I recently took one of those bus tours of Texas wineries with friends last month. Tara Vineyard was our first stop. I instantly fell in love with it - the charm of it - quite unpretentious. The tour they gave us was so much more in-depth and natural. Learned a lot! We enjoyed a great meal while there - so fresh and tasty they should serve dinner! They already serve breakfast, check out the beautiful home (Tara Inn) with rooms for enjoying an overnight stay at the vineyard out in the country. We walked around the grounds, so dress comfortably. There were all kinds of farmyard animals and they showed us some of the equipment used to make the wine. I purchased two bottles of the Texas Twang. It was a little sweeter than I usually like but it had such a great flavor. I also purchased a bottle of Orange Muscat Dessert. Out of the 3 locations we visited, this was our favorite. Check it out! read more

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My fiancé proposed to me at Tara Vineyard and Winery in Athens, Texas, and it was nothing short of a dream come true. We originally booked a cabin, but after running into an unexpected wasp issue, the staff immediately upgraded us to the estate--the stunning white building in the middle of the vineyard. It was absolutely breathtaking, and we ended up having the entire estate to ourselves. Truly once-in-a-lifetime. Also dog friendly!! Our sweet doggies had a blast. Every single staff member went above and beyond to make our stay unforgettable. They were warm, accommodating, and genuinely cared about our experience. The chef's food was phenomenal--hands down some of the best food we've ever had, not just "good for a winery," but genuinely incredible. A special shoutout to Kevin, the bartender, who took it upon himself to come back after the proposal to take photos for us. That small act of kindness meant the world and helped us capture memories we'll treasure forever. The estate itself is unbelievably beautiful, peaceful, and romantic. Between the vineyard views, the exceptional service, and the unforgettable proposal, this place will forever hold a special place in our hearts. If you're considering staying here, celebrating something special, or just want an extraordinary experience--do it. Tara Winery exceeded every expectation, and we couldn't be more grateful. read more

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My wife and I tried Tara for the first time for Mother's Day. The atmosphere and ambiance is great. The service was ok. The food was disappointing, we both ordered the French toast. We considered splitting a plate as we normally do for breakfast out. However, thankfully we each ordered an entree. Each plate included three small triangles of toast and a spoon of fruit. We each had a mimosa. The meal for two was $147 with the included gratuity. We both left hungry and shocked at the price for what we received. Very disappointed read more

The communication with this business is nonexistent. I've tried sending email, leaving multiple voice mails all to no avail. They appear not to want to earn money. read more

Great place to spend an afternoon wine tasting. Beautiful property and comfy couches to enjoy outside! We had the sausage boards and pizza. Both were very good. We were happy they had a few sweet wines for us to try. We bought a couple of bottles to enjoy and at home. read more

My husband and I came here for New Year's Eve. It was our first time here and we will definitely be back! They served us a three course meal with wine pairings. We liked one of the red wines so much that we ended up buying a bottle. For dinner they served scallops as an appetizer and my husband said they were the best he's ever had. For the main course we had Tenderloin of Beef topped with Bacon and Blue Cheese Crumble, served with Yukon Gold Mash and Tri-Color Carrots. It was absolutely delicious! For dessert we had a Chocolate Mousse Tart with Orange Zest and Chocolate Shavings. We cleared all three plates! Looking forward to going back in a more casual setting to try more of their wines and pizza! read more

Beautiful winery. Loved the tastings and the food. Had so much fun that we came back the next day for more. Pet friendly (Bagel loved it and made friends with the staff). Thanks to the awesome staff and cook for treating us so well. read more

Tara Vineyard & Winery - Bagel approved !!! - New American Near Me - Athens, Texas

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We have wanted to try Tara Vineyard for some time now, and this evening we can check that off the list. What a beautiful place! When you drive in, you see a beautiful big house (Old Murchison house). The vineyard is right beside the road as you make your way to the restaurant. This night, the weather was nothing less than perfect and it wasn't crowded either. Kim helped us select a couple of different wines, which were great. She even let us sample a few so we got what we wanted. The menu for food is simple, but has several options. Our party had the ribeye, grilled chicken, salmon and a meat and cheese board along with bruschetta. The wait was a little long for the food , but we'll worth it when it was delivered. I had the ribeye (medium rare), that came with asparagus, smashed potatoes and grilled Brussel sprouts. See pic, it was amazing! Everyone else enjoyed their selections too. If you've never been to Tara Vineyard in Athens, Texas, you need to. Go get Full read more

