J.C Le Roux — Attraction in Stellenbosch Local Municipality

I feel terribly sad that a world renowned establishment such as J.C. Le Roux degrades themselves with poor manners. I realize that we were at fault for not checking beforehand about availability for the tasting sessions. On a whim we decided to go for a tasting and late lunch. As we entered we just stood there like little lost sheep.

Personnel mulling around like they were on some kind of panicked state. Now make no mistake, I make allowances for the fact that they were clearly busy, but I bear in mind that this must be the norm during holidays. We just stood there as everyone passed us by until someone in my party asked if we could possibly be assisted. Only then a young man brashly asked if we had a booking. I said no, but since we don't have a booking, could we still stay for lunch.... I was greeted with "yes, just go upstairs".

At no point had we been advised that they would not serve food after 3pm. Miserable faces greeted us all over the restaurant. It wasn't long until we figured out why. The restaurant Manager, apparently employed by the Devon Valley Hotel, humiliates her wait staff in full view of the restaurant. This little girl looks like she left school about a month ago and it is clear that not only her schooling lacked, but also her upbringing at home. I find it absolutely disgraceful that she dared addressed human beings with such disrespects. Her parents clearly never raised her with the knowledge that every person deserves some dignity, no matter their level in the food chain.

We were advised at the instruction of this jumped up little trollip, that their kitchen is closing and (what boiled down to) that we should order immediately so that we could leave. Had my skin been thicker I would have stayed, but since I have some modicum of pride, we left. The Madam in the restaurant should find herself employment where she can work with plants, because that's about the only living organism which would be able to cope with her ill temper.

We were shocked and horrified that such poor behavior transpires at such a highly regarded wine farm. Visibly unhappy employees and mayhem of the youngsters running the show at this supposedly upmarket venue is certainly not what I envisioned when I decided to stop in. I dare say we would get better treatment at the local Wimpy, which says a lot. Be reminded please that I am not just buying your sparkling wine, but also the atmosphere and the service.

J.C. Le Roux would do themselves a favor to employ some mature employees who understands how to conduct themselves. For now you should bow your heads in shame for allowing such caliber people on your property, unless this is actually a true reflection of who you are.

I would most certainly NOT recommend a visit to this...

Absolutely pathetic customer service, even worse communication and unable to perform a basic modern online service. Please see the breakdown of my communications below:

28/11/2024 - Order placed and paid for at 15:27pm 28/11/2024 - Order #1833

29/11/2024 - I received an email to say my order is on it's way at 10:24am 29/11/2024 - On the Aramex tracking, it says Label added to shipment, shipment now waiting to be handed to the last mile courier. 29/11/2024 - Note, this is the LAST UPDATE ON THE TRACKING as of 16:42pm on 04/12/2024 (6 days later)

02/12/2024 - I email for an update at 07:04am, as per: If you have any questions, reply to this email or contact us at Orders@jcleroux.co.za 02/12/2024 - Your message wasn't delivered to orders@jcleroux.co.za because the address couldn't be found, or is unable to receive mail. 02/12/2024 - I forward it again at 07:10am to confirm it was a temporary issue, that email comes back undelivered as well. 02/12/2024 - At 07:15am I log the web ticket 111798. I have heard nothing from the company and there is no tracking updates at this time. 02/12/2024 - Around 14:06pm I log another web ticket, including more details. Ticket number 111810.

03/12/2024 - At 10:07am I receive a response on ticket 111798, asking for my order number. WHICH WAS IN THE TICKET DESCRIPTION (Attached) 03/12/2024 - I respond almost immediately at 10:09am, with the ticket number 1833 03/12/2024 - Over 2hrs later at 12:32pm I receive a reply to say they HAVE followed up and I will received feedback (Attached) 03/12/2024 - At 18:13pm, after hearing nothing more than 5hrs later, I asked what is the feedback from that initial team discussion. 03/12/2024 - I also inform them that the customer support email provided, does not work.

04/12/2024 - It is now more than 16hrs later since I have heard from them, after being told I would receive feedback. 04/12/2024 - As of 16:56pm the order tracking from Aramex HAS STILL NOT CHANGED (Attached) 04/12/2024 - As of 16:56pm I have still not received any reply to web ticket 111810 logged on 02/12/2024

05/12/2024 - Checked at 09:03am, no updates or responses from the day before. 05/12/2024 - At 09:40am my wife called them on (021) 865-8200 and was told ALL MANAGERS are in a meeting. They will call her back. 05/12/2024 - The person this call confirmed that we already know, nothing has been handed to the courier yet (Ghost Order). 05/12/2024 - At 10:34am I emailed them again, telling them that it has now been 2 days since they said I would get feedback. 05/12/2024 - As of 13:40pm , NO CALLS , NO EMAILS from anyone on this mailing list, and NO UPDATE ON THE SHIPMENT TRACKING 05/12/2024 - It is now 3hrs since the call...

Myself and two friends went for a pre-birthday sparkling wine tasting. Upon arrival we were promptly shown to a table and given the tasting menus. I tried to signal to about 5 different servers, all of whom were unfocused and did not notice me and the ones that did see me, did not do anything about it. About 20mins after sitting down someone came to our table and finally took our orders.

The pouring process and explanations were also a bit disjointed - but the lovely server who finally explained everything did a good job and was friendly and answered any questions we had. She is the only reason I'm giving the experience a better rating.

I understand that the room was relatively busy (about 3 servers were busying themselves with other activities like standing around looking grumpy) and that the weather was a bit gloomy, but for a "fine" establishment like JC Le Roux, I am really quite disappointed.

I've had cheaper tastings with significantly better service - and to me, the higher price you pay for these small treats, warrants good service.

We had two cheesecake pairings (one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic) and a nougat pairing. Again, something that would be nice to read somewhere or be told is how many sparkling wines you get per tasting option.

The non-alcoholic cheesecake pairings has only 2 wines (which they fortunately poured generously). The alcoholic cheesecake one has 3 wines and the alcoholic nougat one has 5 wines (their full alcoholic sparkling wine selection).

The wines were lovely, as was the cheesecake selection and the little nougat treats. I'd say a 4/5 star selection.

The property itself is beautiful, even on gloomy days. The tasting room was also decent, albeit a bit plain.

Overall, the pairings were lovely, but there is a huge room for improvement in the...