Biltmore Estate Winery — Attraction in Asheville

Even at the end of the day, when the employees have likely had their fill of tourists, the staff are still smiling and gracious. This is a review from a local (North Asheville) who is a season’s passholder. The winery is a wonderful (and well-organized) part of Biltmore. This is really a generous tasting, with five pores, and often something a little extra if they have something special going on. For example, last time we were there, they let us taste a special white and a special red. They are always rotating special wines in and out of the collection. Pro tip: We had always entered the winery from an entrance to the shop, and, just recently, after all these years, discovered the winery entrance that leads through the tunnel with the twinkling lights. What a treat! It’s been unseasonably hot in Asheville, and it was so nice to walk into this cool tunnel with the twinkling lights and feel the darkness of the earth and the coolness, and then at the end of the tunnel… Voilà! There’s a wine tasting!

We became season passholders so that we could go picnicking and walking and enjoy the grounds and the gardens and then a Chihuly exhibit came along and that was lovely to see as well. Our kids loved running around the gardens.

Lately, we renew the passes when friends come to town and they want to go to the Biltmore for Christmas or just to tour it, and it makes sense for us to renew it to then get discounts because we all want to go together! Then we forget about coming to the Biltmore for a while until someone is visiting and we think “Gee, this is actually a really beautiful place with a beautiful gardens” and then we start going on a regular basis, and it’s so nice to be able to go for a free wine tasting each time we visit!

After the tour, there’s an opportunity to buy the wine in the wine shop (the large, actually very large, wine shop). I do love that they have trinkets and some local pottery and glasses and… Did I mention it was a very very large wine shop? Are things a bit overpriced in the wine shop? potentially. Because it is all branded with Biltmore, but we get a discount since we are season pass holders. I recently took my daughter, and it was so fun to taste the wine with her and to enjoy this experience. In the past, we took her as a child, and we would picnic with local friends and several of our friends had horses they boarded there etc., but she was never old enough to go to the wine tasting, so it was so fun for her to visit from college and to bring her back to Biltmore, but for a more adult experience! She felt very sophisticated. And again, Our server was super patient, even though we were clearly her last group of the day. I’ve had friends that work there, and I know it’s difficult standing on your feet all day and the demands of working at Biltmore can be big. So, I appreciate the smiles and sweetness and they never rush me, no matter how late I am, because, frankly, by the time my workday is done, I get to the Biltmore winery just as they are closing. Thanks to everyone at the winery for their patience! I don’t take wine tasting too seriously; I lived in San Francisco for many years, and learned not to take it seriously in Sonoma, ironically, but I also hear our server having to navigate some folks from out of the town or out of the country and they are a bit snobby and/or confused and/or demanding. We always leave a nice tip. Please consider...

Being on the Biltmore Estate property is kind of like being at a rich people's Disneyland, without the rides...It's a gorgeously curated experience, one of the highlights of which is the free wine tasting that comes with your Biltmore Estate ticket. Now, calling it "free" when the estate tickets are awfully pricy is something I'll let other people debate, but it's a wonderful included experience.

Definitely make a reservation as soon as you arrive so you don't miss out on the winery. (Actually when we went to make the reservation they pointed is to an online site so it may be possible to make your reservation before you actually even enter the estate grounds itself. They're pretty specific with the entry time frames so if you get there early don't expect to get let into the tasting early.

The walk from the village through the underground tunnels to the entrance of the winery was spectacular and really set a unique mood, so don't miss that.

The tasting itself was a lot of fun with plenty to choose from and very knowledgeable sommeliers guiding you through the process. We're generally red wine drinkers, but tried their whites, the reserve rose, a red, and a dessert wine. As someone who never drinks rose, I really really like this one to the point where I bought a bottle. The dessert wines are also not sickly sweet like some ports etc., but really pleasant to drink.

We loved being there and either we got really lucky with our sommelier, or they're all just that good...but he was very passionate and sweet about everything he served us. We don't remember his name but his picture is posted with this review and he deserves all the kudos and compliments from his employers that...

Was here to experience the “free wine tasting” that was apart of my admission ticket. It’s a nice idea but very poorly executed. I went on a weekday and had to wait 45 mins in line.

When talking to the host I asked him if he has a general idea of how much longer the wait will be and was told “this isn’t Disneyland where I can tell you estimated wait times.” I then asked generally how long does each group take? He responded about “20 mins” and with that answer anyone can tell how inefficient this system is.

The entire time I was in line I was just thinking of different ways that they could improve their customer’s experience and how they were losing out on sales by making their customers waste time by standing in line unable to shop the store. It could be as easy as a system that takes down customers numbers and a text message that calls them back when it’s their turn.

Also think about the customer experience, most of the time customers come to the winery after touring the estate. I easily clocked in 4 miles of walking and after that you want to make your customer wait in a standing line? Do you know how many customers just left the line without buying? Overall cute idea but poorly managed and executed. Also did not appreciate the overly condescending...