Tara Vineyard & Winery - New American Near Me - Athens, Texas

This review is a 4 star for something's and a 3 for others. 4 star- we stayed at the inn which was very nice. It was 102 degrees and the a/c worked well. Rooms were clean and it was nice and peaceful. As you move up to the winery the chief was new and man did chef Matthew do a great job. The food was great and it was nice for him to come out many times and check in use. The wine was good as well. Bought some bottles to bring home. Plenty of tables and chairs and fire pits. The servers and service were great. 2.5-3 star part- as some of the other reviews talked about, dog hair on the floors, spider webs, lots of stuff. Everywhere. It just needs a good cleaning. read more

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Excellent wine & experience. Bread was excellent with couples tasting & service was excellent. read more

Tara Vineyard & Winery - New American Near Me - Athens, Texas

Thank you Austin so much for the amazing meal. You made this experience so great for us. We came to celebrate my best friends birthday and he did not disappoint. On top of the amazing wine, we will definitely be back! read more

Tara Vineyard & Winery - Blueberry lemon cheese cake - New American Near Me - Athens, Texas

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Absolutely beautiful! My boyfriend and I came here for the first time on Valentine's Day Weekend and enjoyed a beautiful dinner with excellent wine pairings. We are definitely looking forward to bringing our friends and family here when they come to visit. Although a little pricey the view and staff made the experience great! read more

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Cheese tray was great. Sage Curd cheese from England. Salad had too much dressing. Get on the side. It's good but drenched. Sourdough bread was TO DIE FOR! Omg Wine tasting: Decada - blend - eh kinda smoky Montepulciano - good! Med. body. Easy drinking 7.5 Twelve Oaks - good! 7.75 Carriage House - warm spicy. Heavy body. 8 Mouvedre - full bodied. Spanish. Dark fruit. A little sour. 6.5 Syrah. 9! Um. Mm. Good. My favorite read more

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We love Tara. The wine was wonderful, food was great and atmosphere was amazing. Our server Kim went above and beyond. Thank you for a great time. read more

Anytime I've been, the place seems run down and it's practically empty. I'd say the food is good l, but I can never good service to actually bring me anything to actually try. The place is kind of junky. read more

Tara has a lovely view. I would recommend it highly as a nice place to have a drink while overlooking the rolling hills and vineyards, and the "main house", which is apparently available for events. Tara also has the friendly innocence of a small town going for it--the servers are young and local, and excited about their job. They are happy to answer any questions, and lack the pretention you find in Dallas. The food is all right. Since you're there, and you have to have something to soak up all of that wine (which is okay--again--it's about the view), you will have to eat. I'd say stop after the charcuterie. Ours was quite meat-heavy, with 3 ample quantities of meats, 1 cheese (which they should have served with a small, table-sized chainsaw--it was so hard it was basically all rind...), a few mini-pickles and some nice spicy mustard. I had to ask for a bread or cracker. If you decide to proceed to dinner, you may be disappointed at the quality compared to the cost. I had the flounder which wasn't very flavorful and I can't say the sauce (basically a marinara) was the best idea. At least it was light, so I had no calorie guilt. The asparagus was grilled, and as sometimes happens, a bit over-charred and dry. Did I mention the view? Lovely. Worth a stop for that. read more

Tara Vineyard & Winery - Looks a little better than it is, sadly. But what a view...! - New American Near Me - Athens, Texas

Pros: server was really sweet. That's it. Here are the cons: it's not a winery the way you imagine one. Looks like someone decided to take an old house with an old patio, and call it one. Dilapidated and old patio with mis-matched ripped pillows for seating and wrought iron chairs. Flies and dogs everywhere. And that brings dog shit, which smells and brings on more flies. The breakfast special was actually decent, but not worth the drive. Which bring us to the fact that it's in the middle of nowhere. read more

