BACA Wines — Restaurant in Healdsburg

What a joke!

Went here with my wife and daughter to enjoy a bottle of wine and join their club. We had heard about how amazing this place and their wines were, along with their other sister brands. We were enjoying ourselves, until we ordered a bottle of wine. Then we were, very quickly and without hesitation, ushered out of the ambiance of the building and out into a dirt pasture in the back. We were told that “Unless you are here for a tasting”, we had to sit out in the back 40 and look at vacant vineyards and blowing dust, alone, by ourselves.

All the while, there was plenty of open and empty tables where we were sitting, including the table we were actually sat at initially. It was a very embarrassing situation. We arrived an hour before closing. Nobody even came in after our arrival. Their marketing and PR team should be ashamed and replaced.

Growing up in wine country myself, I have never had an experience like this at any one of hundreds of wineries visited throughout my life. When we pressed for why we had to move, they stated that the structure of the winery is reserved only for those who wish to taste wines, and not those who wish to purchase a bottle. Greedy. Unprofessional. Not consistent with the rest of the industry. We will never return here, nor any of the other...

Poor and discriminatory experience.

I had a reservation confirmed on Cellarpass, arrived and was seated just to be asked to leave because they were fully committed. The fact that we were seated and had started our tasting I was lead to believe there was availability. Being in the customer service industry and also a club member there were so many other options available to better handle the situation. I understand that mistakes happen and computers can glitch however having Carol as the manager and representing the company is so unfortunate. She lacked empathy, accountability, professionalism and conflict resolution skills.

Above all, having just the general hospitality to pull me aside separately to have this discussion where other guests could not hear the conversation -would have shown a tad bit of empathy or compassion.

Is this what discrimination looks like? Looking back and noticing we were the only minorities in the room and that there was no diversity within the employees there - how sad to...

Let me start off by saying what a great first impression. BACA is such a hidden gem that when people finally start hearing about this, they will go nuts over the Zinfandel and the chocolate pairing. HUGE FAN ALREADY and I am not usually a zin gal.

Candice was so very kind and made the experience very easy and made us feel right at home. She shared the history of BACA and how it has actually been around for awhile but never got the exposure it truly deserved due to the pandemic. Truly a shame because wow, service and wines were amazing.

Who knew that zin could be so good, especially with their customized chocolate pairing, which deserves a review of its own. As much as I would want to keep this place hidden, it deserves to be known and talked about, especially when it's in such a great location. Very modern and minimalist design and easily accessible to the Highway and downtown area.

Cannot wait to come back and...