Black Willow Winery — Attraction in Town of Newfane

Disappointing Experience at Black Willow Winery

On Saturday, May 18, our group of 17 visited Black Willow Winery with a reservation for a wine tour. Upon arrival, we were asked to sit outside due to the size of our party, despite having reserved in advance. We understood and agreed to this accommodation.

Unfortunately, the experience quickly went downhill. The staff member assigned to us, who we later found out was also the manager, requested our patience. She began the interaction short-tempered and snippy with us. We agreed, but after waiting 20 minutes without receiving menus or any attention, our patience began to wear thin. Eventually, menus were provided, and most of us chose the $20 wine and cheese or $20 wine and chocolate pairings and were asked to pay upfront.

It took approximately 30 minutes before we could place our orders. During this time, several of us repeatedly went inside to check on the status. Each time, we were told by the manager that she was the only one working, and it was apparent that our orders were not being processed. After another 25 minutes passed without any of us receiving our orders, our limo bus driver warned us that we had only 12 minutes left before needing to leave to get back home or we would incur additional hourly charges.

Throughout this ordeal, numerous attempts were made to resolve the issue, as we friendly asked what options we had, but we were consistently ignored or redirected to the overwhelmed manager. Finally, in a bid to cancel our orders and request a refund, the manager walked out in front of us with her belongings and abruptly quit. However, we later discovered that she returned to work the subsequent day, contradicting her dramatic exit.

One third of our wine tour was wasted at Black Willow Winery due to poor service and mismanagement. We had 3 locations blocked off, only got to visit 2, and approximately an hour and half was wasted at this location. This disappointing experience marred what should have been an enjoyable outing. Better staffing, organization, and communication are desperately needed to avoid such negative experiences...

We are from out of town, and read about this winery in a magazine in our hotel. We looked it up online, ordered the wine and chocolate pairing, and the ice wine tasting. We also ordered a meat and cheese tray that we assumed was complimentary because it was 0 dollars. Once there, the girl very briefly explained what we were to do, she pours our wine and walked away. We went on with our wine tasting, but she never came back to talk with us, or talk about the wine.. nothing. She instead went over to talk to a coworker, and that's where she remained. We asked about the tray, and she said the site was outdated and she would not honor it. We then asked about the wine glasses we were supposed to receive for keepsakes. She again said the site was outdated, but my husband said that was not our fault and we paid for them, so she begrudgingly gave us 2 wine glasses. It was our first time at a wine tasting, and we feel like we did not get the experience we should have. We were excited to learn about the wine and have fun, and we just didn't get that. Extremely disappointed.

That said... the wine was very good and so was the chocolate. There was one very nice lady there that chatted with us right before we left. We bought a bottle of...

The blonde server was very rude during our time spent at this establishment. We were on a limo and had made a couple spots and she called ahead to other places and said not to serve us. Absolutely ridiculous. We called and spoke to the manager on duty and it was the same person that had called ahead to other places. On the phone she became very aggressive and snobby. She stated she did this for our protection that we were too intoxicated. We understand the concern, however we had a driver on the limo and we had some time to go before being home, by which we all were very responsible. I am fine with the reason for her doing what she did, but the attitude, the way she spoke, and the aggressiveness that she presented was unnecessary. While we were there even her fellow coworkers stated how mean and nasty she was. Hope this place assesses there management how to deal with...