We drove all the way from Dallas after looking at review but it was such a huge disappointment. It's a rip off, wine is decent and the price of wine is okay but food is completely rip off. We ordered salmon which was half cooked and we ordered steak medium rare which came out well done and it was one of the worst food I've eaten and the price is sky rocketing. Not recommended at all. read more

The place is gorgeous and the wine was good. But it's such a shame that the place is so horribly ran. The staff and owner were so rude. I asked what the owner recommended and her response was "they are all Good, I made them" in the most annoyed voice. Don't spend your money here! Go to Castle Oaks where the wine is good and the staff is so friendly! read more

I just drove up to this place out of curiosity one Sunday afternoon. I had heard of this place for over a year, & had known there were various events held here (New Years Eve parties, etc), but something else always came up so that I never got to see the place. The house on the hill overlooking the entrance is amazing! I see how it got called "Tara" (it looked like the house from the age & setting of "Gone With The Wind"). Further behind the house was another building (a barn, "brewery", or the business building & event venue). It was a lot further down the road (from heading northwest on 175, turn right on 3918 or "Pickens", drive east for half a mile past Athens Life Fellowship, then turn left on 3914, & head north about half a mile, Tara Winery is on the left) than I expected. It seemed like a neat place for events (parties, wedding receptions, etc)! But now I'm looking forward to some kind of event there so that I can actually experience it from the inside! read more

Tara Vineyard & Winery - The house & vineyard - New American Near Me - Athens, Texas

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Went for the TAPAS wine and food pairing. It was really good! Of course the wines were wonderful and surprising when paired with certain food. The choice in food was also really good! Kim was so friendly and so helpful along with Austin. Definitely will go back for another TAPA and for a dinner. Highly recommend! read more

Found this place from a friends recommendation. It was amazing!!! Staff was super awesome and friendly and the food was OMG. We came as a group and shared fresh sourdough bread with dipping sauce and truffle fries. Yum. Then my wife and I had a salad to share before dinner. It was big and was grilled with amazing toppings/dressing on it. Super good. As we didn't know the salad would be that big we each had a meal as well. She had the burger and fries and I had the lobster ravioli. Each was top notch. Last the chef and waitress helped us light a fire outside and we sat there and had wine, amazing s'mores, and an overall great time. Wine was nice but the food, wow. This is now saved as a favorite on my list. Oh when you find the turn, by the big house, keep going up the hill. You'll see it pop up in a second. read more

If its one thing the Dallas area is not know for its wine but this place is a hidden gem out by the Cedar Creek Lake area! Its technically in Athens which is right near Gun Barrel City and Cedar Creek so generally the same area. Its located off Hwy 175. As far as winery's go, its not going to be Napa or Fredericksburg but its a great little place to stop and enjoy a glass or bottle of red or white with some friends. They have a nice little tasting area and some outside seating that overlooks the vineyard and also a B&B you can stay in. I believe it has 4 or 5 different rooms to rent out. The only drawback I had for this place was the seating outside. I would have like something a little better than your typical black metal chairs and table. But if your in the area and looking for a good glass of wine this is a good place to stop! For a moment you will forget you are even in the Dallas area! Cheers Justin read more

Tara Vineyard & Winery - Great spot to grab a glass of Vino if your ever in the Athens/Cedar Creek Lake area. @ Tara Vineyards - New American Near Me - Athens, Texas

