Their tasting is very expensive and even if you go with a coupon (groupon) it is still a rip off. the "pours" are more like sips, and I could not taste enough wine to figure out if I liked it. There were no wines worth buying and I'm not that fussy!! In addition to the small pours, we had to pick only a few wines from the list (even though we paid a lot of money for a tasting!) so my husband and I tried different wines. As a result, we couldn't really agree on wines and buy a bunch of bottles like we normally do. That really ruined the enjoyment for me. Wouldnt you rather discuss the wines with the person you go with? Their set up is not conducive to that . So it was their loss, as their nasty stingy policies just hurt them in the end. I totally believe others who said they gave them plastic glasses and so forth, as I agree, we were shuffled in and out in a very unfriendly manner (again, considering my friends and I dropped a LOT of money on this place.) Not worth a return trip. I'll go somewhere else, where I can taste the wine!!
My husband and I wanted to visit Basignani after discovering how much we love their Monkton Moon wine. The place itself is a bit cramped and musty looking, but all of their wines are superb! We had Danny helping us, and we both adored his gruff charm and knowledge about everything under the sun. We decided to join their wine club, and we will definitely be back!
Found a coupon for Basignani on Groupon, so thought we'd try it. What fun! Quaint winery tucked in the woods of Baltimore County, MD. Wines were delicious. We had one staff member dedicated to us throughout our taste testing. Kristen was friendly and knowledgeable. Impressed with the range of events they offer all year around. They do push their cases club a little hard, but it would have been a good deal if we drank wine more regularly.
We headed to the winery for the Friday movie night. Their brick oven pizza is SO delicious and it was fun tasting all of the different wines. We got a bottle of their Riesling to enjoy during the movie. Overall, it was a fun evening with great wine and pizza!
My wife and I purchased a Living Social for Basignani, which gave us eight tastings (four paired with cheeses) and a bottle of wine for $20. A sweet deal considering that they gave all of the voucher-holders the most expensive bottle in the house (a $23 bottle of the Lorenzino Reserve) to bring home.The wines were okay--nothing too spectacular. The Lorenzino was the best offering, with some of the sweeter dessert wines following. The Riesling--a hard wine to screw up--was particularly unappetizing--way too sweet! (To the wine server's credit, he did call it a dessert wine.)The cheeses were pretty tasty, but when I asked where they came from, the attendant had no idea. He guessed that they were local, but he couldn't verify the claim. He went on to claim that Basignani makes the best pizza in the state, but we were not able to try it on this trip. Speaking of the attendants, while they were not too knowledgeable or helpful about the wine selection, they were super friendly and easy to talk to. They weren't snobs or know-it-alls by any stretch of the imagination, which made the experience more enjoyable. They gave my wife an extra pour, so I give them an extra positive shout-out.Parking is a mess. In the winter, feel free to go up the drive that is marked with the sign "truck entrance"; otherwise, you will find yourself winding around the vineyard on a one-way dirt path, only to find that there is no parking in the main lot.Oh, and although the website and the signs outside the tasting room state the "no pet" rule, they have two dogs on the premises.
My husband and I recently visited and have mixed feelings about the visit. On the bright side, we did like the wines we tasted. Our wine tasting fee ($5 I think) allowed us to select 6 wines so we each chose different wines to get a diverse sampling. Having visited many wineries in Maryland and Virginia, the wines were pretty good. As someone who makes sangria at home, I did enjoy their bottled sangria and my husband really enjoyed Eric's Big Zin - I actually enjoyed some of the sangria last night. The grounds outside are nice and offer ample seating to enjoy your wine and take in the sun. On the not so bright side, the tasting room is a bit cluttered and has dogs walking around. I am allergic to dogs so did not enjoy the one dog that kept coming over to rub up on my leg. Also, the wine tasting pours were on the small side. If they declutter, get rid of the dogs and offer more substantial pours, I think the place could be great. They offer brick oven pizza/movie nights on Fridays during the summer so the place definitely has potential.
I used a Living Social to go to Basignani and had a good time. We tried 8 wines, 4 of which were chosen for us and paired with cheese, and 4 of which we were able to choose. The deal also included a bottle of wine to take home. I assumed we would get one of the cheaper ones ($11) but we were given one of the most expensive, a $23 Reserve. The people working there were very friendly, even if they weren't the most knowledgeable (neither am I.) The tasting only lasted about 25 minutes for us, but we enjoyed it. I did not have any issues parking as some other people have mentioned. I could see how it could be muddy, but we went there on a snowy day and were fine. Maybe we just got lucky.
Went for the wine and cheese pairing. Had Danny as our wine host. Gave info on the best way to enjoy the wine. Very personable. Pizza smelled good. Live music. Started to rain so we left but bought half a case of wine. Will go back again.
This was my first time going to a wine tasting so I really didn't know what to expect. We had a groupon deal for wine tasting with cheese plate. The person serving the wine only started working there a few months ago, so didn't really know much about wine or the process. That was a disappointment since I think it would have been interesting to learn more about what makes their wine special. I didn't like most of the wine I tasted because it was too dry and bitter (which I've been told is typical of Maryland wine), but did end up buying a bottle just for keepsake. I think they could have shown a slight more effort with the cheese plate, like for example serve it in anything else than just a pixe paper plate covered in plastic wrap. It consisted of a few slices of 3-4 different cheese, one strawberry, 4 grapes. The nice thing was receiving free wine glasses as part of our groupon deal. We had a good deal w/ groupon, but I don't think it would have been worth it to pay the full price considering the overall experience.
Went there 11/24 for a tasting. Wines are very good, the guy giving our tasting was very informative, is part of that family so knows all the history which was interesting. One the oldest wineries in MD I believe.The tasting room is charming I suppose, but looks like very little has been done to it in a coupla decades. I suppose they see the bottles with 10+ years of dust on them as a feature not a fault. To each his own I suppose.The grounds of the place could use a little help but probably looks a lot better when everything is green.I suspect they have a very loyal following, but it could be 10x better with not much invested.They also have good rosemary infused olive oil.But again....the wine was great with a wide selection.I put average only because the place could really use an overhaul on aesthetics, but I suspect that may be on purpose.