BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Wine Winery Visits - Your Best and Your Worst

Few things are better than a great visit to a winery. You can discuss the wine with those who created it.

On the other hand, a bad winery visit can spoil your day.

What was the best winery visit you ever had?

What was the worst winery visit you ever had?

One of the worst I visited was the Renault Winery near Atalantic City.

I haven't been to many, but I did spend a day going to different ones in Long Island -- they were, for the most part, very nice. Three that stuck out in my mind are W�lffer Estate, Bedell, and Lenz. I will have to stay away from the Atlantic City one you mention above!

It's the same for both-the Inniskillin Winery on the Niagara Peninsula. Though to be fair, the worst part had nothing to do with them, it was a self guided tour and it was cold and windy and raining...
The best part was that it was just before Christmas and they were offering a ten year old petite syrah for a steal, due to the fact that it would soon begin to age too much. I ended up getting several bottles of $75 wine for $17. The only problem was not gulping it it was so delicious!
Kristi

Kristi, What a deal!

I was in the finger lage area at Thanksgiving and was able to visit one really nice winery there. Most were closed.

I think that many of the smaller wine regions are very good for visits. They are often very friendly and you can get a good look at the winery.

We like to take day trips visiting area winerys. Most are very nice and the people very friendly. My favorite is the Oliver Winery in Bloomington Indiana. They have a beautiful lake with a picnic area where you can relax with a glass of wine, which is excellent. The worst trip we made was driving all day to find a place called, I think it was, Possum Lake Winery. Lots of back roads and when we got there is had been closed for several years although it was still listed in the winery guide for that area.

I am headed to Sonoma this July w/the company I work with. They have lined up a bunch of wineries for us to visit and lunch at. We're staying at the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa which I heard is wonderful!
Any suggestions for dinner or lunch if we are on our own one day??
I've been to quite a few vineyards in Bordeaux, Florence and the Loire and I'm very excited to finally visit some of the famous vineyards in my own country!!
Cheers!
Linda

Sonoma has great wineries, I love Arrowood there. That is the one place I always am sure to stop. Valley of the Moon has gorgeous old vines like little trees.

My favorite winery is in Napa. The V. Sattui winery is fantastic. It looks large and impersonal, and often is packed with people, but it is great.

It's one of the few places that doesn't charge for tastings. The last time we were chatting with the charming, older gentleman who was pouring our wine. It turned out to be the family patriarch.

I like Bully Hill in Finger Lakes. It is a lot of fun.

The Finger Lakes have many great wineries. Last Thanksgiving I visited several. One of the best I found was the McGregor Winery on Keuka Lake.

Where is Bully Hill located?