Palaia Winery and Meadery — Attraction in Town of Woodbury

Wow, considering back to back 5-star reviews I'm beginning to think that Sunday night must perhaps be just a bad time to go to this winery. That said, I like to be specific with my reviews:

most of the meads they were "out of" (granted, end of Sunday night, so lets assume they are ssssooo good that they had run out, unexpectedly) the 6-item wine tasting is pre-set for you. Meaning you DO NOT get to choose what you sample. OF the 6 wines included with the wine tasting 5 of them ranged from too young and yet bland to overly on the sour/bitter end. The Holiday wine was the only one which our group of four appeared to enjoy What they call a "cheese sampler" appetizer plate is basically a collection of the cheapest "whatever's on-sale in your local supermarket" blocks of cheese (most likely Cabot's yellow cheddar, provolone, etc... whatever's sold for $1.69 a block on that day). The meats addition which they charge another $2 for is Not an addition but a Replacement of certain dried fruit and nuts with slices of - yet again - basically whatever salami / pepperoni is on-sale at Walmart / Shoprite / Stop n Shop, etc. We were told (granted - again - we were there at the closing on a Sunday) that we could stay and take our time finishing our wine / meal by the waiter and then within exactly FIVE minute were approached by someone - probably a shift manager - and told - with what I perceived to be attitude - to wrap up and leave. We were Not that belligerent group of loud teenagers or redneck drunks you may imagine so honestly on top of that "I'm not sure what exactly we're paying for" feeling the tude was not necessary.

TO SUM UP: I am not saying this was the worst experience I have ever had but what I AM saying is that the average review of 4.4 stars with a long list of 5 star recent reviews baffle and confuse...

Palaia winery has the best multidimensional wine tasting experience you will enjoy in the Hudson Region! The staff is friendly and knowledgeable of all their varieties including the Meads. Prices are really good for the quality and quantity that is poured out. They also have live music and a great big open space to go outside and relax (Family and kid friendly atmosphere). It is also one of those rare layouts that even when crowded there is space for everyone and not once will you feel jammed in or feel there no place to sit, stand or enjoy your wine and company. I highly recommend the Slushy Pinkish Floyd Rose for those hot summer days and the Raspberry Mead for the Mead heads. The only catch 22 of Palaia is the proximity of the Woodbury Commons Outlet mega mall which is a sun-up to sun-down black hole of traffic congestion on weekends. We inched along for one hour in stand-still traffic to drive the quarter mile stretch of road past the front entrance of mall. Like virtually everyone else coming up from NJ and NYC to shop at the Mall we were coming from Route 6 along route 17 to get to Palaia. Worse is that it took us 3 hours to drive back past the mall along route 6 to the Bear Mountain bridge. A coworker revealed a savvy work around to avoid the Mall traffic and get back to the Bridges and Palisades Hwy from Palaia by taking 32 north from Palaia to Angola Rd northeast which leads to 9W south east. This way is usually free of traffic and puts you at the Bear Mountain Toll bridge traffic circle...

I've been here several times over the years and have always had a great experience and time at Palaia Winery. Sadly, my last visit with family/friends was very disappointing. We came to continue our wine tasting birthday celebration for my cousin and we were not treated like other patrons. We ordered food and were told we have to pay now at the time we ordered. We were all taken aback by it and even questioned "pay now? We may order more." We were met by a shrug from Cat, our hostess, "yeah you have to pay now.". Ok, so we paid with a generous tip (30%) and tried to keep the mood light. We sat at the bar and noticed other patrons requesting to pay their tabs or hosts asking if they wanted to start tabs. Why were we not offered this same convenience? So we asked another host about starting a tab and she said we just needed to give a card, but we let her know we never were given the option even after looking visibly surprised and reiterating the request for us to pay now. Cat returns with a dry "sorry", then doesn't serve us anymore. Another hostess takes over after we tipped Cat generously?? No hard feelings on our part, but I guess our host did. We were not rude or loud, just confused. Our wine tasting portion was ok, not extremely informative, but still nothing I would have complained about in absence of the previous described incident. We will not be returning and discouraging anyone we know...