WARNING: DISCRIMINATORY WINERY To start off, my group arrived at the winery to check In for the campsite around 2:45. We sat at a table for over 45 minutes also called the owner of the hipcamp twice and he did not answer the phone call either time. I tried to leave a voicemail but his voicemail box was full. We finally got tired out waiting to check in so after that 45 minutes we left. After settling down our group decides to go back up to winery. This is where it really goes downhill fast. We sit down for about 10 minutes and no one comes to greet us. I walk in to the building where the hostess is and politely let her know that we had just sat down and wasn't sure if she had seen us. She notified me that they were printing off more menus for us and she would be there shortly. Once she arrived to the table about 20 minutes after that conversation, she lets our table know that the winery is not ready for us yet and that they serve a different style then most restaurants. That they like to serve "slow and steady" so it might take a long time for them to be ready for our table. Mind you there were only 4 other tables there and each table only had three-five people and the staff couldn't even bring us menus! I was very shocked but I tell her okay and ask for menus once again. She tells me she will bring them shortly. Finally after another 30 minutes goes by, I look online at the menu and tell her to just bring me a bottle of the blueberry blanc. Again she tells me it may take a while but I agree and let her know I want it anyways. No more than one minute after I asked for my bottle, the table next to me asks for the SAME bottle of wine. They receive their bottle in under two minutes. Way BEFORE us! Even though we had asked her for the bottle first. At last, we realized some type of discrimination was happening against us. My friend in our group approached our waitress Carly with a question. "What style of serving do you guys use because if I understood that, maybe I could understand why that table right next to us got the bottle of wine before us even though we had asked first." The waitress Carly snapped back at her and told her that her question "was only prolonging the process". How RUDE! We were all shocked about how rude she was. Over an hour goes by since we sat down and we finally get our first bottle of wine. We still don't have menus but started noticing that the 3 tables that arrived after us had all been greeted within 5 minutes; MUCH quicker then we had been greeted! They even got menus (which we still did not have). Again Carly comes by and I ask her for charcuterie board (that I had to look online at the menu for) and another bottle of the same wine; I then asked her if I could book a reservation for a wine tour. I had messaged the owner of the hipcamp several days beforehand and after three day's of asking, he finally advised me to talk to Terri about booking a tour. Again the owner was no help and didn't seem to care about us wanting a tour or our satisfaction with our camping experience. Anyways, Carly lets me know that she will send Terri over to schedule it but that they weren't doing anymore tours for Saturday and that they would be available on Sunday. Once again, thirty minutes rolls by and Terri never shows up. Once again, I completely get ignored about my inquiry. At this point I'm so frustrated with the service, the discrimination, the bad attitude, and the lack of help, that we ask to cancel our order so we can just leave. The only difference between our table and the rest was that we were the only people of color in the entire place. I hate to even imagine that happening in this day and age but I witnessed it happen to my friends in my group. We talked to the campers next to us about their experience at the winery and they said it was completely different and that they got served right away. Never in my life would I imagine going to a restaurant, let alone a winery, and being the last served, getting no menus, being disrespected by our waitress, and having every other table served ahead of us. To watch my friend cry at night because the waitress was so obviously rude and discriminatory, was heartbreaking to witness. I will NEVER spend another dime at this discriminatory place and I advise everyone else who reads this to do the same. read more

I rented a cabin here for a couple nights. It was pretty great! A nice 4 course meal looking out over the vineyard was pretty nice. The steak bruschetta appetizer with a Montepulciano was a definite winner. I even bought a bottle of their Decada red blend. My server Chance was knowledgable, helpful and friendly. Thanks to the whole of Tara for a lovely stay! read more

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All I can say is wow...we were headed to Athens Boathouse & they were closed, so detoured to Tara at the last minute. Fresh farm to market, everything was outstanding. Had grilled Shishito peppers for an appetizer. Great Caesar salad, grilled rainbow trout & grilled shrimp & pasta. Cabernet was excellent. Wonderful ambiance, attentive service & excellent food. Highly recommend, tough to find this level restaurant in the Athens area. Charming restaurant with a beautiful view. Absolutely loved it. read more

