Fortunata Winery — Hotel in Aubrey

I love this place, but I've been going to Fortunata since 2018. And what I can say, is management has changed. It's moved from a small quaint family charming environment to a milk money business. WEDDINGS WEDDINGS WEDDINGS....Too many people for the staff load to keep up. And a frustrated staff because of the stress of overloaded demands they have to deal with. I remember when they didn't nickle and dime every little sip. And had a warm open arms feeling when you walk in. In fact they used to SERVE YOU, yes serve you. Not you pick up and serve yourself. Now I feel being a local I'm not the desired customer anymore. It's all about bridzilla, and how large is your wedding party? (Everyone else can wait) well, then close it down for that wedding party so us locals understand that it's open for a private event that evening. Because it really sux having to wait over an hour for pizza, to never get it after an hour and a half. I've had to unclog one of their toilets because they don't have enough staff to handle it. 🙄 Your staff can't handle the customer load. So either stop being so money hungry and expanding customer tables, or expand your kitchen staff and build 2 more fire pits for pizza and add another cook. Oh and last time I went, I've noticed the labels are not the same as they use to be. And my mother noticed on back it stated it's from a winery in CALIFORNIA! And I know that has not always been the case. I've been wondering for some time now and now I know they don't make their own wine anymore. ☹ it would be too expensive to ship their grapes to Cali to have it bottled to then have it shipped back. Vs the TONS of local wineries that could do it for a lot less. So I now know the vines are just for looks. Which they have been looking pretty sparse. You use to see where they bottled their wine in the big shed out back where they placed 2 bathrooms in front of it. And the mini bar out back IS NEVER IN USE. That could help with crowd control!! 🤪 But I guess nothing is meant to last for ever. Prices raised on everything and the pizza sizes are smaller. I just miss that welcome home feeling of we are all friends and family here. Now it's just a business. Plus they need to stop letting Olds Cool Band play. They can't EVER figure out their sound for almost 2 hours listening to (check, check, 1, 2, 1, 2 mic check, check, check) this was the 2nd time I've been there when they are playing, and I can't stand em. I just think they are too old and make everything way more complicated than it should be. If they are on the calendar for the night you want to go I advise to stay home or be prepared to be very annoyed. And that's all I have to say about that.

**update wine always coming from California, I don't believe to be 100% accurate. Because my husband and I bought a bottle of Moscato from the owner years ago who explained to us how they forgot to put the honey in the wine, so it's actually not a sweet Moscato but has all the fragrance of a Moscato. She also introduced us to her daughters who haven't been there in years. And I remember seeing the buckets and hoses used for filtration in the shed. And they used to not host 100's of people in a weekend . That started after 2020. Which is when everything changed. Now we rarely go there because it's not the same and new people don't know. But I'm not kidding when I say we and a group of friends waited an hour in line to order to then wait an hour and a half to have them still not even place our food in. So we left. Every time we "try to give another chance" we leave with about the same feeling saldy. Last time there was about 5 months ago. And the environment just isn't the same. I used to recommend a lot of clients, friends, and family to stay there, but I don't anymore. Since the "hospitality" has changed so much. And don't have kids.... don't know what happened there but kids haven't been allowed since after 2020, unless of course you're having a wedding. Even if your having a big farewell party, birthday, banquet, nope sorry. No kids, just for...

Rented for Oct. 14th and the 15th

When my daughter and new son in law originally announced their wedding venue was Fortunata Winery I went to the website to discover an absolutely beautiful venue. I was excited to see that they had accommodations available on the grounds and immediately booked 2 houses that would each hold 10 people. Casa Del Sol and Casa Bella Sole. We paid the rooms off months in advance.

September 13th - received a text message from Jeanette asking me to contact her. I called at 2:20p only to be told that we still owed over $700 for the villas. We did not. We already made the payments. Jeanette was not in her office at the time of the call so she said she would check. I requested a call back to let me know what she discovered and was assured I’d be contacted. No call or text was ever forthcoming.

October 13th - day before check in. No communication from the villa on how to check in. I called at 4:26 pm to request an early check in and directions for checking in when we did arrive. No return call or communication.

October 14th - day of check in. We had not received any communication so Jeanette had to be chased down in order for us to gain access to the villas.

Upon arrival to Casa Del Sol we noticed:

The pool was filthy. We knew the tile was stained from the pictures on the website but there were leaves and various debris in the pool although the filter was running it wasn’t taking anything in. The vacuum was also in the pool but not providing any discernible benefit.

