Ardiri Winery and Vineyards — Attraction in Cornelius

Purchased a Groupon for 2 wine flights Thursday evening 08/28/25 to treat a friend to a new winery. We had never been to Ardiri before. We were arriving at the same time as another pair of patrons, neither having a reservation (which is not required). The one hostess at the host stand decided to greet them first. She never acknowledged us. She took her time starting the greeting pour for the other two patrons giving them information and chatting them up. After several minutes she sat them. We noticed now a sign stating no longer taking Groupons at this time taped to the side of the host stand. Hostess asks us what we need, do you have a reservation? No hello like she did with the other patrons? We explain we have never been here before and that we just bought a Groupon for wine tasting and just noticed the sign. She says Groupon is not paying them so they wont honor it. Said it is a multi-million dollar lawsuit. She said we should request a refund asap. I told her that was unexpected and if we could sit for a minute to regroup to decide to stay and order without the Groupon, hoping to listen to music later. She offered us a high table & Chairs, but neither of us are physically able to use those, so she said sit anywhere. We sat, on a nice bench facing the scenery; twice about 3 minutes apart, we were asked for our order. We politely said we are figuring it out, we have not been here before and needed to read up on the wines on the menu and neither of us brought our glasses. Then a male owner came up to us and said "You need to purchase something to stay her!" He ranted about the Groupon and not getting paid and calling someone foreign speaking to just get hung up on. I said I already got the refund and it was a non-issue. He said I should not have cancelled the Groupon, as eventually it would get figured out and we could come back? I told him his hostess said to get a refund asap so I did. He said I should buy it back before it expired? We say we have never been here and we were deciding on a wine flight or bottle as I like red and my friend likes whites. He said he would not serve a wine flight to us at this time to sample as they cut it off when the music starts? We were one of two couples there, no one else? The other patrons had a wine sampling flights? The music would not start for about an hour? I felt ganged up upon, treated rudely in front of my friend and basically told order something this second or leave. I told him since we were not ready to buy a bottle of wine without sampling it, we would leave and promised to not return. We have frequented many local and not local wineries and all are eager to tell you about their wines, let you sample them free or for a small charge, the history, the property etc. This place is simply just rude! I am glad we left and went down the road to try Sidereus Winery, they were excellent and we had a great time there! I will add that the grouchy owner will reply to this post with negative remarks, as he has with other bad reviews. That is also proof of the poor demeaner of a place that should be...

(Edit to my original review) To the owners - Your response to my review says it all. You took no ownership and completely disregarded the fact that we checked in at the counter upon arrival. Your staff chose to ignore us, and they will continue providing poor service as long as that behavior is excused by management. Lastly, my review wasn’t based on perception — it was based on my experience. It was a very unpleasant outing and absolutely not worth the money.

Id like to start off by saying this Vineyard is beautiful and has incredible views. However, the staffs professionalism and wine tasting experience leaves much to be desired.

My husband and I were planning to have a a great evening with our friend. We ended up having to bring our children along but they were going to be picked up within 30 min of our arrival. We thought that it would be okay since the winery welcomes children as long as they stay seated. Obviously the staff didn't know my children wouldn't be staying and acted annoyed from the moment they knew. The lady at the counter literally rolled her eyes when she found out my children would be joining. After checking in at the counter we sat down and waited nearly 15 min to receive service. The gentleman that finally walked over to our bench told us to walk into the winery next time to make sure we were served... There wasn't many people outside and you could clearly see our table from inside. By the time my kids got picked up I was ready to checkout. Apart from the unpleasant employees I wouldn't recommend going if you are looking for your typical wine tasting experience. Our wine was poured into small beakers and you have to serve yourself. Their charcuterie is served in a box instead of your typical platter.

I hope the vineyard talks to their staff and educates them on proper customer...

First off, would never go back here. My husband and I won gift cards at a church auction and were excited to go on a date without the kids. We decided to save the gift cards for the summer when the weather was better.

We went in summer and the property was beautifully. I’ll start by saying they don’t do a traditional tasting, they do “flights”. We asked if we could do a mixed flight of white and red and our waitress said that wasn’t possible…. It is pourings of wine, why is that not possible? We got our flights. We each got only one glass for all the wines, and our “flights” came in science beakers. And in the 99 degree heat, our wines would of course become quite warm. We also ordered a “charcuterie board” which was literally just a fancy lunchable served in a to-go box with smuckers marmalade and paper plates ($25). We had to chug our wine because it was all poured and brought to us in science beakers getting warmer by the minute. And since we drove 45 minutes, we decided to stay and buy a bottle of white wine after the “flight” which was at least served in an ice bucket. When it was time to go, we asked for the check, the owner came over and told us that our gift cards had “expired” and we’re not valid… Someone paid good money for these and now that money is no longer excepted?? Any place I’ve ever purchased a gift card from, did not expire within a few weeks. Even the waitress seemed bewildered. We left promptly. Would not come back here and would not recommend. You simply cannot expect a business to survive while servicing guests like...