Oliver Winery Downtown

I have been going to Oliver for years and I am a wine club member so it is fair to say that I am a fan.  However, I am very disappointed with the lack of urgency with the staff and management.  Even when it is not busy I feel as if I am not a priority.  This happens everytime I go to the downtown location and occasionally at the winery.  It is almost as though they have been trained to take their time serve as few people as possible.  Be prepared to wait for service.

I already LOVE Oliver Winery.  This location adds a cozy, sexy setting, table service, and yummy eats.  How can this go badly?!  With a few exceptions, it can't.

I live 4 hours away from Bloomington yet have had the fortune of visiting twice now.  And it's even more fortuitous that I've gotten to indulge in at least a taste of two of the Chocolate Pot de Creme, the Ricotta Cheesecake Brulee, the Sweet Tooth Soother, and some of the Rouge Creamery Oregon Blue cheese.  Everything was fantastic, though I have to admit, my table was a bit surprised to find that the Sweet Tooth Soother was a plate of bits and pieces for pairings.  Didn't read that description quite right!  Oops!  The Chocolate Pot de Creme is insanely rich and decadent.  I have to admit that my eyes were bigger than my stomach when I ordered that one after dinner at Trojan Horse.  I somehow managed to force feed myself what I could not pawn off on others. :-)

One of my party was disappointed to find them out of the Harvest Apple Cake, as she's been looking forward to trying it, but they always seem to be out when she's in.  Get some more of that cake!

We were also disappointed to find that the Library Wine flight was not available on the Thursday night we last attended.  When we were at the winery on 37 earlier in the day, our pourer made it sound as though tastings were only available at the winery on weekends but the flight was available any time at the Downtown location.  Chalk it up to miscommunication on one or both parts, but we went Downtown specifically to try the library selection before buying and were saddened to find the flight was also only available on the weekends.  We had to rely on the suggestion of our waiter, which I'm suspect about.  We'll see once we finally break out the bottle I suppose!

Having lived an hour from NAPA, I miss the winery experience. I miss fun wine tasting places so I'm really happy this place opened up in downtown Bloomington. I've been here a couple times.

The first time, my girlfriend and I were feeling classy so we did a wine flight and some appetizers. It was their first few days being open so I say this acknowledging that nerves were high but our waiter dropped a couple glasses onto our table when serving us our flight. I can imagine carrying 8 wine glasses isn't easy. He was very apologetic and brought us a complimentary appetizer.

The second time, I came here before dinner with a friend. We just ordered a couple glasses. It was a quiet night. Nice spot for a date.

I would recommend that the appetizers be improved - allow customers to create antipasti platters with a mix of meats, cheeses, veggies. Maybe even chocolate. That goes well with wine and also offers something in the tummy other than wine.