I’m pretty sure the poor review left before mine, the man was sent on behalf of another business to blatantly disrespect this small family-owned business, as well as he more than likely just has a natural chip on his shoulder in life- hence should probably get that checked out.
My party and I visited this establishment on the same day as him apparently and we have nothing but extremely high reviews and remarks to make. We’re from the city (Chicago) and apparently a kinder city than his neck of the woods, and when I say this establishment catered to us in the most uplifting and kind ways, they really did despite us walking in close to closing and every table being full. I was blown away by the hospitality.
As far as the price goes, me being a former small business owner and now studying law and knowing the trends in our economy, do not place those price expectations on a small local business who needs to thrive through maybe getting only one busy season a year. Shame on you; stay at home if you don’t want to pay for experiences and quality food/small portions or pay the price tag that NEEDS to come in order for a small business to stay alive. Keep forking your pennies over to corporations that care and give very little to employees and consumers and are built on the backs of the American people. Visit any city in the surrounding areas (NWI) and you will be met with the same prices at every restaurant, distillery or winery. This is basic common sense.
Now to speak on MY experience- this winery was such a gem to find in such a rural area and to be honest, completely unexpected. The flights are amazing and the wine is so tasty! The owner truly pours her heart into her products and her wines, and she even spoke with my boyfriend for a lengthy time on the process she uses as he was interested due to his career being in the sugar industry! She is so passionate, knowledgeable, driven and educated. The atmosphere is fabulous and so cute and clean! They decorate for certain events and “pop-ups” and make it overall a very fun and inviting time.
The staff went out of their way for my friends’ birthdays and I could not believe the quality of the drinks, dishes and fun treats! They were all so beautiful to us and her employees were incredible. It was definitely just like a winery you’d pay BIG money for in Chicago, but they had the small town vibe and hospitality. I enjoyed every minute of it and highly recommend this business for a drink or two with a friend or loved one, or especially if celebrating an event or occasion!
Unlike the previous reviewer, we will DEFINITELY be back. Sorry you didn’t receive your oyster crackers but apparently you already had enough salt to go...
Read moreHonestly this place is a bit overrated, overpriced, and underwhelming. My wife and I came for wine tasting and the wines were pretty lackluster. They lacked flavor and really didn't match much in the way of their description on the menu. We had a flight of wines and none of them seemed to offer much. The Pinot Grigio was just dry and lacked flavor as did the Reisling, Cabernet, and Traminette. For $12 I guess I shouldn't have expected much. But the food was so overpriced we actually skipped getting food. There's no reason that a mac n cheese is over $15. Because you put it in a waffle cone? Please, that just means I get less for more because it's an oddity. And $35 for a charcuterie board? I used to run a bar and taproom and even our high end board was still $20. That's crazy.
The atmosphere was ok but the service was grossly underwhelming. They focused on big tables rather than the little ones and while I normally understand that, we expressly said this was our first time here so the staff should have tried to "earn" repeat business. They did not. We finished our wines and waited 15 minutes before a server came over to check on us. Then we waited another 10 minutes to print the ticket out so we could leave. We ended up just walking up to the counter to pay after contemplating just leaving. We only realized as we were leaving that every table except ours got oyster crackers as a pallette cleanser as well so we didn't even get everything. That's pretty disrespectful to a brand new customer. So much so we almost left without paying. Because of that, we won't be recommending this place or coming back. If you want a real winery, go to Fruitshine Wine in May. At least they made the top 10...
Read moreSurprised I didn't take the chance to visit this winery when it opened up in my backyard years ago. Instead I decided to try it after I had moved away from Indiana, and when I was back on vacation. Certainly regret not coming out sooner. When they first built the place I was skeptical as to why anyone would want to build a winery in Monticello, but it's very clear it was a good move.
Beautifully little winery with a small vineyard behind the main store. I remember what used to be there before this winery was built. An old shack with corn fields. I used to browse around that area and even played paintball back there a few times around that shack.
Anyways on my visit I did some wine tasting, and it was free. Introduced to nearly almost all of their wines. I did paired tasting with my g/f and we split the wines allowing to us to get more tasting. We were there for probably an hour looking around and tasting. Great visit will be back for sure the next time I come back to Monti. If i still lived in Monticello this would be a regular spot for me to get wine. Really wish I would of taken advantage of it when I lived half a block from it.
Ended up buying the red table wine Black Beauty, and their white Riesling wine.
The Black Beauty is a red dessert wine with a touch of blackberries and sweetness. Don't typically like sugary wines, but this one isn't overly sweetened and taste great.
The white Riesling is a semi-dry wine with the aromas of peach and honeysuckle. This was a good white wine. Nothing spectacular, but I would...
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