Turks Head Wines — Restaurant in West Chester

UPDATE #2: I made the mistake of giving this place a second chance and boy was I wrong. The wines were equally as horrific as last time and the service was even worse. The waitress felt like she made every effort to ignore me. The fruit was not fresh and tasted like it was on the verge of going bad. Hard pass, do not recommend.

UPDATE: While I sincerely appreciate the response from the owner to my review, there remain several issues that were not addressed.

Firstly, regardless of "Brix levels" and the effort that goes into making wine, the product has to speak. If the wine is jammy, overripe with low energy, then it remains exactly that. The owner needs to stop trying to deflect feedback and sincerely listen constructively so as to attempt to improve the product.

Secondly, the owner implied that my friend and I "only drink vintage wines".This is simply not true. If she had lingered and continued our conversation, she would have found that we are wine agnostic and love to enjoy anything and everything that express terroir and vivacity. This includes the wines of the various local PA vineyards that I mention below that are producing exceptional vintages, old and young.

Thirdly, the owner completely avoided addressing the service issues we had (i.e. disruptive clearing of plates, overly rigid seating arrangement). She also never checked back during our visit to see how things were going and if we were enjoying the tasting.

Lastly, premier producers hold and sometimes even will forgo releasing a reserve or premium tier wine if it is not up to par. I feel as though the owner should hold the reserve wines in particular for at least 4-5 years before even allowing them to be opened, let alone being served for a tasting.

My statements stand, and as such, I cannot recommend Turks Head Wines over the other great local vineyards we have in PA.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: I went here for a wine tasting with a friend this past Saturday (evidently, it was their third day of operation). Our experience can be summed up as follows: mediocre wines, served sophomorically, in a beautiful space.

Upon entering, you're immediately greeted by the staff and the open, high-ceiling building, featuring two grand olive trees flanking each end of the long, oblong-shaped bar. We were booked for the lounge but preferred to sit at the bar. After about half an hour and much hemming and hawing by the staff, we were allowed to sit at the high-top table we preferred.

It's important to note that Turks Head is a California-based winery, meaning grapes are sourced from different AVAs (wine regions) all over California, harvested, and then transported (on the same day, according to the producer) to the winemaking facility for processing. Because there is an inevitable transportation lead-time, this creates a fundamentally different product then an estate or single vineyard producer where processing begins immediately onsite after harvest.

With that being said, all the wines were tainted by this overripeness and an overt jam like quality that overwhelmed the secondary and tertiary notes that might have been present if the grapes had been macerated and fermented immediately after harvest.

The 2022 Napa Valley Cab and the Rosé were the only wines of note. Serving the reserve BDX and single vineyard Cab after only 2 years in bottle felt like infanticide—everything had so much potential, but all the wines were still far too young for tasting.

We also experienced several service issues, from the seating debacle, to the constant disruptive clearing of silverware and plates. It was anything but an elegant experience.

In conclusion, there are several Pennsylvania estate vineyards (like Va La Vineyards, Wayvine, and Vox Vineti) that are producing extraordinary wines locally, right now. I highly recommend checking them out before Turks Head.

I respect the owners' wish to honor their roots by establishing this tasting room in West Chester, but in the end, the product does neither California nor West...

I have heard of Turks Head Wine in West Chester through IG and was thrilled when I had the opportunity to go in while vising my daughter at WCU. From the moment I walked in, I was greeted with smiling hostesses and laughter from the various conversations happening inside. When I walked in, I was instantly captivated by the elegance and warmth of the space with the grand, expansive bar serving as the stunning centerpiece. I believe they said it seats 34 people. I was by myself, and seated at the bar where I had the pleasure of being served by Harry, who provided an excellent customer experience from start to finish. He was knowledgeable about the wines and the flavor profile was spot on. My "go to" wine is typically a Cabernet Sauvignon, but when I see a Cabernet Franc on the menu it immediately grabs my attention. I have had both good and bad experiences with Cab Franc so I asked Harry to describe it for me as I was looking for a more bold and complex Cab Franc. I'm thinking hints of tobacco, pepper, dark cherry, and earthy. While Cab Francs are typically more delicate than a Cab Sauv, I was hoping this Cab Franc would provide me with a more bold finish. Harry was correct and this Cab Fanc is absolutely delicious! It definitely hit all of the notes I mentioned above with a smooth finish. I would say the acidity was low/med giving it almost a bright and fresh mouthfeel to it. For me, this is the best Cab Franc I have had in years so I was very happy to sit and enjoy it while I spoke to my newly made friends at the bar. I wish I had more time there but am excited to go back and spend more time. I went back the next day to pick up a bottle to take back to Miami with me where I had the pleasure of meeting Allison in the shop. This is definitely a Wine Club that I will be looking to sign up for and to pass along these wines as gifts to spread the word. If you are in West Chester and enjoy a great wine experience, I highly recommend you make a reservation and to to Turks Head Wine. If you are outside of the West Chester area, I recommend you reserve a hotel room and visit. I can't wait to plan my next trip to see my daughter and get back into...

Honest review: The ambiance of Turks Head is incredible. The bar is immaculate and the lounge is incredibly nice. It’s worth 5 stars for that alone. The wine was good not incredible but not bad by any means my wife and i got both a white and a red flight. The white had a wine that was not similar to any other wine we have had, the suisun though they say its a sauvinon blanc it didnt taste like one at all. We were told some people love it and some people dont, we were in the group that loved it. The reds were fine especially the blend we had which they were known for.

The not so good: service at such a gine establishment was fair. Maybe because it was new, maybe because we expected more from such a wonderful ambiance, i really dont know. Just expected some more. When we wanted more information about a wine the sommelier came over to our table and couldnt really give us any more information than an average wine drinker would already know. Just didnt seem like the service matched with the ambiance.

If i had to compare it i would say 5 star steakhouse experience matched with a local chain level of service

Also the not great: the food choices were fine we opted for the bread with our choice of 2-3 spreads, a jam, a butter, and an olive oil. The bread was served with 3 slices, and we opted for more for a small charge. We felt we had to with the amount of butter they gave us. My recommendation, serve the bread option with all 3 spreads and offer a half or a full baguette. 3 pieces felt disrespectful to be honest, and when we purchased 3 more orders of bread it finally felt sufficient. Just felt a little weak for the price and feel of the place.

All in all 5 stars goes a long way for a new establishment, so im giving 5 stars, but i would hope somethings change to continue going and recommending to...