So first of all, the wine and cheese board were great. The cheese board is much much larger than I thought when I ordered. So this was my first time away from my baby and it was a last minute decision. So I would say I was dressed terribly, my hair was a mess, i had no makeup and no jewelry except my watch and wedding ring. Well in central TX nobody cares as long as you are paying. I think when we arrived I had a certain level of expectations for how the service should be considering all the wineries I have visited. When we arrived we were the only people wearing masks. I explained to the male hostess and my mother in law that it was mainly to protect everybody else because we live in a high populated area with soaring cases. I made it very clear that I don't want to be around people so we found a spot away from the tables at the fire pit. When a female server came up with our cheese board I asked her if they had a little table for it because we really wanted to stay where we were sitting. She basically ignored the request and took our cheese board to a table surrounded by others. So I saw a little table and grabbed it and grabbed the cheese board and corrected the situation myself. We noticed the group of men next to us had somebody getting their fire going. So I thought this was part of the service. I told the same server that we would also like a campfire because it was getting chili outside. We (not the server) started building the fire and realized we needed kindling. So she brought us wine labels, placed them to the side, lit it and walked away. They burned up quickly and left a weird smell. So then they come and ask us about the smell because it was bothering people. I told them what was up and asked for some help with the fire. The guy at the hostess stand brought us kindling which was helpful and I'm not sure why the wine labels were even used without any kindling. Then we had an issue getting a lighter. Anyway, we finally got the fire going. I was pretty annoyed with the service but their excuse was that they were busy (didn't look like it but maybe they needed more staff considering it was a Saturday evening). Plus maybe it was busy for East TX. Then to make matters worse I confused the unhelpful server for a helpful one and had a miscommunication since this new server obviously had no idea what I was talking about. I did apologize to her for the confusion because it was really dark outside. There was also an awkward moment when one of the female servers started talking about this trump train she saw. (I think she thought we were trump supporters) i cut her off immediately and told her that we do not support trump. And for context this was the day they announced Biden as president elect. It just seemed really inappropriate for a server to bring up anything political when she didn't know anything about our political views. The last thing I wanted to hear about was trump and his supporters. So the overall Vibe would have been so much better if we would have had better service. It felt like if you don't look like you have money then you don't get the service which is insane because not everybody is pretentious and flash their money. We still tipped well and plan on trying this place again in the future. But if you are used to receiving quality service make sure you get your Gucci bag and all the jewelry lol i hope I am wrong about that but it was the vibe. It really did seem to just be the one female blonde server. So I think she may have set the overall disappointing tone. My suggestion to the owner is to have extra staff on Saturdays, have your staff ask whether we have been there before or not so we can better understand how things work, and maybe some fire starting service or some sort of sign that you need to do it yourself and bring your own stuff. The aesthetics were great until you go to the bathroom. It is a tiny bathroom in the back with a curtain. The bathroom didn't go with the rest of the place. It was a little odd. We will be back to try again now that we have a little better understanding of the place and I will update my review. read more

I was part of a group of 16 and we had nothing less of an amazing time. Our table was ready when we arrived, our waitress, Kim, was able to recommend some outstanding wines, and all the food was incredible. We sat outdoors, and it was a little chilly that evening, so Kim even started a fire in the closest fire pit for our party. Such a great experience and can't wait to go back again! read more

We were not impressed and battled flies and knots while trying to drink our glass of wine. The wine I had at $10 was certainly not very good. We did not eat as the insects were terrible and we won't return. read more

My husband and I decided to do something a little different for my birthday this year so we made a "day trip" to Athens, TX. Unfortunately, bipolar Texas weather kicked in and it was pretty flooded. We had high hopes of visiting the Farmers Market but only one vendor toughed it out. However....on to the review. While making decisions on where to go for our day trip...naturally when I mentioned there is a TARA Winery my husband decided that is where we should go (Because on Tara's Birthday Tara Vineyard and Winery just makes sense.) Unfortunately this was naturally off season, so there were no grapes on the vine but it was still rather lovely to look at. The place was kind of empty (but given the weather- expected. There were cars out front and it looked as is someone else was having a party there later (décor was set about in one of the rooms.) But it was all rather nice décor and well maintained. However, I will knock a star off because service wasn't really all that wonderful. We were there quite some time before someone approached us- however once we were handed over to do the wine tasting, the lovely lady assisting us was great. However, outside of her and after our tasting no one continued to try to assist us (...had we been offered I would have liked to have taken a tour or go see the Inn and tour it if possible...or maybe see the rest of the building, or stay and have a bottle of wine and a nice charcuterie board) but we were pretty much invisible once we purchased our wine. So we just left after a VERY short visit and went home. Would I return? Ehhhh...possibly if we went with a group of friends and actually got to sit and eat and tour, maybe then our service would be more appealing. Otherwise...probably not. I would much rather go to a winery closer that provides a bit better attentive service. read more

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This hidden gem was the perfect weekend getaway, due to COVID we were the only guests the service was impeccable the staff was super friendly the lady who served us breakfast was super nice and the food was delicious can't wait to come back !!!! read more

