Aquila's Nest Vineyards — Local services in Newtown

Great venue, awful service in 2025.

Aquila’s was not prepared to handle 20 minutes of rain. There weren’t enough covered spaces to accommodate guests.

As guests moved inside, they were greeted by rude staff aggressively stating that there was a private event in the next hour. They told several paying guests that they needed to be out of the space by a certain time, without having any other covered spaces for guests to stay dry.

Staff blamed their poor handling of the situation on it “being a long day.” While most of us understand that being exhausted can get to you, being told you need to leave within a set period of time without any alternative space being offered suggests a management issue in 2025.

All the staff looked overworked, the venue itself was not prepared for a little bit of rain (which is concerning for a vineyard).

After trying our best to enjoy our date after the poor situation, we were met with another staff member telling us we needed to leave in 15 minutes for their private event (our date was already wasted rushing to finish our wine and get out of the way for this; not something someone would want to pay for).

It’s worth noting that we were told there was seating inside by employees of the vineyard and were immediately greeted with aggressive staff telling us to move and get out ASAP as it was pouring outside and our glasses were barely touched.

The bussing staff was also incredibly rude as we asked where we should leave our glasses after we rushed what was supposed to be a nice trip.

The handling of the situation was not only unprofessional but again also points to a lack of preparedness for the entire venue.

Unless management creates more covered spaces and improves employee morale, my partner and I would recommend visiting another vineyard so you don’t come here to be both disrespected and disappointed as a paying guest this summer.

EDIT: Aquila’s response confirms the concerns in my original review. We were directed inside before the rain started—yet their reply frames poor planning as “guest safety” and subtly shifts blame onto guests for being unprepared. This reflects the vineyard’s lack of foresight and unreliable management.

Before spending your money here, note the owner’s response: it vaguely acknowledges fault but still deflects responsibility onto guests. Their website says walk-ins are welcome—yet when rain hit, there was no covered seating or communication. Are walk-ins expected to stand in the rain because the vineyard failed to provide basic accommodations?

This isn’t just about us. Dozens of other guests left upset due to poor planning, low staff morale, and confusing, inconsistent communication. We were told there was indoor seating, only to be met with rudeness and the same excuses shared in the owner’s response.

Poor planning doesn’t justify disrespect. This venue was unprepared for a typical May rain in Connecticut and treated walk-ins like second-class guests. We won’t return—and we’ll encourage others to avoid an experience that, sadly, aligns with how Aquila publicly defends its choices.

It’s disappointing that such a beautiful location is managed this way, and we feel for the many other guests who were treated poorly on this...

So I wanted to start by saying I do love Aquila's and go multiple times throughout the year; I've gone for years and usually go during my birthday week. But this year I had a problem that I wanted to highlight.

This year I went on August 24 and rented the Pergola for two hours (for an early bday celebration). Next to us during the same pergola time slot was a family celebrating what I'm assuming was an engagement party or perhaps a proposal. They had half of the Pergola blocked off for it. It looked like this family also had something in the fields rented (maybe an engagement, not sure). It looked like they had a lovely celebration. It was a busy day at Aquila's and when our 2 hour time slot ended, the hostess took our payment and told us to sit in any of the downstairs spots by the orange/yellow umbrellas as long as it didn't say reserved, which I am familiar with. We cleared up as the engagement party was starting to wrap up and my group found the last wooden picnic table downstairs along the section w/ the orange and yellow umbrellas which clearly had no sign saying "reserved" on it. 10 minutes later, a different hostess/waitress walked up to us with some members of the pergola (engagement?) family behind her (we recognized them) and says "You cannot sit here, I had a family who had a reservation who I was planning on seating here. You need to move to the white tables in the corner." She pointed to the plastic white tables on the side. We of course didn't know how long the Pergola engagement family was staying or that they were moving to the regular seating area and this had nothing to do with them.

We emphasized to the hostess that the wooden table we were currently sitting had NO reservation symbol on it and said we actually just came from the pergolas we paid for and had been specifically instructed by another hostess/waitress to sit down here at any table that said not reserved. The waiter again insisted she knew there was no reserved sign on the table but we still needed to move because a(nother) paying family had (somehow?) reserved this table despite no signage indicating that. We told her again that we also had a reservation, and had just came from the Pergolas as well. The waitress still insisted we move (because I'm sure the pergola family paid more than us).

This was nothing on the family of course, and we didn't want to ruin their day by whining, but I was also celebrating a birthday for myself so this day was significant for me as well. I just think Aquila's could've planned better and that how they handled it was very rude; they picked the other family because I'm sure they had a higher tab. They could've easily added a "reserved" sign to the table but this hostess was catering to who they believed was spending the most money. I felt like they were shifting me because they saw me as "lower class" in terms of payment which isn't cool and it's the last thing I would expect from Aquila's. I just wanted to share...

Wow! Delightfully surprised to find this gem of a place so close to me. My husband made reservations for Valentine's Day, but I suggested we try it out first after being let down by other vineyards close to us. It is located on the top of a hill (long winding driveway) with plenty of parking. The mood and view overlooking the vineyards is calming, but excitement quickly took over as I heard laughing and glasses clinking in the background. You enter a classic Quonset Hut, warmly decorated with touches of our constellations. Reservations are recommended- choosing a two hour gap of inside or outside. (We had reservations for outside, but was able to change to inside on a very windy day). In accordance with Connecticut's law, you first have to purchase food before ordering wine. There is a food truck outside or you can order a cheese and cracker tray indoors. We opted for the pizza truck, Silver Sands Pizza - brick oven style - yum! We both ordered the wine flight, which consisted of four wines, accompanied by sweet and savory snacks. It was a bit pricey at $23 compared to other wineries' tastings, but you do get a generous pour of approximately 3 ounces per glass, plus a souvenir glass . . . and the wine is delicious. Each one was equal to or better than the one before. We sampled 4 out of 5 wines: Dry Riesling, Dry Rose, Red Blend and Merlot. Would easily be happy drinking a full glass of any of them - and I am not a Riesling fan, but their's was that good. I began snapping pictures, texting our daughter in Albany, we found this vineyard and she has to come home to join us next weekend! We then ordered full glasses - mine was their wine cocktail for their 100th day celebration, rose wine with black currants and ice. Similar to a sangria and very good. My husband ordered a glass of Merlot which he enjoyed.

Would definitely recommend! We are looking forward to our next reservation.

Pluses: great wine, warm and inviting atmosphere, nice staff. Minuses: Pricey (between the CT mandated food law (Not their fault) and wine purchased, we easily dropped over a $100 in less than 2 hours), they are also strict on the two hour reservation and will ask you to finish up, for the next reservation; which put me off slightly. My advice would be to arrive a few minutes early to order your food so it does not cut into your reservation window. Yes, it's that good- you don't...