And it’s not as if the staff was swamped; we saw plenty of employees around, moving with zero urgency, as if our time meant nothing. Other tables were also left waiting an absurd amount of time, which tells me this was not a one-off mistake but an overall pattern of mismanagement.

The worst part of all was the manager’s behavior. Our server remained polite and apologetic throughout — I don’t blame her — but she was clearly overruled by a manager who couldn’t even be bothered to address us directly. When we asked to speak to the manager about the seating issue and the delays, she refused to come out and instead had staff relay messages. I even saw this manager hovering off to the side at one point, looking annoyed and muttering complaints under her breath, yet she still wouldn’t face us. That kind of avoidance is incredibly unprofessional and a glaring sign of poor leadership.

As if that wasn’t enough, even settling the bill turned into another source of frustration. The manager seemed annoyed that we asked to split our roughly $150 check among the group, rather than forcing one person to cover the entire tab. Splitting a bill for a large party is a basic courtesy at any decent establishment, but here it was treated like an unreasonable imposition.

Sadly, neither the wine nor the setting could redeem this visit. The wine was decent but completely forgettable — certainly not worth enduring the terrible service for. And despite being in a beautiful region, the winery’s views were surprisingly underwhelming. We expected a picturesque vineyard atmosphere, but the surroundings were as bland as the service.

Overall, this winery is a textbook example of how poor management can ruin what should have been a pleasant outing. This experience was unacceptable from start to finish. I will not be coming back, and I strongly recommend others spend their time and money at one of the many nearby wineries that actually value their customers. Bottom line: save yourself the frustration and go...

Dark Horse Winery is a BEAUTIFUL venue, with great views and picture opportunities. It's location in Grand Bend makes it feel like a destination wedding, even if you're only coming in from an hour away. For that, Dark Horse made a great venue choice for us. Unfortunately, we wish that we had really done our research and got to know who we would be dealing with better before committing to the expensive price tag.

Dark Horse is a pricey venue and after talking to other professionals in the wedding industry, the owners have quite the reputation. The reputation for being rude, unwilling to accommodate, and downright unreasonable at times. We learned all of these to be true and more during the half day of setup, morning in the bridal suite, and the wedding itself. If you want anything to be tweaked or modified, expect eye rolling, rude tones, and to top it off- nasty side comments when they believe there isn't anyone around. I would never step foot in another establishment that has anything to do with Ashley and Craig Horlor.

Luckily, the wedding was a success. It was beautiful, it was a dream wedding and my sister the bride, had people like me (MOH), our mother, and other family members to deal with ill-mannered owners and the smaller details to make sure it played out just like she had envisioned. If you're lucky, you won't have to deal with them at all. Several of the other staff, such as Holly, was better to work with.

My advice to you if you are a bride looking for a venue and considering dark horse winery is, ask a LOT of questions. Know EXACTLY what you are getting with your money for the venue. Have support during the wedding day. You probably think you thought of everything, but you probably didn't. Have someone you can lean on to help you deal with the owners. If you know what you want and envision for your wedding day, go somewhere else. Their lack of flexibility or willingness to accommodate without acting like you're a complete inconvenience isn't worth the struggle. I have yet to meet another venue who appears to hate doing events as much as Dark Horse.

If you aren't looking at Dark Horse as a wedding venue and are just looking to visit. I strongly believe in supporting small business and the local community but I also believe in treating people like you would want to be treated. I would recommend you taking your money elsewhere, where you'll be treated well and people appreciating...

Thanksgiving brunch was a fail. If you are going to source local ingredients and charge $35/ person, cooking the food well is imperative. Such quality ingredients were ruined by poor cooking standards. Very disappointed after driving an hour for a less than mediocre brunch. I wish I had taken a photo to show how unappetizing the plate looked.

Also, to be clear, your professionalism and lack of ability to take criticism as a business is disgusting. After reading some of the 1 star reviews, I think people should read more into those before attending a place that has such low standards for business practices. Who speaks to their customers like that? Grow up and find an employee who can regulate their emotions to respond in a polite manner to customers.

That all being said, as a customer who was returning to give this establishment a second chance, I would not recommend wasting your time or money. Go to a winery that appreciates the people who keep their business thriving.

Edit: in response to dark horse, we must have attended a different brunch than what you’re referring to because I have no idea what you’re talking about. The only people that came to our table were your son who cleared half the plates and the server who cleared the other half. The server we did speak to, a young lady, did get told that we were disappointed with the meal and said she would speak with the chef. So no, your management team, chef and owners did not visit every table. I won’t back down to your lies and excuses, nice try though. Understandably, you would want to stand behind your staff. But when your staff isn’t performing, and customers are noticing that, you should probably reevaluate. People can say anything online with reviews as you said, and this is my personal opinion of this establishment. If you don’t like that, too bad. The whole point of leaving reviews is leave an honest opinion. Yes, cooking for a large number of people is difficult, but as a large venue that offers weddings, you should be used to that. The quality was not there. But again, going back to accepting criticism, the pettiness in your response shows it all. If you don’t want people calling you out for things that are posted on google, maybe consider the fact that what you post on the internet is there for everyone to see. Therefore, by posting online, you make it everyone’s...