sand castle winery

I recently visited the tasting room on Bridge Street in Phoenixville. The tasting room is beautifully decorated, with a nice size wine tasting bar and a separate area with a large assortment of vinegars to taste. The wine tasting is 5 tastes for $5. The wine as a whole was good. The most unique wine I had here was the Santo Rouge which was a blend of Chardonnay and Cab. The aroma reminded me of a young aged Parmesan cheese (weird as it sounds), but has a flavor profile of strawberry and raspberry. One aspect of the tasting which I found to be unique about this tasting is the fact that you could try one grape variety across a spectrum of harvests. For example, the offered their Johannisberg Riesling Dry, semi sweet and as a desert wine. It was a nice way to show how grape aging on the vine can change some of the basic characteristics. My favorite wine here, hands down, was the Chardonnay Classic, oak aged. It was one of the most complex US Chardonnay's I've ever had. Beyond the wine, there was a vinegar tasting bar with a vast assortment of vinegar's to try. If you get tired of the wine or are a designated driver this is a nice alternative. Overall, this was a nice room to visit. I would recommend coming here during the week as the room here (and the tasting room down the street) were pretty empty.

Drove up drive way it was nice walk in it looked like a hotel lobby.The temperature in there must have been 57 degrees we told one of the workersThey said they would turn up the heat. Mean while we started to be servedDinner and everyone had to eat with there coats on. The dinner plates were so coldBy the time we sat down the food was cold.And not just a little birthstone cold.The line to get hot coffee and hot tea was loner then the wine bar.But that was evenCold.So any one thinking of having a wedding there I would think of other wineryThe couple saved for a long time to pay for this.I felt so bad the wedding was from6 to 11 and by 930 everyone was leaving because of it being so cold in there.

Very nice selection of wines from the local region.Good whites from dry to sweet and tasty reds from soft to bold. Guys you must try their Port!Has an intristing twist!! Very good I must say.Also try their Phoenixville Pa tasting room with many Balsomic and olive oils for the sampling. Fun place to hang out as well!

The enticement mentioned twelve wine tastings per couple. We were expecting to get to taste six (6) wines per person.WOW !!We sampled thirteen (13) wines in total.A Highly entertaining gentleman explained how to taste each wine AND what to pair foods it with.The tour guide of the castle and wine cellar was also very informative and entertaining.

When we first drove up to the winery, it was a beautiful setting. The building is impressive. The views were beautiful. The inside of the building reminded me of a hotel lobby, not a winery. The wine tour was short but informative. Although it was interesting to see the equipment used for the harvest and processing, the equipment itself was nothing to look at and actually gave me an unsanitary impression. I grew up on a farm so I understand farming equipment can be dirty, but don't show the consumers Lucy the grape separator with hoses laying on the ground. Set up a cleaner display to show the customers during the wine tour. Then off into the basement or vat room as I call it. Again, I did not get a very clean impression. One item I would suggest they change in that room is to cover up the exposed sewer pipes hanging over the grape vats. Did not give me a warm feeling thinking what could happen if one should leak....We then went upstairs for the tasting. The tasting room was large, airy and had beautiful views. Long folding tables were set up end to end in the room and we stood, facing each other. Our guide, Kip, who was very nice, stood on a 10-12' ladder to tell us about the wine. Kip was funny but it was just a bit odd seeing such a nice atmosphere and a ladder. We were asked to step back from the table so the wine could be poured in our glasses. Then asked to step up to sample the wine. This was repeated, with samples of chocolate and Wasabi peas that were presented in plastic condiment cups and plastic spoon. Suggestion - put them in mini cup cake wrappers and have someone present them to the tasters on a nice tray. The spoon and cup was too communal. We all felt like we were doing shots of wine as we would step back, our wine samples poured, step forward, drink. Repeat. There was not enough time to really savor each wine and we felt rushed to empty our glasses so the next sample could be poured. No water was offered to clean the glass or your palate, just a red plastic cup to dump the wine if you did not like it. It was like a shared spit cup if you will. The one staff member even poured a fresh sample into a glass that had a little of the previous wine left in it. (Really?) After the wine shots, we went downstairs for the cheese plates that came with our tasting. Ok, this was by far the worst impression I got. Two or three Slices of salami (not rolled) and rolled ham with thin slices of hard cheeses and some pickles. All this presented on cheap Styrofoam plates. Come on, the castle, the tasting room and Styrofoam plates? Suggestions to Sand Castle 1) Clean up the equipment area before having tours. 2) Cover the sewer pipes in the vat room, even if it is covered with a drape type material or tarp. 3) Get Kip a podium and get rid of the ladder! 4) Make the tasting less regimented and a little more relaxed. 5) Hire a caterer to do the cheese plates, or put more of a variety (not necessarily quantity) of cheeses and add a few grapes or at the very least get rid of the paper and Styrofoam!!! With all that said, I did purchase some of their wine. I would not suggest you avoid this winery, just be prepared to be disappointed in the overall presentation.

