St. Julian Winery & Distillery — Attraction in Paw Paw Township

I have been to this winery several times ( my family has a vacation home in Lawton) and never had a problem before.... until now. You know you are going to have a problem when staff members are apologizing for their managers behavior. We walked in about 4:30 in the afternoon (clear signs posted that winery closes at 7pm), upon arrival my group of 11 were greeted by a gentlemen, Ethan. He was more then accommodating, got us all set up with the tasting sheets and was just waiting for a spot to clear at the bar. We were in no real hurry at all. Then we met the manager. She was horrible!! She wanted nothing to do with us from the beginning. She basically told us all that they don't take groups this large, that late in the day. It was 4:30, we had a solid two hours left before it closed, she clearly had better things to do then be at work (a job she choose). We had called earlier in the week to make sure that we would be able to get in after 4pm, they said it wouldn't be a problem. After she huffed and puffed around the bar, rolled her eyes about ten times while clearly looking at our group, we got a spot at the corner. Ethan begins to explain about the winery and how the tasting should go (dry to sweet, stuff like that), she rudely interrupts her own employee, and tells him he needs to charge our group $8 for the tasting, thinking that extra $3 will scare us off. It was unreal. She was doing everything in the little power she had to get us out of there. Funny thing is another large group walked in, and she about flipped out. Right off the bat she told them she does not think she will be able to serve them. Again tried to turn away patrons to a business. The majority of us still purchased bottle of wine, the overall tasting took about 30 minutes of her precious time, we were in and out. After we had all checked out someone in the group went up talk to her about the way we were treated, and all she could say was "have a nice day." I really hope St. Julian does not pride themselves on employees like that. Your business is only as good as the employees you hire, and clearly you missed the mark on this manger. I do not think I will be returning...

I have been to this winery several times and have generally had a nice experience, but last night was totally different. We came for wine tasting and were able to get a spot easily at the tasting bar, however none of the employees greeted us or would even make eye contact with us. It was a little busy and they were helping others around us and we don't mind waiting, but it doesn't cost a thing to be friendly and say "welcome, we'll be with you in a minute." Nothing. We waited for 15 minutes while three of them behind the bar walked back and forth in front of us never acknowledging us or even giving us a tasting menu so we could start picking out our choices while we waited. We felt invisible and unwelcome. We would have left if we hadn't driven so far just to come here. We were finally helped and we watched other customers be ignored as well as they waited patiently. We watched one of the employees behind the bar polish glasses and restock shelves while customers waited. I know they see all of us, but why are they being so blatantly rude? I don't understand. Do you not rely on your customers? I had every intention of buying a case of wine after the tasting, but after the horrible customer service and total disregard to all the customers, I left empty handed. I will probably never come here again. Very poor experience. No matter how busy you are, there is no excuse for treating people...

They'll actually let you taste offerings they don't even have in stock but won't tell you in advance so you waste your tasting looking for something not on the shelf. Dumb as hell. Didn't offer another taste to make up for it. I chose one spirit and wasted it. Completely stupid. Won't be back. Was about to buy multiple bottles for corporate gifts. They thought it was funny. Wonder how funny the owners think it is.

UPDATE: Owners offered 25% off and I still don't care to buy from them. Don't offer tastes of drinks you don't have to sell. That's universally stupid. I don't want steered to something else. No one sells stuff they don't have. I can't believe this is hard to grasp. "Wanna try something you can't buy?" is Fortune 50 mantra all day. Not. You know why I don't care to buy? Because I was legit upset about this and opening the door for resolution in the store but they. Thought. It. Was. Funny. So you put a dumb model out there that frustrates potential customers and then your staff thinks it's funny. Ha. Ha. Ha. Sooooo funny. They could be free and I don't care. Get your crew together. I legit was going to buy 30 bottles then and there. I support small businesses. But I can't...