Went here solo on a Thursday afternoon. The woman serving the wine was very pleasant and personable. The tasting room is a little run-down but not horrible. The view is excellent from the tasting room and outside. The wine is tasty and reasonably priced. I would recommend.
We shot a movie here in early April and it went great! The location is beautiful, both inside and out, and the staff/ownership team is amazing. They did everything they could to help us out and made sure our experience was as good as possible. We also stayed in the airbnb which was lovely. The view from the balcony is a great way to wake up. The wine is great too, we ended up buying a whole bunch and celebrating the end of our production in style.Highly recommended as a bed and breakfast or just a day trip to try the wine!
We went to Benmarl Winery yesterday for a tasting. This was our first NY vineyard to try. Both of us did not have high expectations but the place really surprised us, especially me with the red wines. The 2012 cabernet franc and the 2012 merlot were both very good. Our wine tasting host was such a nice person, we struck up several nice conversations throughout the time we were there. I wish I could remember her name but I know she was originally from Brooklyn and worked full time at the CIA. The more expensive wine 2012 Proprietor's Reserve was not as good as the cabernet franc. The pourings were very generous, we probably had at least 2 glasses of wine by the time we finished. So much for visiting another winery after that, we were finished! We ended up purchasing 8 bottles of wine an got a nice discount on the tasting along with a bottle discount. Looking forward to tasting another vineyards in the area on the next trip.
I stayed at the Benmarl Winery and B&B with my boyfriend last weekend- our experience FAR exceeded anything we expected! The winery staff is friendly and knowledgable, you'll feel like part of the family. Best part to me was the view- nothing like sipping a delicious red wine while gazing out onto views of the Hudson Valley from high above. Definitely recommend staying a night or two at the B&B ... Kathleen provides all these special goodies like cheese and cookies and treats, not to mention she makes an insanely yummy breakfast- anything you want, all with super fresh organic ingredients. We left feeling so relaxed and renewed! Highly recommend.
When I first heard about their sangria festival I was ecstatic. Only to find out when I was there that it was more of a tasting opposed to a festival. There were supposed to be "7" tastings when in reality it was only 5. The other two were merlot and chardonnay and at a sangria "festival" that is not really what you want to sample. Plus the sangria was not even that good. I love sangria of all kinds of flavors and I only liked one flavor there.If I wanted a pitcher of sangria I would have to pay $35 and they always were running out of pitchers. The winery itself was not well maintained nor did it seem pretty clean. As for the bathrooms... well there was porta potties that either were disgusting or had no toilet paper in them.I was just disappointed in the whole festival. I thought the band that they had there was good along with the food but, that is not the main reason I went there. I went to enjoy sangria and well, that did not happen at all.
We've been here several times already and it's always a great trip. It's a nice drive up to the area, the wines are great and the views are awesome. Have even been there in the winter and it was a very nice memorable experience. One of my favorite local escapes.
Made a quick stop on my way home for thanksgiving and picked up half a case for the family. They moved the tasting room to take advantage of the great view which was nice to see. The events year round are also fun so be sure to sign up for their newsletters to find out when they are. They also offer discounts of half a case or more and have a wine club. No charge to walk around and check out the wine cellar which is where my wife and I did part of our engagement photo shoot.
My fiance and I recently spent our anniversary at Benmarl and cannot provide enough praise to the lovely winery, gorgeous room and wonderful people. Highly recommend to all. Cheers
We got to experience this winery for a full weekend as we stayed at the bnb. The first evening we attended a wine tasting. Brittany was very knowledgeable about the wines and created an informal and friendly atmosphere. There were a half dozen customers while we were there but she managed to give all of us personal attention. We ended up purchasing four bottles to take home. The grounds are lovely with a view overlooking the Hudson and rolling hills and trees. The Sangria festival was lively and a lot of fun. There was a band and flamenco dancers and six (I think) types of Sangria to sample and more for purchase. We especially liked the Classic and the Berry. There was lots of room to spread out chairs and blankets to look at the scenery and enjoy the view while listening to the music and enjoying the sangria. The food was fantastic - including wood fired pizza from their own custom designed, hand-built oven. We will definitely be back!
Lovely atmosphere. Absolutely beautiful view. Delicious wines. The staff is friendly and knowledgable. Go there to relax and enjoy everything.