Not sure how to feel about this winery, but after the second winery we visited after Miramonte, I…read moreprobably would not visit Miramonte again. I decided to do a wine tasting for my birthday with 2 other guests and drove from LA to Temecula on a Sunday.
Arriving to the estate was easy, there's plenty of free parking spots surrounding the winery. It's quite an uphill stroll and some stairs are involved, but you definitely get a workout in. They have a covered patio area of tables that are either reserved or you put your name down to get a table on the left side of the winery, the middle/terrace area is usually used for private parties/events such as a bridal shower or birthday party, where there are 2 outside bars and sometimes they offer live music, the back area of the estate has a grassy area with small vendors selling jewelry and such with picnic style tables (no shade or cover), a gazebo of seating facing in my opinion, the best part of the view, and a separate location for wine club members. The inside is where you do the actual wine tasting experience, and has high bar stool tables and chairs for seating as well.
Stepping up to the hostess desk, a man who worked there greeted us and very quickly told us what they offer and then walked away (had nothing to do with the check in desk area, so it was a little confusing). The hostesses had the same spiel to give, and I had mentioned it was our first time and we had absolutely no idea how to even begin a wine tasting experience. The explanations were rushed and basically told us to figure it out. We walked away towards the inside/outside terrace of the winery and were stuck walking around for 5 minutes not knowing where to go. We stopped by one of the outside bars and asked for help, the bartender told us we could start our wine tasting experience inside. Now was that so hard to help us navigate where we're supposed to go and what we're supposed to do? Not everything should be explained on a script, most of the time hospitality and customer service goes a longer distance than formalities.
We finally get inside and the women working the front for the tastings were really impersonal and standoffish. We finally start getting a tasting experience going, asked for recommendations and none were received or explained so we just picked random options and had them pour. Throughout the 6 tastings we had, each pour was a different amount, if the bottle they were using was running low, they would pour the last bits of it (barely 2 sips), and hand it over, vs a bottle that was more than full, would get a nice even tasting pour.
We eventually wanted to order food, and before we even started the tasting, we asked for a table and the hostess told us it would be over an hour wait. We put our names down, they called us in the middle of our 2/6 tasting, which was less than 20 min. So we went to our table and kept having to go back inside one by one to taste our different wines, as we were at a table now and not just doing the tasting experience inside. Food was great, service at the table was also great.
Afterwards we left our table and walked towards the gazebo area and sat down by the view. The most enjoyable part of our day just taking in the atmosphere. On our way out, we wanted to experience a different viewpoint which was the bar area with the stools next to the tables of the "reserved/name down" area. I very nicely asked the hostess if we could sit in the empty seats for just a second to finish our last tasting and take in the view, she told us no those are reserved areas and not just open for anyone to sit at as they please. "Sorryyyy those are reserved spaces" with a smile that was clearly not genuine. We understood, dropped our wine glasses off at the bar, and proceeded to our next destination.
All in all, the service here was not great. The entire experience felt absolutely rushed, it was not focused on the wine tasting experience at all, they are more focused on selling tables and getting you to order food. There was no explanations on a quick backstory of the wines we were interested in trying, it was just like "which one do you want" "*point*" poured it, and just told us to enjoy. I didn't enjoy my time here at all, and I won't be back to visit, as there are many many other lowkey wineries that are not as highly reviewed or popular as this one, and they are a much better experience.