Rustic Roots Winery — Attraction in Scandia

Unfortunately, we did not have a good experience during our first visit to Rustic Winery. My family discovered this winery online and thought it would be the perfect place to take our 13th anniversary photos. My wife called the day before to ask if photoshoots were allowed and whether there were any events we should be aware of or limitations on where we could go. The Rustic staff informed us that it is a public place and that guests are welcome to explore the property.

When we arrived, we noticed people scattered throughout the grounds: some were playing bingo in the pergola area, while others were sipping wine and exploring the winery. Our photographer found a nice spot for photos, which happened to be about 25 feet away from a small group of four white women who were doing yoga. Everything seemed normal until a staff member named Lindsay approached us and told us that the yoga instructor had reported that we were making the class feel "uncomfortable" and that we should consider relocating for their "privacy."

We were puzzled by the term "uncomfortable," as we were not directing our photos toward their group and were behaving respectfully, with four adults and three children present. Privacy? We were shocked because this is a public place, and we believed we could be anywhere on the property. We treated this like a public park. We were unaware that a yoga class was in progress, as Rustic had not informed us about it during our phone call with them, nor was there any sign posted. Furthermore, we were 25 feet away from the class.

While Lindsay spoke with the instructor and one of the students after speaking to us, my wife and I walked over to apologize, as we genuinely did not realize there was a class in session. We thought they were fellow visitors like us using the public space.

During our apology, we were told by the instructor that "they can't just stop in the middle of class to tell us to relocate; we should have had the common sense to move further away!" Unfortunately, instead of communicating with us directly, they chose to report us. Staff Lindsay didn’t evaluate the situation before approaching us and chose to side with the yoga class. It makes us wonder if our Asian ethnicity played a role in their discomfort, especially since there were people playing bingo nearby, and you could hear the host announcing the numbers and players shouting "bingo."

Communication is key! We wished they had kindly asked us to relocate when we arrived instead of reporting us and involving staff after an hour passed. Besides, if you are hosting a yoga class in a public venue and require visitors to maintain a significant distance, perhaps you should coordinate with the venue to secure a designated area.

Although Staff Member Lindsay apologized afterward, it is disheartening that my children and family had to endure this experience. As business owners ourselves, we believe she could have handled the situation better. This is a public space, and the staff specifically stated that visitors were welcome to explore anywhere. Rustic needs to improve its handling of such situations. If they are hosting classes and prefer that visitors stay away, they should communicate this more effectively instead of making visitors feel unwelcome simply because the class or students are uncomfortable.

Our recommendation is to reconsider visiting Rustic Winery; you might not feel welcome there. The thought of this encounter continues to upset me and leaves me feeling sick...

AMAZING! We recently had our wedding here and were one of the first couples to celebrate in their new tent space! We had 200 guests (the previous weddings were much smaller with ~75 guests), so it was definitely going to be a test for the venue. Well, things were incredible!!

(Quick edit to mention: we did hire a professional wedding planner! This was absolutely critical for getting married at this venue — the winery staff are great, but our wedding coordinator worked through event & setup logistics with the venue to ensure they were wedding-ready, navigated could-have-been issues, and made sure everything ran smoothly on our wedding day).

Cindy, the winery events manager, was so responsive and helpful from the beginning. She was available by email, text, in-person whenever we wanted to meet, and was good at communicating with our planner and vendor team.

The winery was also super accommodating to our requests and they worked really hard to finish updates to the space in time for our wedding day (adding permanent restrooms, putting down a floor in the tent, etc). On the day of, the winery staff managed table set up, and stepped in to help place our rental furniture and table linens. The staff were all very friendly, and not to mention, their wines are amazing! All of our guests raved about the experience at our wedding and the wines -- seriously, the best and much better in comparison to other local wineries!

Photos of the beautiful space attached! Side note: most of the items and the tent draping + lighting were rentals.

—Full vendor team below— Photographer: Michaela Paige Planning + Design: HappiLily Events Florist + Day of Coordination: Revel & Flourish Videographer: Courtney Rae Films Catering: Butcher Salt Dessert: The Minne Donut Company DJ: Wedding Party DJ Live Painter: Paint My Wedding Day Rentals: Apres Event + Tent Tent Lighting + Draping: We’ve Got It Covered Tap Wall: Piccadilly Pours Signage: Olive & Twig Design Co Transportation:...

We were pretty disappointed Im sorry to say. The patio and tasting room were beautiful but they need to put some of that money into service and food. The “tasting” in our experience was more of an overpriced flight. You choose which wines to taste and they are poured into translucent plastic cups and handed to you all at once to take onto the patio. There was no opportunity to discuss the wines with the server, and the portions were so small we hardly had the chance to taste them. I would estimate well under an ounce in each of five cups, all for $12. Considering that a 5 oz pour is $8, you’re paying a 50% premium for the privilege of drinking out of plastic. We’ve tasted in California, Oregon, Washington, and BC and I understand the need to charge for tastings. $12 is on the high side in my experience and as far as I could tell it doesn’t get applied to the purchase of a bottle. We ordered bruschetta and it came as 6 pieces of toasted baguette with a bowl of topping, all of which was fine but not very interesting or well presented. Bottom line, service and presentation didn’t live up to the price and setting. All of the wine is off dry, and little if any of it is grown locally as their vines are not mature yet. I might go again but I would skip the food and definitely the “tasting” and just have a glass of beer or wine and enjoy the patio. I’d suggest they rebrand their tasting as a flight and provide more...