Colloca Estate Winery — Attraction in Town of Sterling

Extremely Disappointing Experience – Do Not Recommend

Having grown up within 10 miles of their location and currently living less than a mile away, not to mention poor business relations with Colloca , 20 years prior. We thought, lets try the place yet again. (Wife attends various wine dinners w/friends) This time, from the moment we arrived, the service at Colloca Vineyard Lake Effect Estate was profoundly disappointing like others here, moreover, locally claim. Ordering drinks and food was an ordeal — meals took about an hour to arrive and were incorrect, when they finally did arrive. Accuracy and timeliness clearly aren’t a priority here.

The food and wine were equally underwhelming. Dishes were overpriced and lacked quality, while the wine — touted as “award-winning” — was flat and unpleasant, more reminiscent of chemical residues than a refined vintage. Worse still, a member of our group, who is diabetic, discreetly pulled out a few crackers after waiting more than 40 minutes to help manage her blood sugar. A staff member immediately and rudely told her to stop eating or leave. This level of insensitivity and lack of basic human decency is unacceptable.

Between the inflated prices, poor food and wine, and appallingly rude service, I truly don’t understand how this establishment stays in business. We will absolutely not return.

UPDATE: Below you’ll notice Colloca attempts to bully me personally by alleging this ex-patron is some sort of “crier or lier” & angry complainer, huh! Suggesting I “place a bag over my head” to remain anonymous? talk about anger management issues, false accusations and unfounded claims? Might be time to take an honest look in the mirror and ease up on the alcohol consumption, maybe even a visit to a local alcoholics anonymous? Colloca should not misconstrue reality reviews as anything other than “telling it like it is” ….

Chris should heed honest, constructive criticism myself and other reviewing patrons express to heart! As opposed to belittling & bullying us in an attempt to discredit and stifle valid points…..

He believes we have inner-acted on social media, prior, somewhere, sometime? If we have, it is unknown to me because I have avoided him personally for quite some time after having been duped and conned by him nearly 20 years ago.

Below, Chris claims I am welcome, at his expense, to a wine dinner having already occurred at the time of his offer? Wow, how gracious!

Further claiming I have not been there in 15 years? Wonder if he’d refund my money when I produce my credit card receipts for the last 2 visits not so long ago? Guessing NOT!

Bottom line is proof is in the puddin, OTHERS HAVE HAD NEARLY THE SAME EXPERIENCE AS I, yet my experience is invalid because we’ve had poor past relations?…. Not sure how upsetting the locals, poor business tactics and terrible service will sustain his existence, but hey, good luck Chris! You wont be paying those mortgages with my hard eared money! Again, I will never subject myself, family or visiting guests to him or his...

Let me preface this review by saying - I’ve been here many times. There are numerous things that I love, but I’ve also found some things that need improvement. I’ve driven, been by boat, visited during wine tours, and have attended different events. I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere, live music, and the wine. It isn’t my FAVORITE wine but that’s not to say it’s bad - just not my flavor. I’ll also add that I find that those responsible for coordinating events, specifically weddings, do a really wonderful job. However, I find that the quality of one’s experience varies too much. Sometimes it can be great and sometimes terrible. The quality of the food used to be very good - consistently. However more recently, not so much. During my most recent visit, I waited over an hour for food, which in turn made me late to the event I was there for - even though I made a reservation, presented on time, and expressed to the server that we were there for the event. This is disappointing because this is otherwise a unique location, with a really impressive lay out, beautiful view, and always has a great selection of liquor/wine. The live music is always really impressive as well, especially when they’re residents of the surrounding towns. This is all great, except it’s hard to plan a visit when you cannot count on the quality. I’ve always sent a lot of people this way, but after reading the responses to the reviews - I’m appalled. The owner, or whoever is running the account, seems quite literally unhinged. Any respectful business owner should accept criticism and work with their leadership to ensure better experiences for their customer base. Not every experience, every time will be grand and people are allowed to express this. Deterring people from expressing their opinions by bullying reviewers is a really distasteful business practice. It’s hard to support a business when this is what they present online. I’d personally be embarrassed. It’s a shame because it’s a wonderful place, that just requires a little growth and stability. Accepting these things is part of being a business owner, but responding with sarcasm and belittlement is...

We decided to take a day trip from Syracuse to have lunch at Colloca Estate Winery and a hike at Fair Haven State Park. It wasn't busy in the outdoor dining area when we arrived at about 12:15 on a Thrusday, although several additional couples trickled in after we arrived.

The pulled pork sandwich was very good. The Sililian sandwich also was very good and was huge. The Sicilian Tomato Potato Salad side sounded interesting but was disappointing (we both got that side and neither of us liked it or finished It).

Counter service was friendly and prompt (we were the only ones ordering at the time) and our food came out in about 10-15 minutes. You have to go to the bar at the other end of the seating area to get wine. We were in the mood for a Reiling but they were out of 2 of the 3 Rieslings on the menu. We ordered the available Riesling - it was good, but the bottle price seemed a bit high for us. We'd return of we were in the area.

Edited to add: We were taken aback by the "response from the owner". Seriously - we're at a winery, not a high end restaurant (at best it’s an outdoor cafeteria). Tacking on an additional $5 depending on where at the winery you buy the wine is, well, tacky. And chiding your customers because they don't want to spend $25 on a bottle of wine is arrogant and not the way to win or keep customers. Guess we won't be...