Quick glance: + activities available for children + opportunity to taste all their wines available for sale - difficult to access - sterile, "corporate" atmosphere My boyfriend and I are both avid wine drinkers and always like to visit local wineries. Cwm Deri Vineyard is one of the more heavily advertised vineyard so we decided to pay it a visit on our holiday through Wales. The roads to the vineyard were quite tricky at times - narrow lanes (expected in Wales) and some of them were unpaved (unexpected). We visited after the August bank holiday so the place was very quiet and therefore possibly contributed to a rather sterile atmosphere. The man behind the cash register helpfully explained how the tasting works - 35p for each taste of wine, or all 20 for £6.50 (includes 2 non-alcoholic drinks). We decided to try all of them, which consisted of about 10 different country/fruity wines, a few liquers, and two non-alcoholic drinks. If you are really into your red/white/rose wine, this may not be your cup of tea, but if you like country wines there are a few good selections. I did find that most of were too sweet, a couple tasted like cough medicine, and their mead wasn't great. We sat on a table with plastic table cloth, surrounded by tourist leaflets for local attractions and a lot Welsh products the vineyard was selling, including Welsh whiskey, Welsh ale, Welsh cider, and other Welsh gifts and crafts like slate. There is a "Pets Corner" with ducks, chickens, and sheep that can appeal to children (and myself included!). The vineyard is available for walks although it wasn't made clear to us at the time so we did not get the opportunity to walk around. The establishment also serves food but we did not try. Overall, if you are into country wines this would be a fun place for tastings. If you have children this could be appropriate for families. If you are after Welsh souvenirs this is a handy place to pick up various gifts in one go (at a slight premium). If you are into your white/red/rose wine, I wouldn't recommend it. read more

We 'tried' to visit on Sunday 21st Sept. After making a special trip over 100 miles we were looking forward to some wine tasting followed by Sunday lunch. I'd called some days earlier to try and book for Saturday 20th, only to be told it was full. I told the person I was speaking to that I would double check that we could make Sunday 21st and confirm back. After checking with others that Sunday would still work I then emailed the link on their website to confirm the booking for the Sunday. We arrived Sunday morning at 11.30, as was confirmed in my email. Having been born in the village I was looking forward to the visit immensely which is why we made a special trip. We also took an Aunt, who was due to go into hospital the following week, to help take her mind off an upcoming operation. We were 'greeted' by a gentleman who told us there was no booking. He insisted that we should have telephoned to make the booking. We soon realised that trying to have a polite conversation with him and explain that we had both telephoned and emailed the establishment was pointless. He had no intention of listening and adhered to 'the customer is an idiot who will only understand you if you shout at them' school of hospitality. After several attempts to politely explain to him the situation, it was obvious he had no intention of listening to anything we said. To say he then became aggressive is an understatement. Being shouted at was bad enough, but things took a turn for the worse when he suddenly lost control of himself and started screaming 'F**k off, F**k off, get out of here'. When we asked him for his name, he proudly unformed us his name was above the door on the way out. To our astonishment we realised he was the licensee and most likely the person in charge??!! As his accent was foreign, and there were 2 names on the 'Licensed to sell' notice, we assumed the gentleman in question was Mr Denilson Martinelli Mattivi. Assuming it was Mr Mattivi, he's some piece of work, and if you're someone who enjoys the whole 'Fawlty Towers' vibe where customers are shouted at and abused then this is certainly the place for you. Maybe the saddest thing about the whole episode was that the young staff, who tried to calm him down, whilst apologising to us for his actions, were shouted at and told to 'Get back in the kitchen and do what I pay you to do'. Watching a young girl quake as she asks her boss 'Please don't behave like this' left a nasty taste. Now that we've calmed down a little, we're almost able to laugh about it given the farcical nature of the man's behaviour, but the waste of £50 worth of petrol to make a special trip, and the thought of what the young staff have to endure means it still leaves a very bitter taste. Not all was lost, we managed to squeeze into Carew Inn at the last moment and enjoyed a great lunch. read more