点评:We visited Roaring River Vineyards in Traphill, NC on a girls' trip, and I wish we had planned it differently.
The setting is lovely. The building looks promising as you drive up, and the patio over the river is beautiful. Our group prefers sweet wines, so the selection wasn't for us. That's about our taste, not the quality of their wine. We found one or two passable, but sweet wine drinkers should know this isn't their spot. If we had stopped at the tasting, we would have left happy. Staying to eat is where it went wrong.
We asked to sit outside by the river, away from the other guests. Only one or two other tables were taken. We were seated at two small tables pushed together and told we might have to move if it got busy, even though a four-top was open. That was off-putting from the start.
With our tasting, we ordered three sharables: smoked salmon dip with pita-style chips, pretzel bites, and a charcuterie board. We also ordered drinks, which our server forgot. After the tasting, none of us minded.
The salmon dip tasted like nothing but cream cheese, and the chips were greasy. We skipped the chips and took the dip home to season and eat with crackers. The pretzel bites were greasy too, which none of us had seen before. Once we dabbed off the oil, they were passable. My guess is the fryer oil wasn't hot enough.
The charcuterie board is what turned this into a negative review. The meat had gone bad. My friend pointed it out, and they brought replacement meat. I wish I had taken a photo, because the color difference between the two was night and day. The new meat looked better but still smelled off to us, though that may have been our lingering disgust. A charcuterie board needs no cooking and is usually the safest thing on a menu. Not here. What bothered me most is that they offered nothing to make it right beyond more meat. Even a small discount would have shown good faith.
Service was slow for only four tables, inside and out. To be fair, our server kindly brought a fly fan to the table, which helped. Flies and ladybugs are plentiful in this area.
We had planned on just one vineyard that day. But one of us is new to wine tastings, and we didn't want this to be the visit she remembered. So we drove about half an hour to another vineyard to reset. They didn't have many of the sweet wines we enjoy either, but there was more to drink and enjoy.
A tip for anyone visiting this area: read the reviews, and read how the vineyards respond to them. If we had, we wouldn't have gone, and that's on us. From the responses I've seen, I'd prefer Roaring River not reply to this one, since they tend toward justification rather than responsibility.
Go for the wine and the scenery. Eat somewhere else.
翻译:我们几个姐妹一起去北卡罗来纳州特拉菲尔的Roaring River葡萄园游玩,真希望我们当初能做好不同的安排。
那里的环境非常宜人。开车前往时,酒庄的建筑就给人一种不错的印象,而河边的露台更是美不胜收。我们一行人更喜欢甜型葡萄酒,所以这里的酒款并不符合我们的口味。这纯粹是个人偏好问题,与酒的品质无关。我们只找到了一两款勉强能接受的酒,不过喜欢喝甜酒的人要记住:这里并非适合你们的地方。如果我们只是去品酒的话,或许会心满意足地离开吧。问题就出在我们决定留下来用餐这一点上。
我们要求坐在河边的户外区域,远离其他客人。当时只有一两张桌子有人坐。我们被安排坐在两张拼在一起的小桌子旁,服务员还告诉我们,如果店里变热闹了可能就得换座位,可当时明明还有一张能坐四人的空桌子。这一点从一开始就让人感觉不爽。
在品鉴环节,我们点了三样可以共享的菜品:烟熏三文鱼蘸酱配类似皮塔饼的薄饼片、椒盐卷饼块,还有一份冷切肉拼盘。我们也点了饮料,不过服务员把这件事给忘了。品尝之后,我们谁都不在意。
那个三文鱼蘸酱吃起来完全只有奶油奶酪的味道,薯片则很油腻。我们没吃薯片,而是把蘸酱带回家,稍作调味后搭配饼干食用。那些椒盐脆饼同样很油,这种情况我们以前从没遇到过。把表面的油擦掉后,味道还算可以接受。我猜可能是炸锅里的油温不够高吧。
真正导致这次评价变差的,是那个冷切肉拼盘——里面的肉已经变质了。我的朋友指出了这一点。他们送来了替换用的肉。真希望我当时拍了照片,因为两块肉的颜色差异简直天差地别。新送来的肉看起来好多了,但我们还是觉得有股怪味,不过这可能只是我们心里仍心存厌恶罢了。拼盘类冷切肉制品无需烹饪,通常也是菜单上最安全的选择。但这里并非如此。最让我不满的是,除了再提供些肉之外,他们没有任何补救措施。哪怕给点小折扣也能体现他们的诚意啊。
虽然只有四桌客人,但服务还是慢得离谱。里里外外都是这样。说句公道话,服务员好心地给我们送了一把驱蝇扇到桌上,倒也派上了用场。这一带苍蝇和瓢虫特别多。
那天我们原本只打算参观一家葡萄园。不过我们当中有一个人是第一次参加品酒活动,我们可不想让她对这次体验留下不好的印象。于是我们又开车半小时去了另一家葡萄园,重新体验一番。那里也没有太多我们喜欢的甜型葡萄酒,但可供品尝的选择还是多一些。
给所有打算来这一带游玩的人的小建议:一定要先看看评论哦。看看葡萄园对这些措施有何反应吧。如果我们事先了解了这些情况,就不会去了,这是我们的疏忽。从我看到的反馈来看,我倒希望Roaring River不要回应此事,因为他们往往倾向于找借口辩解,而非承担责任。
还是去品尝美酒、欣赏风景吧。吃饭的话,还是去别的地方吧。