Big Door Vineyards — Attraction in Holly Springs

Disclaimer: This review is about the service and the atmosphere and not the wine because the service and atmosphere were both so incredibly bad that we left before we tasted a single drop of wine.

We went here for my birthday (thinking an outdoor vineyard would be a good idea to allow us to socially distance from other people while enjoying a change of scenery . . . Plus, wine!). Unfortunately, it was freezing out (obviously, not the vineyards fault at all) but we made a reservation for the patio nonetheless because COVID-19. When we arrive, we walk inside to ask about the reservation and immediately realize that it was packed. Not only that. but tables were much closer together than 6 feet and people were milling about everywhere (so even if the tables had max 4 feet of clearance, it wouldn't have mattered). And making matters worse: no one, save two employees and one couple who appeared to be leaving, was wearing a mask (not even people who were at the bar ordering but not yet drinking, not even those milling around on the way to the bathroom, and—most egregious of all—not even the "hostess" who also appeared to also be doing POURS behind the bar without a mask on). But we figured, hey this is why we made a reservation for the patio, so we wouldn't have to worry about being this close to like 50 strangers during a pandemic.

So we get to our reserved table on the patio which did provide an outstanding view but was very cold because it was on a corner. Thankfully, we are immediately promised that someone will come out shortly to turn on the overhead heater and to lower the windshield blinds to block some of the freezing wind. So we sit . . .and we wait. To provide some context, it was roughly 20 degrees out when the wind blew (again, not the vineyards fault, just providing context). Three people in my party in succession (so not all at once) got up to use the restroom. The second person who went in asked a staff member about the heater and windshield on her way into the bathroom. But by the time all three people had returned (roughly 15-20 minutes or so from being seated), still no one had turned on the heater or come to lower the windshield. So my mom (who is probably one of the nicest people I know) went in to politely ask when the heater will be turned on (I cannot stress the politely bit enough, because while we were freezing, we knew they were busy). The woman who sat us (the same mask-less woman) said in response, "We have to have some patience on days like this, don't we?" And turned and walked away. My mom returns to the table, told us what happened, and I was enraged based on that response alone. But, since we drove all the way from Atlanta, we discussed whether to stick it out. Three minutes into our debate about whether we honestly wanted to give a place like this our money, the heater turns on. By itself, no one came out to turn it on. And so it becomes apparent that all that woman needed to do to mitigate the freezing cold was to push a button.

Needless to say, that was it for us. We will never go back and I have and will continue to tell everyone I know to never go here. The view was pretty, but pretty doesn't make up for lack of safety and decorum. In short, if you want a safer and more pleasant experience, please go to a different vineyard (I can personally recommend Stonewall Creek Vineyard in...

I wanted to love this place so badly. I live five minutes away and how amazing is it to be able to drive five minutes to a local vineyard? However, until they do a staff change, myself and the majority of my neighborhood will not be returning. Where do I begin... Upon entry, the music was so loud we couldn't even hear ourselves think. I was recovering from a cold and had half a voice so the lady working the bar could barely hear me. She quickly informed us there is a new rule that we could not being in outside food and drink, but that we could have our food this time; since we did not know, but she wanted us to be sure we knew for our next visit. Cool, fine. We truly didn't know as I have brought food to almost every vineyard in the area. However, then she started rushing us, it wasn't busy, there as no one behind us. We were trying to pick out a bottle of wine all of us would enjoy. She asked me multiple times what kind of wine I like to drink, I told her I like dry but it doesn't matter I was going to drink whatever they picked. She obviously didn't hear me or misunderstood because she got a little attitude. Not sure if she had gotten her manager or if the manager just ran over to us because we had food- this is where things got very interesting. She yelled at us for being oblivious and not seeing the small sign on their front door saying no outside food. So sorry, that we were enjoying conversation with each other so much that we did not see the sign. She kept repeating herself saying that we were in the wrong and tried to make us feel like we were stupid for not knowing their regulations. I have been to 20+ vineyards in the North Georgia area and outside food had never been an issue, even when they sell their own food. She kept badgering us trying to make us feel bad "this food is how we make our money, this is so disrespectful of you, blah blah blah." After being in the food industry for 12 years, managing several restaurants across the world, I have NEVER seen such a blatant amount of disrespect toward a customer. There were so many other better ways she could have addressed the situation. We came here to try new wine and to enjoy ourselves. I have a 400+ wine bottle collection in my cellar from when I lived in Europe. I've visited over 100 vineyards and with numerous vintners at wine shows all over Europe. I certainly did not NEED to go and enjoy another vineyard's wines. I certainly DO know what kind of wines I love. And I 100% know how to treat customers and unfortunately Big Door's staffing ruined the entire...

PROS: The outside of the vineyard is beautiful, there is plenty of outdoors seating, benches and swings, very scenic. The Chicken Salad Plate and Cajun Plate were tasty, and there not shy about giving you plenty of chips. There was a LARGE amount of chips on our plates. The waitress was nice and the girls behind the bar were sweet as well. There is live music and food trucks. Accepts Apple Pay

CONS: Be super specific when you make reservation on where you would like to sit, I made reservations for what I assumed would be a table, I also was told thru email it would be a table, it was unfortunately not a table, it was a barrell.... which ultimately ended up being super uncomfortable and completely sucked. There is just not enough space to eat on a barrell if you order wine and order food or appetizers. We had to hold our plates in the air to make room for the wine flights and it was just not pleasant. People kept sitting at our barrell everytime we got up...it was very frustrating to have other strangers eating and drinking at our barrell when we were not seating in it. You CANNOT hear a thing of what is being said regarding the wine pairings because the live music is to loud for the space there working within, so when we were being explained about our wine pairings, neither of us could hear a thing the helpful young lady said unfortunately. This would work better if the space were larger or make sure to get your info on the wine when the live music isn't playing. Unlike traditional Vineyards, where you have a server, this is more bar style, you have to get up and order everything and take it back to your table. The only item that was brought to us was our food, you must order everything else at the bar and take it to the table yourself. Although I have email confirmation that a wine flight comes with a souvenir wine glass, we were immediately told at the bar that we did not pay the $20 wine flight, only $14 wine flight, so we would not be getting a souvenir wine glass, this was after...