KPB326
Our first time to Kreutz Creek, we arrived to a welcoming pourer and host, Ann, whom shared the vineyards varietals with us and a laugh or three. Admittedly, I was quite impressed with every one of the samplings.The mood in the tasting room and about the property was upbeat and light-hearted; everyone was seemingly truly enjoying themselves, until.....Apparently, as we witnessed, a young woman had brought in a bottle of wine from another vineyard and inquired about having it corked. Long story short, a woman behind the pouring bar, who turned out to be the owner, completely admonished and berated the woman for possessing the alien bottle and yelled at her - "You can't and will not open that bottle here!" The poor woman whom was getting lambasted humbly and apologetically replied, "I'm sorry. I thought the two of you (meaning winery's) were connected." Nevertheless, this didn't stop the owner from continuing to deliver an admonishment for which completely was unnecessary, quieted the entire room, and sucked the festive ambiance right out of the place - AND ME!Tasted no more wine, did not purchase a bottle of a bottle I particularly favored, and departed.You know, there are three sides to every story: the owners side, the "illegal bottle" possessors side, and, well...the truth. Fair enough. There is also a saying that if you see two people arguing along the street corner as you drive by, how do you know which one is the fool? Well, you don't. My point is, the wine perpetrator wasn't being argumentative, rude or nasty - she simply, seemingly "assumed incorrectly". Therefore, as "right" as the owner of Kreutz Creek may have been about no foreign bottles being corked on her dirt, she absolutely, TOTALLY DID NOT HAVE TO HANDLE THE SITUATION AS SHE DID! FAIL! Just because you may be a rising success in the wine business does NOT mean you are all that refined regarding the dynamics of human interaction and/or interpersonal skills! Ultimately, the owner may have won the battle but not without leaving a really bad taste in our mouths and a hasty departure.Total buzz kill.I will give kudos to Ann and the gentleman who I assumed was the owners husband for attempting to diffuse and lighten the situation :)Rating not so much the vineyard as "Poor" but the experience and the owners manner in which she handled a really just a "mole-hill" situation; there was absolutely no need to include the entire estate in the poor girls admonishment. ZERO! You're a winery/vineyard for God's sake, not a night club with bouncers and bullies waiting to trounce on someone for acting up. My reluctance in going back to this location would be "Man, what if I said or did something incorrectly!?"