smith berry vineyard and winery

My husband and I visited this winery on Friday, October 24th 2014. Once or twice a year we visit various wineries in southern Indiana and KY. We are very familiar with how the process works (dry wines listed at the top of the page, get sweeter as you move down... ). We pulled up the drive and it looked promising. Nice grounds, lots of space, large barn.... you get the idea. parked in front of the tasting room - small building but nice from the outside. We went in and the whole thing changed. No lights on in the building. Very dismal and one person inside. She was behind the counter working on the laptop. We looked around at the items on the shelf (thinking we would give her a minute to finish what she was doing) waiting for her to acknowledge us. After two minutes when this did not happen, we went and stood at the counter. (at this point, I think I am having the same experience that reviewer Msepps had). Girl finally looks up and says "are you wanting a tasting?". ummmm yes, that is why I am standing at the counter looking at the listing. We review the listing and make some marks on the paper. I have indicated mine in the sweeter areas and she starts to pour my first one. No explanation or information offered about what might be their better or more popular choices. No conversation at all. Does not help my husband. He finally pushes his paper closer to her and she pours one from the top. Now mind you, he has marked his paper a little differently. He number his choices in the order he wanted to try them and it did not go from top of sheet to bottom. This did not sit well with her. Her comment along with a disgusted face for him wanting to do it his way " that is not how it is done" OMG - a customer actually wanted to do something and you are going to wrinkle up your nose and tell them it is wrong? At this point, I can only assume she is not the owner and does not really care about sales from tastings. As we later find out, she is a full time employee and her main concern is the wedding that is being held there the next day. We find this out from the phone calls that she is taking while we are waiting at the counter. The wines may be wonderful but until they get rid of this person at the counter or improve her customer service skills, no one is going to bother to find out. Very poor experience and memory.

This is one of the best wineries in KY. Great wines, great staff. Beautiful outside sitting area. Their dry red wines are bold.

Stopped in to sample some wine on our drive home. As we walked in the outside was nice and cozy but inside had an apartment kitchen feel to it with a young lady in her lab top who didn't bother to acknowledge us and as we picked out our wine continued to play on her lab top. The tasting felt rushed and we didn't have time to enjoy the tasting. We did buy a bottle of bluegrass blush which is very different than any other wine I've tasted. But the over all experience was less than desired.

Terrific outdoor evening. Only 30 minutes from Louisville. Bring your chairs/blankets and enjoy good food, music and wine.

May through October (2x/month) there is dinner and live music on the grounds. Bring your lawn chairs and/or table and enjoy the food with the vineyards as your backdrop while a band plays. The food is ok but it is time well spent hanging out with friends and enjoying the wine. Three free tastings come with your dinner. You may even get to chat with Chuck, the owner, as he makes his way around. Or at least his dog will come say "hi." I only wish the food was better then I wouldn't mind paying the price. It would also be nice to be able to just bring a picnic dinner and maybe pay a little bit for admission instead.

The ride is like a treasure hunt it's about 11 miles off highway 71.We wine taste often and this was a good find. They have more red than whites but that's our preference. The staff was very friendly and helpful.