Narcisi Winery — Attraction in West Deer Township

We are very new in town and have recently relocated to PA from another state. On 7/18/21 which was a Sunday at around 5pm myself along with my wife, her parents, and our 2 children (ages 6 & 2) attempted to have dinner here because we had heard so many great things and live in the area just down the road. The young girl at the door was extremely rude and as uninviting as a person could possibly be. She informed us that for 4 of us we would have an hour and fourty five minute wait because as she coldly put it "most people tend to make reservations." I understand it was primetime dinner hours on a beautiful weekend day and so I came expecting a long wait because I'm a reasonable person. I didn't however understand why she had to be so rude about relaying the information to us? I then pointed out to her that she had overlooked my two children and she informed me that if they wanted to join us for dinner it would be more along the lines of a 2.5 hour wait. We overlooked her rudeness and put our names on the wait list and ask her if it would be okay if we explored the outside premises. She told us that there was a huge private party that had reserved the private party area and then stared at us blankly. I said that's great becoming more irritated and motivated to stay by her clear desire for us to leave. I then asked her what about the rest of the outside area? At that point she was getting fed up with my unwillingness to just leave and so she said I was free to go check out the outside portion of the restaurant if we wanted. I took 3 tries of me asking different questions before I got her permission to explore the outside. After walking away from her my entire family had a very bad taste in our mouths and obviously felt very unwelcome. We were already there though and so why not at least look around. That's when we walked over to the outside oven/bar area and met a young man named Vince. He could not have been more polite and accommodating. I explained to him the situation with the girl at the front door and asked him if I was allowed to order a glass of wine even though I didn't have a reservation. He was shocked. He informed me that the outside area of the establishment, outside of the small reserved section the girl at the door hard earlier mentioned, is open to all with no reservations required. He said that we could order drinks and food from the outside bar menu such as pizzas meatballs salads etc and dine outside immediately without wait anytime. I was very shocked because the girl at the front door definitely had wanted us to leave and did not explain to us that there was another option for us to dine at this establishment. Narcisi would be wise to better train their seating staff because I personally watched three to four other couples before us and three or four more after us walk back to their cars and leave because they were not given the opportunity or option to eat outside. Had we not met Vince at the bar we would have simply walked around the premises looked at the scenery and then left. The pizza was good. The wine was good too but a little overpriced in my opinion for such small exactly 6-oz pours in a plastic cup, but whatever I like to support local businesses and my kids had fun dining outside by the creek so that's worth something. It's just sad when a staff member literally doesn't want your business. If I had met Vince first this place would have gotten four stars. I also want to make an important note that after we sat down and began eating outside about 30 minutes after we arrived my phone received a text message stating that our table was ready inside. Even though we were quoted a 2-hour plus wait time by the girl at the door, it actually only took about 30 minutes. The girl at the door was definitely a huge turn off. Thankfully we kept asking questions and helped ourselves which allowed us...

La Casa Narcisi is a beautiful winery in Gibsonia that’s so much more than a wine-lovers destination. Its an awesome place to relax and listen to a band, indulge in delicious food, and or learn a bit about wine.

Narcisi sits on large grounds complete with: tasting room, gift shop, Italian restaurant with both indoor and outdoor patio seating areas, outdoor bar & pizza oven, covered picnic pavilions, and stages for concerts.

Now about the wine, they offer a great variety, covering dry, semi-dry and sweet reds, plus white wines, blush wines, and a few sweet fruit and specialty varieties. Their grapes (like most PA Wineries) are purchased from vineyards from places like northern Pennsylvania, Erie, and western New York. Grapes arrive on stems and are processed and bottled onsite.

A quick stop at the tasting room is the best (cheapest, aka free!) way to taste Narcisi wines. The tasting room offers 2 complimentary tastings, with the option of adding 4 more for $5. Reservations for tasting aren’t needed, just walk up during business hours & sample.

Narcisi also offers paid guided winery tours and wine pairing events. I attended a special cheese pairing in May of 2018 and really enjoyed the experience. There is so much to learn on the tour. For about 2 hours you hear about the history of the family and their business, the growing process of the grapes, how the wine is processed, fermented, and bottled, and how to taste wine “for the full senses experience”. The standard tour also comes with 5 wine tastings and wine glass to take home. The tour I joined featured a special cheese pairing. Their social media and website will have upcoming event details to make reservations.

My favorite time of year to visit is of course summer dining outside with live music, enjoying a bottle of blackberry wine and a delicious meal. The dining experience at restaurant La Vite Ristorante is made memorable with their fresh delicious bread and the most addicting dipping oil. I’m serious, its everything you want in a dip. Its saltiness, richness and flavor. The dip is full of roasted red peppers and plenty of garlic creating a slight rich sweetness. Its even visually pleasing with bright red hue.

Another more casual dining space is the outdoor bar. It’s offerings are a bit more fun with wood-fired pizza and wine slushies!

The expansive covered picnic area and lawn space allows you to even bring your own food to host your own celebrations. On most weekends in the summer they have multiple live bands. Cheap date idea: pack a picnic, blanket or chairs and just hang out lawn and enjoy the music for free-ish (not really cause we know you’re going to want a bottle of wine 😉).

Tips for your visit: Get a reservation or plan to go early. They take reservations for indoors only. The patio, lawn and outdoor bar are all on a first come, first serve basis. Expect large crowds and a full parking lot. Especially during the summer. You might have to park on the street. It’s your best bet to send someone in your group to arrive early to...

Read if you have kids!!! Or don’t like to be talked to like you are 7 (:

A few times a year, we make the drive—over an hour for most of us—to meet up, let our kids play, and enjoy your food and wine. Unfortunately, yesterday’s visit has made us reconsider ever returning.

Within minutes of arriving, a woman approached us in a very rude manner, stating she would need to go through our bags and that she didn’t need our permission to do so. We were completely caught off guard. One friend had packed a small container of fruit for the kids, along with some pretzels and popcorn. We were told the fruit had to be thrown away, but the pretzels and popcorn could stay. When we asked for clarification, we were spoken to condescendingly and even asked if we were able to read.

Shortly after, an even ruder man came over, again questioning us about outside food. This time, we were told all of the kids’ snacks had to go. He was dismissive, disrespectful, and told us, “This isn’t a public park.”

I want to be clear—I am someone who follows rules (to the point my family & friends tease me about it). But asking parents to throw away small snacks for toddlers is unreasonable. Despite this, we spent hundreds of dollars ordering kids’ meals, pretzels, pizza, and countless ice cream sandwiches.

Later, a kind bartender explained the rationale behind the no-outside-food policy, and we completely understood the concern. Of course, no one expects to bring in full meals or desserts. But small toddler snacks—fruit, pretzels, popcorn—should be treated differently. By then, though, the damage was done, and we regretted staying after being treated so poorly.

What made the experience even worse was the inconsistency. We noticed plenty of other groups with outside food—cupcakes, full spreads, and even alcohol—who were left alone. It left us wondering why our group was singled out and targeted.

This experience was especially disappointing because we had been looking forward to it all week. What should have been a joyful afternoon with friends and kids instead became stressful, embarrassing, and disheartening. Unfortunately, this was our last visit, and while I’m sure your business will be fine without us, we will be sharing this experience with others so they don’t go through the same treatment—especially over something as trivial as snacks for toddlers.

It’s a shame, because we truly loved coming here. But after being spoken to in such a disrespectful way, told to “go to a park,” and made to feel like we didn’t belong, it’s clear this is not the welcoming place we...