Barboursville Vineyards

User Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

A terrible dining experience at the Palladio restaurant.

Where to start? First, we called more than two months in advance to make our reservations. We were assured that we would have a seat with a great view, by a window. We specifically asked for that , as we had company in from abroad and wanted them to see some of the Virginia landscape. Upon arriving for our dinner, the host was very short with us. We were early and and he abrubtly explained, "Well, that's when you'll be seated," referring to our reservation. Okay, maybe he was having a bad day. Then we were seated. We were given a lovely table in the back corner of the restaurant, under an air conditioner and in front of an emergency door. We asked about the window seat, and were told this was the best seat they had for us. So, no view, pushed in a corner and very cold under their air conditioner.

If you go, be sure to look at the dining hall to the left of the restaurant. Apparently that is reserved for weddings or banquets or something like that. It's a gorgeous room with windows all facing out to the vineyards and a great view. You will wish you could eat there, but you can't.

The menu was somewhat limited, but easy to customize as you can chose how many courses you want and simply create your own meal. Unfortunately, the quality was only fair to good on any of the items we ordered, with a price that would indicate a higher quality. We had all planned on a three or four course meal, but stopped at two each.

The large bill was especially painful to pay, as the experience left us so unhappy.

In my opinion, if you are looking for a great dining experience and you are willing to pay for it.... avoid the Palladio restaurant. There are many, many other restaurants with a simliar price that have better food and a much better dining experience.

Comment on Review

Y! Updates An Update about your review will be shared via Yahoo! Updates Manage who sees your Updates

Post CommentCancel

User Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Where to start.

Barboursville winery is located in a large, elegant looking estate. It looks impressive and is thankfully good size to accommodate the large number of visitors, especially on the weekends in the Summer time. I've always found the folks here to be very pleasant and the wine not too bad. In my experience the whites tend to be better then the reds, and I would recommend the reserve chardonnay (light, but pleasant), the viognier (not as good as some in the area, but still not bad), the sauvignon blanc (the best I've tasted in Virginia after the SB from Linden), and the pinot grigio (very light; very much in the lighter Italian style). The reds are up and down. I try to stick with the reserve line-up, which tend to have a bit more flavor and better balance. None are what I would call exceptional, but the barbera is surprisingly pleasant, and the cab franc and cab sauvignon are both good efforts. I won't say anything about the sangiovese or nebbiolo, other then I just wish Barboursville would stop trying to make them. In fact, the efforts at Breax winery notwithstanding, I wish Virginia would make it illegal to make nebbiolo. I've yet to try one that didn't make me immediately look for the dump bucket after the first taste.

As for the Octagon meritage red.... the wine is not bad. However, I always have a difficult time when I'm at the winery, especially when I listen to them compare it to some of the great bordeaux houses in France. They're quick to point out that Octagon (at only $40 a pop) is considerably cheaper then the Grand Cru wines from Lafite, Mouton, etc. Of course it is, but qualitatively Octagon is as close to Lafite and Mouton as the dark side of the moon. Furthermore, at least in my experience, you can find better reds (Linden's for instance) for less then what Barboursville charges for the Octagon. Nevertheless, the wine is a pleasant, smooth, uncomplicated, easy to enjoy blend of the 5 principle bordeaux varietals.

By the way.... from time to time Barboursville opens some of their library wines for tasting at the winery. This is a great opportunity to try some well aged reds, some of which go back more then 20 years. The last time I was there most were well past their prime, but not all. There were several older vintages of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon that were drinking beautifully, a tribute to the capability of the winemaker and fruit from Virginia vineyards.

This is a very nice place to visit.

Comment on Review

Y! Updates An Update about your review will be shared via Yahoo! Updates Manage who sees your Updates

Post CommentCancel

User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Best vineyard experience in Virginia!: Acres of vineyards with top notch selection of wines. If you like reds, try Barberra or Octagon. Recently served to the Queen of England upon her Jamestown visit!

Comment on Review

Y! Updates An Update about your review will be shared via Yahoo! Updates Manage who sees your Updates

Post CommentCancel