Worked here for a couple weeks and thought I could help them clean the place up, but was unsuccessful because they refused to give me my paycheck after leaving just myself and the cook alone all weekend. Just fair warning...the wine is fine, but do not eat any food except for their frozen pizza! The dogs hangout in the kitchen where the raw meats and food are being prepared and the closest sink to wash anything is the dish washing station. They do not wash there hands or change out knife, and let the dogs jump up and eat the trimmings from the steak. Please just be careful eating the food. Hopefully they read this review and address the situation immediately. read more

We have been here twice, once for dinner once for an overnight trip where we stayed in the inn. Both experiences were great. The wines were all very good and will far surpass your expectations for an out of the way north Texas vineyard. The food at the restaurant is also really great (try the burger as well as the limoncello cheese cake, we had steaks on the overnight trip and they were perfectly cooked as well). The service was phenomenal-the staff is all super friendly and very knowledgeable about the food/wine/property in general. They take great pride in their product. Bonus points for catching the overnight trip was an anniversary and sending us out dessert with anniversary chocolate garnish! As for the Inn..... just amazing. Such a cool old house with lots of space with plenty of rooms. Take time to explore all the details. The rooms were clean, the beds comfy and amazing views from the balconies in all directions. 10/10 would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for a relaxing/romantic getaway. read more

Way overpriced. The wine is okay not great and the service was unacceptable. The one waiting on us told us she couldn't serve us until she settled 4 other tables. When my son was playing with the token basket, we overheard that we were trying to steal their tokens. Very upsetting being that I corrected my sons behavior right away. When we left after getting the tasting which came with a complimentary glass, the lady tried to take our glass and I corrected her as we had gotten a tasting and it came with the glass included. read more

Made reservations here for our anniversary dinner. We ate on the patio. Husband had the filet and I had the salmon. They had some artisan bread and olive oil which was delicious. Both of our entrees were cooked perfectly. I loved the Brussels sprouts with mine. For dessert we chose a Carmel gelato with a shot of expresso which was awesome. Service was very good. Even spoke with the owner a bit. She was very nice. We chose the blanc de noir and it was good also. Love that we have a place like this close to home! They own the Athens brewery and they also have great food and a great selection of wonderful beers to choose from. read more

Great venue to sit back have a large selection of wines and usually some live music. They also have food and a bed and breakfast.

I'm giving a 2 stars because the place is beautiful and the flatbread and burger was great. The service was lacking any sort of customer service, so the experience could have been way better. We ordered the flatbreads as an appetizer which took about 45 minutes. I ordered a Cesar salad for my entree which was $9 and was far from an entree. It came on a side plate and they forgot the croutons. When asked about the salad as an entree the server was very blunt about it being the entree and was annoyed I asked for the croutons. We were the ONLY table in the place on a holiday weekend and she was more interested in selling us wine then providing any type of great experience. We met the owner who was nice and one house attendant who was also very happy and willing to take group pictures of us. But that still doesn't help improve the total experience. read more

Tara Vineyard & Winery - Entree Cesar salad for $9, on a side plate...not worth it and forgot the croutons. - New American Near Me - Athens, Texas

Never disappoints! Really nice dry red wine selections. The burger with truffle fries and the flatbread pizza are amazing. Love the atmosphere and the great experience. Staff is engaging and really accommodating. We loved it! read more

WOW can't believe all the good reviews. We must have gone on an off day. The wine was just okay but the service was really really bad. We could not believe the owner. She was a grump lady. Even when leaving never said a word. Asked her were the restroom was and she didn't even look up from her very important paperwork and pointed. This was the owner we could not believe. Most of us will never go back, there are to many winery's around to put up with people that don't want your service. read more

Went there for my husband's birthday. Really liked the wine and the food. It's rustic and laid back. The dogs from the Vinyard came to hang out. The chef prepared our steaks as we asked. I usually don't care for Brussel sprouts but they were great! The staff was attentive and made our time fun. There were several things on the menu that I wanted to try but there was no way we could try them all. We ate outside on the patio because the weather was nice. Inside the winery is charming...will go back and eat inside another time. It was a fun night! read more