The dishwasher was full. The dishes that were in it were clean however not put away. We put them away. Per the conversation with Shari, one of the property owners, on the 18th of October the person that cleans the villas starts the dishwasher, gets busy and then forgets that he needs to put the dishes away. She also stated that she’s talked to him repeatedly about the issue.

The description for Casa Del Sol as listed on the Fortunata website states:

Casa Del Sol is a beautiful house just steps from the winery and tasting room. Features 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, dining room, living room, pool, and outdoor kitchen. Deluxe linens, MAX OCCUPANCY 10. All Villas provide free Wifi, Cable TV, private coffee bar, refrigerator, microwave, toiletries, plush robes, private entrance and parking.

The bedrooms existed. The bathrooms existed. Towels were sparse but we were unable to get anyone on the phone to bring more. A full kitchen including the aforementioned full dishwasher upon our arrival. There were no garbage bags anywhere to be found. I did not check for wifi but I do know that there was no cable television. The television was streaming through a firestick which is different and subpar to cable. There were several open containers of coffee in the kitchen when we arrived but no creamer available. No robes and when I spoke to Shari on the 18th of October she told me they had to stop providing robes because guests would steal them. The outdoor kitchen that is supposed to be a part of this property is non-existent. The grill has been removed and, according to Shari, is because a past guest got burnt on the grill so insurance made them take it out. The outdoor refrigerator didn’t work so I can’t be certain what happened with that but it was advertised, not honored. So Sunday rolls around and it’s check out day. There are no instructions on what to do at check out. I get up especially early to get in the shower first. Lo and behold, the hot water isn’t working. That was the topper. A freezing cold shower and a long drip dry.

Casa Bella Sol: The information on the website states that the booking is for the whole house. It is not! There is an apartment in the front of the house that is a...

Our event was a mess.

We loved Fortunata each time we visited - loved the food, ambiance, and customer service. This is why we decided to host our wedding anniversary reception here - it was our first time celebrating with family since we eloped during COVID (2020) so it was a pretty big deal for us. We wanted to share the Fortunata experience with our loved ones.

I will share a few of the many things that went wrong but the saddest part was that I reached out to the coordinator and owner afterwards and gave a 1.5-month wait time (providing ample time for people to return from holidays and vacations) but no response. I'm sharing because I feel ignored and that we spent too much money for what we received.

What went wrong: Set-up was odd - there was no place set for the bride and groom to sit/eat, the kids tables were set up outside with no line of sight nor heater (it was a cold night), and there were people watching our whole event since the windows from inside were opened. We didn't really have a coordinator - as we were told we would. Someone was occasionally coming to check in, but they were also helping out in the other parts of the restaurant and hard to find when we need help or direction. We had to continuously ask for food to be refilled, a bag to trash/clean up, etc - we were told this was part of a service we paid extra for and that the dedicated coordinator was included. Food - we loved the Fortunata food, the chef hired was not up to par, it was just okay - at least it was warm. The food had too much garlic, kept running out, bread served with appetizers was not enough, and more. Also, our dessert had strawberry - I love it but I'm allergic to it and asked that it not be included. Large Issues - we were told we could play our music - imagine believing this only to arrive and realize it's not true - all your time invested, your planned itinerary (including your dance with your dad and husband) and your mood out the window. Our dessert was brought out after our guests started leaving, and placed in a dark room - nobody got to eat it. We were told not all bottles would be opened in case we had extras so we could take it home - we had planned to share these with those that couldn't attend or use them during the holidays - nope, every bottle was opened. We were forced to ask people to take them home and consume soon. Our toast champagne was opened and set as part of the regular beverages. There is more to the list but I think you get the idea.

We loved Fortunata Winery from the first time we visited but our event felt to be a big let-down. It was a special day of our life, we were really looking forward to it, but we were unpleasantly surprised.

We understand that in any event there will be hiccups and that food quality can vary. But service and availability of food are not acceptable measures to be lacking in. We paid for 47 guests and still the 41 guests which were present couldn't be fed.

We are sorry to say but it didn't feel worth what we paid. We have bragged so much to our friends and family, we've been loyal customers over the past 3 years and have sent many people your way and but this weekend we felt so disappointed - especially when our loved ones went home hungry.

Perhaps our experience could be an outlier but the most upsetting part was that it wasn't addressed when I raised concern. We've yet to even get a response nor any form...