I'd never done a wine tasting before so I wasn't sure what to expect. Â I liked how this place has a very relaxed & casual atmosphere - not like the snooty place I had imagined in my head. Â We went to their actual winery location on the outskirts of Galena, not the downtown storefront.
The price was inexpensive for the tasting - $5 for 6 wines and we had a bonus taste of their seasonal cranberry wine. Â The ladies were all very friendly & knowledgeable. Â You do stand at the bar for the tasting part so some people might not like that or if they are busy you will have to wait. Â They have many tables outside so in the nice weather you can just buy a bottle of wine you like and relax outdoors with friends.
We ended up purchasing 4 bottles - 2 for us and 2 to use as Christmas gifts. Â They have something for everyone, including people like my husband who prefers his wine taste more like juice than wine. Â He tried a blackberry wine which tasted and smelled like a jolly rancher candy!
They offer tours of the facility as well but we did not take the time to do so.
I visited on a beautiful fall weekend. Â The winery was busy which I expected and didn't mind to wait but when I did get to the bar, the attendant hardly spoke with my husband or myself. Â A nice "hello", where are you from?" would have been nice. Â The wines were fine but I could have easily walked out with out purchasing any wines as I didn't feel the winery really cared if I was there or not.
Review Source:I'm going to take a chance here and say that Galena Winery has the best wine I've ever tasted. I am hardly a wine snob but I couldn't get enough during a recent tasting. A tasting costs $5 for 5 tastes. They also gave us a bonus taste of Oktoberfest.
When you first start, they give you their current menu and you can select whatever you want. I loved that because I enjoy sweet/fruit wines so I decided to stick with those. I especially enjoyed the Mimosa and Apple Wine so much so that I wish I bought a bottle of Mimosa.
The store also had cute wine themed gifts and everything (including the wine) was very reasonably priced. I would definitely love to do a tour of the vineyard sometime soon.
We visited last year, had a decent experience, and we were prepared to buy several bottles of wine for ourselves and for a few family members.
Would it kill the staff to ask if we need help, or at least say "hi"?
We were the only ones in the store, and now we understand why.
Walked out after 15 minutes of negligence.
Go to Jamie's Wine Studio up the street for first class service.
I am so excited to write this review. Galena Cellars has a 3.5 star rating?? Seriously?!?!
They deserve 5 big FAT stars!!!
Let me first start by saying how great their staff is. The ladies that work here are very knowledgeable about the wine and helpful when called upon. If they know you have been there before for a tasting, they assume you know what you are doing. Perhaps, they shouldn't but they do. Now, if you need help or want their opinion on something, just ask. They are right there behind the counter.
Now, this past weekend we went in for a tasting and to pick up a bunch of their Senor Sangria we all love so much. Their tastings are $3.00 for 6 "tastes". You are provided with a wine list of all of your options and each wine is categorized by the type of wine. For example, Dry Reds, Dry Whites, Semi-Sweet, Fruit, Dessert, etc. I marked 2 things on the wine list that I wanted to taste and my fiance picked out his 6. I asked the gal helping us to pick out ones that she thinks I would like based on the simple fact I gave her and that's that I like sweet wines!
She suggested: Muscat Canelli, Pomegranate Wine (a NEW wine the are making!), Oktoberfest, Cracklin Apple Wine in addition to my selections of Senor Sangria (which I already am fully aware that I love) and Cranberry.
We ended up purchasing 6 bottles of wine this weekend. They offer you a $1.00 discount when you purchase in quantities of 4, but I was not going to buy another 2 bottles just to save one more dollar.
I learned after coming here earlier last year that they have a store in Geneva, IL which is much closer for us to visit, so if I want something and can't make it out to Galena, we can hit up the Geneva store. I have a tip for you all: If there is a particular wine that you want, call the Geneva store first to make sure they have it. They sell out occasionally. For example, the first time I went to the Geneva store it was to get a few bottles of the Senor Sangria and they were completely sold out! I got a few bottles of the Country Red which is what they use as the base for their Sangria, but its not the same.
They also have a little shop (in addtiion to the inventory of wine) where you can purchase wine related gifts, such as wine corks, coasters, the new wine coozie, t-shirts, welcome mats, games, wine racks, chillers, and books. It's really a cute little store with a lot of options for all you wine lovers out there.
I love Galena Cellars and don't mind driving out of my way to purchase their wine. My friends and family deserve a good quality wine if I'm going to get them some and Galena Cellar's wine is the way to go!!
