We came at the end of the day and did not do the tour. Tasting only. Had only a few people in line in front of us and waited for a bit of time before spots at the tasting bars were open. Believe the person that did our tasting must have been quite new and unfamiliar with the wines. What we did taste was quite good.
No, you are not getting fine wines, but you do get good wines at a reasonable price. Some, like the Holiday, the Sangria and the May wines, are just fun things to drink at a picnic or a Christmas party. Since they were bought by a Chilean owner they now stock quite a few wines from Chile. Some of them at dirt cheap discounts. We left there with a case of wine for under $105. None of them will be good a year from now, but at those prices you can use them as marinades.
We had a fun tour of the cellars, plus a tasting and we purchased quite a few bottles of wine. The wine glasses are so pretty and can also be bought. We gave them out as gifts to our friends and children. Enjoy this very, very old winery and its interesting history..
I was here for my Cousin's wedding and it was beautiful! The wine was great and I'm kicking myself for not doing a tour. Their pictures were amazing they were even allowed in the cellar with the big barrels for truely unique photos.
After reading the reviews I decided to take a trip to the Brotherhood Winery since it was just an hour from home. I am not a fan of Brotherwood Wines anyone I have ever tasted was a spit it out experience. However after reading the reviews this sounded like something fun to do on a beautiful Sunday. It was not nice nor was it beautiful. The winery is located behind a shopping center and if you are looking for rows of grapes growing in the sun you will not find that here. What you will find are about 10 rows of grapes, an ugly green prefab metal building and a few old stone buildings. Nothing beautiful about it. The place is very small and on the day we visited it was quite busy. As we walked up to the winery we had to step over a few piles of vomit on the sidewalk and we noticed more than a few people carrying coolers, wine and drinking beer walking towards the winery, interesting. We followed the signs to the desk to purchase tickets for the tour and wine tasting. There was a line but it was not that lengthy with perhaps 20 people in front of us. We got into the line and began to wait, and wait, and wait some more. After 40 minutes I went to the front of the line to see if perhaps we were in the wrong line or something. What I found was this. People were to purchase their tickets then go to one of the tasting bars. There were three small tasting bars with one closed for a "tour". The people selling the tickets were waiting for a spot at the tasting bars to open then selling a ticket and directing the person to the open spot at the tasting bar. People who were at the tasting bars were befuddled about where the tour part was in all of this. It seemed they only had one person giving tours who was out on a tour??? Plan B we get out of line walk around and see the place. Out of line we went. In the building were they sell the tickets there were the 3 tasting bars and a wine store selling the wine. We went outside and there was an area set up where you could buy a glass of wine and they had some entertainment. The problem was this area was filled with people who brought their cooler full of food, beer and wine who occupied every table and there were groups that were rather drunk and acting like they were at a frat party instead of a winery. We proceeded to go into the "gift" shop which had an overwhelming smell of I don't know what...we left the gift shop and decided we would have a bite to eat at the cafe. We went into the cafe and stood in the doorway for about 7 minutes. After no one appeared to seat us or speak with us we decided we had enough. There was absolutely nothing nice about this whole experience and I know there are much nicer, much prettier wineries than this in New York. A tourist trap.
Our tour guide was full of knowledge and gave us great stories and recipes. She took pride in her job and it showed!
My husband and I did the tour and tasting at Brotherhood. Our tour guide was good and entertaining while keeping it just long enough. The grounds and story behind the winery are interesting. The tasting after offered 5 different options. The whole thing lasted about 1.5 hours. Recommended.
There are a number of wineries in the area in Orange County, we found this one online and visited for the tour without tasting. I enjoyed the history, my wife wanted to learn about wine which she feels that she did not. There is a restaurant, Cafe Vinum, on the winery property which is very cute and the food was pretty good. It is worth visiting for lunch. The tour you can probably take or leave.
The oldest Winery in the USA apparently. The tasting was fun, but the wine was not really to our personal taste. Nevertheless, a fun place to visit.
We were looking for a nice, simple diversion. The tour was informative, not too long, not too short. After the history of the winery you meander through the cellar where the giant vats and barrels are. Then the tasting room. All in all, a pleasant hour or so. The restaurant is very good. We had prime rib and the duck. The foie gras was superb. Highly recommend the food.