Magnanini Winery, Restaurant, Distillery & Wedding Venue — Restaurant in Town of Shawangunk

I loved this place until we had the unfortunate necessity to deal with their event planner. I had been trying to get in touch with her Since July 12th, which they told me she was going to be back next week and reach out. In the meantime, Jake is awesome. I told him listen, we're really not looking for anything special, but we are aware that there might be more people here than a normal day. He totally got what we were saying and was kind enough to listen to what we were looking for and even show us the Grappa Garage. He told me they offered extreme flexibility and that what I was looking for was super simple and they would likely be able to build out a package based on what I was saying. Courtney was supposed to call us back the 22nd and it wasn't until I drove the hour each way thursday the 24th that I was able to speak with her. And let 's be honest. She had no intention of getting back to me since this weekend is also her wedding. she asked me 4 questions. Phone number. Email. How many people and did I want to pay for everybody's food. She didn't even ask my name and had absolutely no idea what kind of "food" set up we were looking for but just left it at "if i was paying for people's food that it was going to be tricky and she needed to speak with someone." This was supposed to be a super casual get together for a day at a winery for some friends and family to come have a glass of wine and casually celebrate our marriage. She was extremely dismissive to both my father and me. It was clear before I even left that she was going to come back with a no. She emailed me back, not even a call, with the most generic email ever, because she couldn't even address me by name telling me that they are unable to host our party that day due to wedding they had on the other side. Not sure what happened to the extreme flexibility that there was but she has left us with such a sour taste in our mouth that it has ruined this place for us after making this regular spot for ourselves over the last...

We attended the Oktoberfest and it was the strangest Oktoberfest I’ve ever been to. There was no way-finding signage to know what building the event was being held in so after waiting in line at the tasting room for 20 minutes we learned the event was next door. The staff seemed indifferent and not exactly welcoming. We walked in on what appeared to be a bachelorette/anniversary party with a woman wearing a veil and Journey blasting on the speakers. We thought this couldn’t possibly be the event and exited. Nope – that was it. Nothing about it felt like Oktoberfest except for a small plate of cabbage served with the coursed meal. The band occasionally slipped into an accordion solo amidst popular hits from the 80s & 90s. It felt like someone’s private event that was advertised as Oktoberfest to sell tickets to cover the cost for the event. At least that would explain the menu, the vast amount of people who all knew one another and the music choice and dancing.

The music was so loud we could not hear eachother and we were only a foot away from one another. We rushed through the courses so we could exit and enjoy the views of the lovely property. I found broken glass filled with ants and empty wine bottles strewn about the Adirondack chairs. Not sure if that was because they lack trash cans that are easy to find or if the clientele are sloppy, but it the whole experience was strange and poorly designed. 2 stars is generous. I hope this winery figures out how to throw a better event. It was not worth the $150 we paid...

Our wedding at Magnanini Winery was absolutely amazing. Our guests raved about how accommodating the staff was with food and drinks and also with how well they did with ushering everyone to the right place throughout the event. The food, especially at cocktail hour (one of our guests gave a shout out to the bacon wrapped scallops), was amazing. One of the guests said they were absolutely stuffed after the event (shout out to the smashed potatoes). Our two signature cocktails were re-created to perfection. Ava made sure our day went by extremely smoothly. As the bride, it was a very low stress day because of her organization. We had some communication difficulties when we were first trying to secure a date with Ava, but she was very responsive after. Despite only being open Wed-Sun, Ava responded to us regardless of what day it was. The venue is great for food and, obviously, the view of the vineyard, but they allow for candles and sparklers, so we were able to have a lot of the extra details that made our day special. There is a bridal suite (with air conditioning!) that we were able to utilize for another intimate ceremony prior to the event. Magnanini Winery is sort of a hidden gem and we are so glad we found this venue. We would absolutely recommend future couples to hold their...