Ozan Winery & YH Distillery — Attraction in Alabama

Absolutely HORRIBLE experience at Ozan Winery. Upon arrival, we asked if masks were needed for patio area due to COVID. We were told no. We chose to sit toward the back of the patio area in hopes of social distancing. We were unable to get service in a timely manner. The gentleman (owner) working did not even bring us a full menu and was unable to answer questions about any specific wine. The process of placing our order was very confusing. Our waiter left multiple times, even lost our order. Another employee had to approach us, identify our order, then prepare it. The wait was extremely unnecessary due to the lack of traffic there at the time. We ordered 2 wine flights and a cheese board. Everything came out in plastic. Was highly disappointing. The cheese and crackers were thrown in a to-go box and the wine in small plastic cups. Two of the wines ordered were higher in alcohol content. We were only given a half cup of those. I was not impressed. We had intentions of ordering a glass of our favorite wine before leaving. We did so. I asked if we could have actual wine glasses versus the plastic cups (the owner) brought out again. He told me no. I could buy my own if I wanted to drink the wine from a glass. Completely absurd considering the fact that we had just ordered 2 flights of wine, a cheese tray, and now a bottle. The gentleman (owner) also complained and became visibly agitated when we moved tables to enjoy the view of the vineyard. He asked us to get our own trash up from the previous table and made several comments about having to sanitize after us. After declining, he became even more angry and told me (customer) that I was extremely hostile and had been since arriving. He chastised us for not wearing masks on the patio even though we were told they were not needed. I was completely taken aback by his comment. I have never been treated nor disrespected so severely in a business setting. The overall experience was highly disappointing. I left the vineyard personally upset that I had not only been treated in that manner but that I was blatantly disrespected in front of other customers. I will not be going back and I would advise anyone else to...

I really hoped to like this place since I have been missing wineries since moving to AL. We took the train ride to see the fall foliage then drove over to check out Ozan after since we saw it from the train. They were extremely busy which I took as a good sign. There were only 2 of us and opted to sit on the patio (in the cold) instead of leaving due to no seating available inside. We got a menu and picked our wine tasting purely by written description, as they were too busy to actually wait on us. I have had wines all across the country, from Amish country to Napa and these by far were some of the worst wines I have ever tasted. Not too mention they came in a plastic shot glass. The only time I have had tastings this small were in Amish country and the cost $0.25 each, not $2 each. Glad they were in shot glasses because we had to treat them as shooters just to get them down. We purchased a meat and cheese tray, and while it was good, I don't know that it was necessarily worth the cost, but it helped get the wine taste out of our mouths. The staff seemed very overwhelmed and need a crash course in working under pressure. I overheard some very rude service given to another table and then heard the staff joking about it after. After reading previous reviews (I wish I would have read them sooner ) and the comments left by "the owner" on some the negative ones, would have been enough to keep me away. If we visit the Heart of Dixie Railroad again, we will find a different place to...

The communication among the staff is nonexistent. I Purchased a Groupon for a group of ladies to attend a tasting and called ahead of time to verify my reservations. I spoke with two different people and received conflicting information. Once we arrived at the winery it took a least 20 minutes for someone to even acknowledge our presence. We went on Mother's Day weekend so they were busy as expected. Once we were finally seated it took another 30 to 40 minutes to even have our orders taken. The Groupon we purchased was for a wine tasting buy because they were under staffed they did not have the manpower to complete the tasting. We were literally informed by the "manager", Bart, that we have to take what they had. Our group requested to be moved as we were directly in the sun and again we were meet with hostility from Bart. His exact words to use were " you chose to sit here so this is where you are going to stay and you aren't moving anywhere." After this point, I requested to speak with a manager. He told me he was the manager and yet refused to give me his name. I later discovered is name is Bart. He was incredibly rude and disrespectful which is very unfortunate because they scenery is beautiful and the other ladies of the staff were very accommodating. Paige was one of the ladies of the staff. In the end we did not receive the service and the goods that were paid for in the Groupon and we left completely dissatisfied due to the treatment we...