We step out our hotel room and walk around the corner and into the main lobby.
There waiting for us was our tour guide "John" from The Wine Wrangler Tours.
John says" it is your lucky day"..
...
"Normally I have a van full of people, but today its just you two".
So it really was a private tour, we were thrilled.
Noisy buses can be fun during wine tours but we needed a break, so this was a welcome surprise.
It never seemed like small talk with John, we hit it right off and began exchanging stories information and wine thoughts.
John told us he was taking us to six wineries, Eberle, Bianchi, Rio Seco, Pear Valley, Rotta and Four vines.
He also told us he had already picked up lunch and about half way through we would stop and have lunch.
We began the tour as John explained a little about himself, the region and some stories along the way.
First stop Eberle Winery perched on a hill with rolling hills, vineyards and country side as your back drop.
Excited to begin tasting we jumped out and headed for the front door.
Jon explained to us that Eberle was known for their award winning wines.
Outside the front door was the world famous boar ready to great us.
*The German name "Eberle" translates to "small boar.
" At Eberle Winery, a bronze boar greets every guest who visits the Tasting Room.
The statue is the 93rd replica of the original bronze Porcellino cast by Tacca in 1620.
And today, the original can be found in the straw market in Florence, Italy.
It is considered good luck to rub the boar's nose and toss a coin in the water below.
All money collected at the Eberle boar fountain is donated to local children's charities.
{Copied from Eberle web site} We were excited to start our tour and anticipating our first wine experience in Pasa Robles.
We opened the door to a commercial wine tasting room.
John greeted the staff member and informed her we would like to also take the tour of the caves.
The tasting room staff member said to John "John that is already assumed if you bring someone here to wine taste".
She said this in a very condescending manner! Do you know the music that is played in old Charlie Chaplin movies when he falls down or slips and falls into the water.
Sort of like WA WA WA WAAAAAAAAAAA.
I thought what the *^$%& was this person's problem.
We have come all this way to go wine tasting and have a happy day and the first person we run into to is someone who had sour grapes poured into her coffee mug! From that point on it was just very awkward and we thought this tasting room staff member really ruined our experience at Eberle.
We went through the motion, tried the wine which I am sure I would have written about had our tasting room staff member been more courteous and professional.
At one point I asked for some water to rinse out my glass to try another vintage and she said "its right there" I said "its empty".
Seems she was not prepared to serve guests yet.
It was almost comical! In fairness they had mentioned the power was out earlier.
However, there is a certain etiquette when serving customers.
We headed on our tour and tried to listen but again our time there was completely ruined, all we could think about was how uncalled for her attitude was towards a person bring someone to taste and purchase wine.
The tasting room staff person was the same person who took us on our guided tour, we were happy about that! So let me be candid..
..
..
..
I can not give Eberle Winery a bias review due to the overly gruff staff member.
This is sad because the tour was the only one we went on that had man made caves that naturally stay a certain temperature year round.
Honestly I just wanted to leave..
..
..
this was sad.
Not a great way to start a vacation or a wine tour!!!! KD feeling the same way felt concerned as we were not off to a great start.
We went to the cash register to purchase the wine selected and I handed her our card.
She read our card and I thought she was going to swallow her tongue.
With a sort of sheepish grin she said "I hope I was fun" Not wanting to be rude I said "well, you were awake".
We usually hand our card to the person at the end of our tasting'.
Then if they want they may give us an industry discount, it there choice.
We only purchased one bottle of wine that we liked and we were just trying to ignore our rude staff member.
I do not know how many times I have said " Hello winery owners..
..
Your tasting room staff can make or break you".
We purchased an average of 3 to 4 bottles at all of the other wineries we visited that day.
When we got outside we told our tour guide "John" we were sorry for how the Eberle staff member had treated him and thought it was inappropriate for her demeanor.
John graciously said " I know her somewhat and I guess everyone is entitled to a bad day once and a while..
..
..
..
..
I am sure this winery has great wine and will some day go back again to get the tour and experience from a happier staff member.
You can find out more about the history and wine by going to their web site...
http://www.
eberlewinery.
com/ The wine we purchased was Eberle Reserve '03 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon.
After going to their web site I found that Eberle will not have another reserve wine for sale until 2012.
Glad we picked up a bottle.
At the time of the tasting we liked this wine a lot.
We will review it in depth later when we pair it with a meal.
As a side note, the other five wineries provided us with exceptional service! We rate the Wine (Good) We rated our tour of the winery experience..
..
..
..
..
..
(Fair) That's being Kind Here are our Ratings: / Pass / Fair / OK / Good / Great / Fantastic Disclaimer: Just because we like or dislike a wine does not mean that you will have the same experience.
Of course it is always worth a try..
..
tell us what you think..
..
..
..