The wine was good, the tasting was reasonably priced ($3 for 6 tries, plus a bonus taste of either their Mimosa or Sangria wine), and the staff was friendly. The Late Harvest Reisling was very good, and the Peach and Concord wines were also tasty. The tasting area itself is very small, and we milled around for about 10 minutes before there was room for our party of 4. While the staff was pleasant to be around, they offered no information on the wine, except for the name. They politely smiled as we demonstrated to our friends how to swirl, smell and taste wine, but then would walk away without saying a word. Nice selection for $3, but we'll probably try the new tasting room down the street next time.
Review Source:My wife and I were here over Valentine's Weekend. We paid $1.00 to sample six wines, not a bad price. The girl behind the counter seemed like she was put out or annoyed at having pour us wine and at times seemed a little condescending. The wine itself is decent. There wasn't anything that jumped out that was fantastic.
As I'm more of a beer drinker, I would have appreciated a little more feedback from the staff other than, "what do you like?" I also didn't like the fact that she made disparaging comments about another winery in a neighboring state.
If I'm in the area, I'll stop in to get wine, but I won't go out of the way to do it.
LOVE THIS WINE!!! Â I am so bummed I cannot get it shipped to Arizona (it is a very, very stupid law we have in this ridiculous state). I have actually had this shipped to California and then went to go get it. (Hurry up, go call the Feds)
The Oktoberfest is to die for and the Last Harvest Reisling is simply the best wine I have ever tasted in my life. It is very sweet which is exactly how a Late Harvest Reisling should taste. The Chardonnay is smooth and the Rose is very light and refreshing. Â Oh my mouth is watering now! I think I need to see if my friends in Cali can work on a black op mission for me again!
I don't really think it is pricey considering it is a small and local winery. Their prices are similar to what you would expect to pay for microbrew beer; more than the cheap stuff but by no means outrageous.
I used to live in Apple River in the 90s and this was a favorite place to visit when we came into town. Â I was introduced to wine by the products of Galena Cellars. Â The staff was always so nice to us, even though they knew we were locals. Â
So when I was in Galena in January I decided to stop at Galena Cellars to pick up a few bottles of wine as souvenirs. I selected a few bottles of wine and went to the register. Â Apparently the folks at the tasting bar were more important than a paying customer. Â We stood at the register for over 5 minutes while the owner (I assume) chatted wiith the people who were tasting. Â I made eye contact with him several times before he came over to check me out. Â He seemed very exasperated to have to leave his perch. Â I selected 3 bottles and he told me if I got another I would get $1.00 off and a free cardboard carrier for the wine. Â I assumed that he meant a $1.00 off each bottle. Â I was wrong. Â It was $.25 off each bottle... whooopee! The cardboard carrier ripped by the time we got out to the car. Â Not a great store experience.
The wine is not inexpensive (Most are over $10.00). Â Some wines are cloyingly sweet and most are very one-note. Â You don't know how old your wine may be - and most taste very, very young. Â Perhaps my palate has gotten a bit more sophisticated in the past decades, but I also believe the offerings here have lost some of the love and quality they had in the past. Â
Next time I go to Galena, this, sadly, will not be on my list of destinations.
Cute little store anchoring one end of Main Street. I liked that they sold Galena Wines- but this makes sense. They have a bar where you can sample some of their wines, if you try a couple it's free. If you want to sample more- they charge a small fee. We settled on a white wine and a chocolate port for souvenirs. Yum.
Review Source:My best friend got married in Galena and all of the wine served was from this winery/vineyard and it was delicious!
The next day, my wife and I stopped in at the downtown location to pick up some wine and I really liked the lay out, selection and staff. Â We'll definitely be checking out the attached restaurant next time we visit Galena.
The downtown store is fun, but the vineyard is very special to me. Â My wedding was held there in the spring of 2006, and it could not have been more wonderful. Â Since the guests all arrived before we did ~ they had plenty of time to do some tasting and tours until we arrived. Â I would recommend working with this family, and of course drinking their tasty vino.
Review Source:The wine tasting for $2 is a good deal you get to sample 6 wines however the sales staff behind the "bar" are not very talkative about the wines. I'm not a big wine drinker and I'd appreciate it if I got more of a conversation to engage me and my tastes to select the correct wine for my palate.
Review Source:Located right inside the floodgates that stand outside historic downtown Galena, the Cellars is a great place to start your visit or tour. They sell two to three dozen varieties of wine, from dry whites to sweet dessert varieties. A few feature grapes grown locally. Belly up to the bar once you get in - six samples for two dollars. My personal favorites are the dry white wines, but there's enough variety to please most palettes.
Review Source:
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