Shadybrook Estate Winery — Attraction in Napa Valley AVA

Shadybrook Winery Ultimate Romance Experience – Not Worth $755! I booked the Ultimate Romance Experience at Shadybrook Winery for my wife’s birthday, expecting a premium, intimate, and well-curated celebration. Instead, we got an overpriced, misleading, and disappointing experience that felt more like a sales pitch than a luxury event. Key Issues We Faced:

Wrong Date on Birthday Card – They messed up my wife’s birthday on the card. How does a high-end winery make such a basic mistake? This set the tone for a poorly planned experience.

False Advertising – What You See Is NOT What You Get – The cabana and setting looked nothing like the beautifully staged photos on their website and marketing materials. What was promised as a luxurious, romantic setup turned out to be underwhelming and uninspired, lacking the elegance and exclusivity we paid for. The experience felt generic and mass-produced, rather than the high-end, intimate escape they promote.

Subpar Wine & Pushy Sales – Instead of a passionate, informative tasting, the staff seemed more focused on selling bottles than actually providing a genuine experience. The wines themselves were average at best.

Lack of Special Touches – No Thought Put Into It – For $755 (before tax), I expected thoughtful details to make it romantic and unique, but there was no thought in it at all. Absolutely nothing special was done to acknowledge the occasion. It felt rushed and impersonal.

Poor Customer Service – No Effort to Make Things Right – When we expressed our disappointment, there was no sincere effort to address our concerns or offer any goodwill gesture to compensate for the experience. For a place that charges premium prices, I expected a much higher standard of hospitality.

Final Verdict: Not Worth It! If you’re looking for a truly romantic, luxury winery experience in Napa Valley, AVOID Shadybrook Winery. They charge premium prices but deliver a mediocre, impersonal, and...

A review of the Ultimate Ranch Experience $190

-Overview- Horse tour: bad Winery tour: ok Tasting: good Overall: Not a bad experience but feel that we overpaid.

When we arrived we were impressed with the beautiful views of the vineyard and mountains. After parking we were greeted and directed towards the stable to meet our horses and guides. Everything was very laid back and casual. (We ended up being the only people on the tour that day.) The guides were very polite and easy to talk to. However, we soon realized that they were not sure what to do with us or where to start. It seemed as if we were the very first "tour" for them. We started our ride and the guide gave a very short history of the vineyard. However, we were in a straight line and hearing was difficult. I was riding directly behind the guide and could here him fine but my wife, behind us, could not here anything -she didn't miss much as the guides didn't have much to talk about... The "tour" consisted of two short down and back paths. So, our hour long tour of the vineyard was only 25min including pictures, but the guide did offer to take pictures for us. I don't think it is worth the extra $125 over the perfect pairing experience. (per person).

After the short trip we went to take a tour of the winery. This was fun but wish it could have been a little more informative, I wanted to learn more about the wine making process rather than just a stroll through the facility. So only OK for this part of the experience.

The actual tasting was good. Great views and good wine! Again, I wish a little more info was given but I could have asked more questions too.

I recommend the tasting and winery tour but not the horse tour, and I think all of the guides need to have more info to share with guests. Overall, not worth the money,...

Probably, one of the worst Winery experiences ever! Wine was OK but the service was horrible!!! Never will I return to this (prejudice) place! Although the service was horrible, we actually bought 3 $70 bottles and supposedly, if you were to buy 3 of their wine bottles you’ll get a FREE tasting, or a FREE bottle, can’t recall what exactly was complementary after purchasing such, but never did we get anything!

In the course of our tasting experience we ordered two CHEESE boards for a group of 6 and the lady serving us gladly said, she will bring that out at a cost of $20 per cheese board, as she went on to place the order, she comes back and changes the price, stating that she was mistaken and that the Two cheese boards would cost $20 per person so we continued with the purchase without a problem because we wanted to accompany our wine with some cheese, salami etc.

Anyhow, at the end of our last wine serving, the GUY server, literally said that they had another reservation coming in 15 minutes and that they needed the cabana, that we couldn’t stay there to lounge but said if we wanted to eat and lounge to go 10 minutes away from the winery to some place called “OXBOW PUBLIC MARKET” this guy literally, kicked us out of the Estate. Yet we waited a little to take pictures if the view and no one ever showed up to the reservation totally killed the vibe!

Not to mention, we were celebrating my girlfriend’s birthday! Never will I return to this place!

Totally felt like we got played...