The tasting was interesting, wines were paired with chocolates and nuts, informative and fun presentation. However, you stand during the tasting, which would be fine but the table was low and it was an awkward set up. A bar height table would have been better. There were about 15-20 in our tasting group. We had a Living Social coupon for tapas, if we paid full price I would have been very disappointed. Everything was served on paper plates. We received hummus, a loaf of bread, 4 chocolates, cheese and a salami type meat with blue cheese and some sort of jam in the middle. Hummus with bread? The wine, very sweet, so this wasn't for us, we prefer wine that isn't sweet, a bold red would have been great.

I have known the owner Joe Maxon for over 25 years and was a supplier to him when he first opened and was working out of a trailer on top of the wine vats now 25 years later he realized his dream of building a castle on the concrete slab directly over the vats and it is beautiful, I knew talking with him years ago that this would come to be and the quality of the wines they produce are second to none, plus the view from the mountain top simply takes your breath away

I suppose it's a hazard when you plan interactive tours and booths for a living, but this Winery tour, though featuring a number of good wines, was disjointed and left visitors unclear of what was happening as if we were lost sheep. No greetings as you enter, no sectioned off areas to tell you what to do where, and a tour guide who rambled whatever came to the top of his head. They made you stand during the lengthy but good tastings while the guide yelled at you across the room from the first of many long tables from atop a ladder. When finished you were dismissed and not told where to go next for the cheese platter or buy your wines. Lovely grounds outside under the tent facing the river made for wonderful pictures. They really need some help scripting and better directing the tours. But their wines are good... especially the warmed Port. They called it the OMG wine and they were right!

This was our third trip to this winery and, our second tasting with Enzo who is so knowledgeable and people oriented. In fact, it is a shame that Enzo is not relegated to doing private tastings and spending more time with the patrons since he has such expertise.. For the first time ever, we were greeted by some harried woman who left us unattended at the tasting bar for over 20 mins. She never greeted us, just shuffled us to the bar and left. It was a really awkward time.. But, the wines are incredible and versatile and the scenery is breath-taking.

I went for a wine tasting that was said to include a gourmet lunch platter, tasting and tour. The tour guide was not familiar with anything about the wine making process, the equipment was in pieces so we couldn't see where it was broken down. Tasting was done standing up and rushed. But the worst was that the gourmet lunch was ritz cracker, two pieces of cheese and a couple of slices of cold cuts. This was given to us at the end of everything and no wine or water was given to us to have was this platter. Highly suggest not to waste your money.

The tour was so slight, the wine tasting was fine. The cheese and meat platter was disappointing. The only saving grace was the wine was "Slavish". It was the people that we met that made up for the experience.

The Wine at the Sand Castle is not the best wine I've ever had, but the wine pairing/tasting put on by the owner is worth every penny of the $35/person charge, thoroughly enjoyed myself, learned so much about food pairing, some were very surprising and out of the box. I will be back

This winery is about an hour from home and the ride along the Delaware River to get there was lovely. The winery itself was a surprise. A castle looking building with beautiful grounds and a view of the river. Beautiful for events. We were there as part of 40th bday party group. We had a private tasting on the upper level of the winery. For $8 and you get to keep the wine glass--you get to taste 8-9 different types of wine--the best part was the 'show' the wine guide standing on a ladder wearing a hat and suit and carrying a walking stick which he will comically tap against the ladder to regain the attention of the group. This tasting was different than any other that I've been to. There was chocolate, and nuts, or wasabi nuts to accompany each tasting to accentuate each tasting. It was a very unique and enjoyable experience. I think the Food Network needs to get in touch with this guy--he's great! Sip! Taste! Sip! Loved it! There are picnic benches for those bringing something to eat (or drink) to sit and enjoy the winery. this was a very nice visit.

This is our second visit to Sand Castle Winery. The tour guide was great, knowledgable, funny and very nice with the guests. After the tour we proceeded upstairs to the tasting. The main gentleman, Joseph, was the best ever. He made a large group of strangers laugh and enjoy the wine tasting with lots of information, jokes and just plain old charisma. The 3 men in the wine tasting room were all very well dressed in jackets and ties, giving it a more elegant feel, (which goes with the wine drinking), while all the guests were very casual and comfortable. Will certainly go back. LOVED it! and of course bought a couple of bottles to take back home

After taking a wine pairing and tasting class we purchased a bottle of 2008 Riesling at the Sand Castle retail store in Warrington, PA which we stored in our wine cooler refrigerator for the past 2 months. When we opened it, it was undrinkable...so sour that we dumped the whole bottle!! We brought the bottle with us to the winery in Erwinna. We were told by staff that we had probably stored it improperly and it was supposed to be sour! Really? The owner's wife told us we should return it to Warrington where we purchased it! Any winery that does not stand behind its label will not find itself in my wine collection! We stood and waited almost 1/2 hour for our wine tasting. One person was doing everything. Definitely will not go back as there are many places with good wines that stand behind their product.