...
in other words post a comment!! Aloha,
There waiting for us was our tour guide "John" from The Wine Wrangler Tours.
John says" it is your lucky day"..
...
"Normally I have a van full of people, but today its just you two".
So it really was a private tour, we were thrilled.
Noisy buses can be fun during wine tours but we needed a break, so this was a welcome surprise.
It never seemed like small talk with John, we hit it right off and began exchanging stories information and wine thoughts.
John told us he was taking us to six wineries, Eberle, Bianchi, Rio Seco, Pear Valley, Rotta and Four vines.
He also told us he had already picked up lunch and about half way through we would stop and have lunch.
We began the tour as John explained a little about himself, the region and some stories along the way.
First stop Eberle Winery perched on a hill with rolling hills, vineyards and country side as your back drop.
Excited to begin tasting we jumped out and headed for the front door.
Jon explained to us that Eberle was known for their award winning wines.
Outside the front door was the world famous boar ready to great us.
*The German name "Eberle" translates to "small boar.
" At Eberle Winery, a bronze boar greets every guest who visits the Tasting Room.
The statue is the 93rd replica of the original bronze Porcellino cast by Tacca in 1620.
And today, the original can be found in the straw market in Florence, Italy.
It is considered good luck to rub the boar's nose and toss a coin in the water below.
All money collected at the Eberle boar fountain is donated to local children's charities.
{Copied from Eberle web site} We were excited to start our tour and anticipating our first wine experience in Pasa Robles.
We opened the door to a commercial wine tasting room.
John greeted the staff member and informed her we would like to also take the tour of the caves.
The tasting room staff member said to John "John that is already assumed if you bring someone here to wine taste".
She said this in a very condescending manner! Do you know the music that is played in old Charlie Chaplin movies when he falls down or slips and falls into the water.
Sort of like WA WA WA WAAAAAAAAAAA.
I thought what the *^$%& was this person's problem.
We have come all this way to go wine tasting and have a happy day and the first person we run into to is someone who had sour grapes poured into her coffee mug! From that point on it was just very awkward and we thought this tasting room staff member really ruined our experience at Eberle.
We went through the motion, tried the wine which I am sure I would have written about had our tasting room staff member been more courteous and professional.
At one point I asked for some water to rinse out my glass to try another vintage and she said "its right there" I said "its empty".
Seems she was not prepared to serve guests yet.
It was almost comical! In fairness they had mentioned the power was out earlier.
However, there is a certain etiquette when serving customers.
We headed on our tour and tried to listen but again our time there was completely ruined, all we could think about was how uncalled for her attitude was towards a person bring someone to taste and purchase wine.
The tasting room staff person was the same person who took us on our guided tour, we were happy about that! So let me be candid..
..
..
..
I can not give Eberle Winery a bias review due to the overly gruff staff member.
This is sad because the tour was the only one we went on that had man made caves that naturally stay a certain temperature year round.
Honestly I just wanted to leave..
..
..
this was sad.
Not a great way to start a vacation or a wine tour!!!! KD feeling the same way felt concerned as we were not off to a great start.
We went to the cash register to purchase the wine selected and I handed her our card.
She read our card and I thought she was going to swallow her tongue.
With a sort of sheepish grin she said "I hope I was fun" Not wanting to be rude I said "well, you were awake".
We usually hand our card to the person at the end of our tasting'.
Then if they want they may give us an industry discount, it there choice.
We only purchased one bottle of wine that we liked and we were just trying to ignore our rude staff member.
I do not know how many times I have said " Hello winery owners..
..
Your tasting room staff can make or break you".
We purchased an average of 3 to 4 bottles at all of the other wineries we visited that day.
When we got outside we told our tour guide "John" we were sorry for how the Eberle staff member had treated him and thought it was inappropriate for her demeanor.
John graciously said " I know her somewhat and I guess everyone is entitled to a bad day once and a while..
..
..
..
..
I am sure this winery has great wine and will some day go back again to get the tour and experience from a happier staff member.
You can find out more about the history and wine by going to their web site...
http://www.
eberlewinery.
com/ The wine we purchased was Eberle Reserve '03 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon.
After going to their web site I found that Eberle will not have another reserve wine for sale until 2012.
Glad we picked up a bottle.
At the time of the tasting we liked this wine a lot.
We will review it in depth later when we pair it with a meal.
As a side note, the other five wineries provided us with exceptional service! We rate the Wine (Good) We rated our tour of the winery experience..
..
..
..
..
..
(Fair) That's being Kind Here are our Ratings: / Pass / Fair / OK / Good / Great / Fantastic Disclaimer: Just because we like or dislike a wine does not mean that you will have the same experience.
Of course it is always worth a try..
..
tell us what you think..
..
..
..
...
in other words post a comment!! Aloha,