Trillium Vineyard, LLC — Attraction in Bremen

My husband & myself along with two close friends visited your winery on Saturday August 12, 2017. We were referred to you by our friends family. While your facility was nice & new & had a great ambience, we were disappointed in your staff for our overall "welcome" we received while we were there. First things first....while we were there we were charged $6.00 ($1.00 for each sampling), we only received 5 samples. Not that a silly $1.00 will make or break us, we were disappointed that after purchasing 2 bottles at $22.00 each that this fee was not waived. Again...we're NOT talking about serious money here! We understand that every winery does not have FREE samples. As previous business owners ourselves, this small jester would have gone a long way. We also realize that this is a winery in the middle of basically "no where". Which sometimes is not a bad sign. But being in an area as such, we would have been more impressed had we been "welcomed" with good 'ole southern hospitality! We are an average middle income couple & do not consider ourselves as wine connoisseur's nor do we know that much about wine. We have traved to Nappy Valley, Paris France, Italy, London & several areas where we've had a chance to taste some good wine. The taste of your wines we're good (not great) but I can't get over that we felt as though we simply walked into a package store to buy "just another bottle of wine". To us & our friends, we want to know more about the process & not just about the "end result". In my opinion (which everyone is entitled to one), perhaps your staff can explain the types of grapes, how they are grown & processed. No recipes here....just a little guidance in getting your customers involved in your vineyard so that we (the consumers), will have a better understanding & hopefully appreciate that end result (great wine), instead of simply going to make a purchase. My husband & I wish this business to excel but we would like to share a few tips on our thoughts about our visit. I'd also like to add that earlier that day, we had visited Fruithurst Winery & our experience was much more inviting. We all also know that these two vineyards grown different types of grapes, but we're never given a tutorial on your vineyard as we received with Fruithurst. Perhaps, there are some growing pains that you will need to go through before customers like us, but sometimes we need a little guidance when walking through your front door. We walked out with a $54 bill for two bottles of wine & tasting...

My husband and I got married at Trillium and it was BEYOND perfect. The owners, Bruce and Karen Cross, went above and beyond making sure we had everything we needed. Karen made sure all of the bridal ladies were well taken care of by setting up individual prep areas for us in the carriage house. Sunny, their tasting room coordinator, decorated the tasting room beautifully and thought of things we never would have. The facilities were absolutely lovely and we had so much room to work with. We had a bridal luncheon there the day before the wedding while we were setting up and Karen also helped organize that for us. Their hospitality was overwhelming. Anything we wanted or needed they got for us, even before we knew that it was needed. Trillium is truly a gem in Bremen. There are plenty of hotels within 15 minutes of the venue which was very helpful for friends and family coming in from out of town. Although you could set it up anyway you wanted, we had the seating set up towards the vineyard so that as I was walking down the "isle," I could see all of the faces of my friends and family. It was such a fun twist to the ceremony. There were also so many fun picture opportunities with the vines and their Huckster (1929 Ford Model A truck). We are so glad we decided to have our wedding at Trillium and would do it again in...

Not as impressed as I probably should have been. Not sure if the goal is producing wine, or a photo-op atmosphere for weddings and parties. Trillium is a bit pricy for the area in my opinion, especially when taking into account the more down-to-earth local competition such as Fruithurst Vineyards. It seems they're attempting to recreate a Chateau Elan in the Breman area, however if the target is a good wine, Trillium is no Chateau Elan.

I also wasn't impressed with the wine tasting fees. Small amounts to help you decide which wine is right for you only takes a very small sampling, which should be considered a cost for doing business. And at the very least, only charge for tasting if the consumer doesn't purchase. My wife and I bought two bottles of wine, and were charged $6 to taste three wines each. We're chalking the purchase up to supporting the...