Puddicombe Farms

As a resident of Grimsby I tend to favour Niagara Wines. Before Christmas I picked up a couple of pies as they are quite good. On a whim I picked up 3 bottles of wine from the wine shop. Two red and one white. I can't recall what the reds were however however both tasted like grape juice mixed with vinegar and both went down the drain. Tonight I opened the bottle of white which was a Savignon Blanc I had assumed that it would most likely not be great so was going to use it in a fish recipe. Upon opening the bottom portion of the cork looked like it was decomposing and the wine was not suitable for cooking let alone drinking. Pretty dissapointing and a terrible reflection on Niagara's wine making industry.
They should stick to pies!

We went to Puddicombe farms expecting a fun afternoon in the winery, maybe a nice lunch in the cafe, followed by picking some pumpkins!

We first arrived to the winery and waited by the wine tasting bar, only to have the woman make small talk and then walk away. We waited at least 5 minutes before she came back and asked us if we wanted to taste the wine. The wine tastings are 50 cents each and are very small. They weren't measured and after a few tastings the portions were greatly decreased to just a small drop in the glass. Despite the mediocre wine, we did purchase 6 different bottles, expecting that with a purchase, they would wave the wine tasting fee. WRONG. They didn't. In fact the woman was frantically trying to add up the amount that the 4 of us had tasted, afraid she would miss one. (By the way, we visited 3 other wineries on the same day, Magalomaniac, Cave Springs, and Tawse and all of the listed wineries provided free tastings and their wine was 15-16 per bottle as opposed to the average 20.00/bottle price tag on the Puddicombe wines). Let's talk about the wine for a minute. The Puddicombe wines are drinkable, but taste very similar to something my uncle has made in his cellar..I think his is far superior, in fact.

Following our disappointing experience in the winery, we decided to visit the "cafe". We envisioned a warm, cozy place where we could have some lunch and relax. There was no real food...just some jam, nuts, and a few stale baked goods. I purchased a hot apple cider and a pumpkin tart. The apple cider had a very strong underlying odour...so strong in fact that I couldn't even drink it! We all left our ciders on the table unfinished. My pumpkin tart looked great, but was very bland.

As we were leaving the bakery we noticed a small child with his hands all over the fudge. He had just come in and was playing with the crumbs on the counter. I heard the owner say "stop touching the fudge, your hands are wet". I'm very glad I didn't purchase any fudge!

We went to use the restrooms and there was no soap! Which makes me wonder what the staff wash their hands with?

We wanted to get some pumpkins before we left. We asked how we purchase them and we were told to go down to the pumpkin patch and pick one up, put it on the scale and then drive back to the bakery to pay for it. We saw a very nice selection of pumpkins in the barn (not for sale), but when we got to the pumpkin patch, all the pumpkins were rotten and brown! We looked at the scale and noticed that the price range goes up to 7.00 for 1 pumpkin!!! We decided not to pay that for rotten pumpkins and left. I am left to believe that they have taken all the goods pumpkins and put them aside, so they can try to sell the crappy pumpkins to customers during the week.

On our way out we noticed a big sign that said 2.00 to enter the apple orchards so you can pick your own! You actually have to pay a surcharge to pick your own apples, in addition to the cost of the apples!

What a disappointing experience. I felt as though it was a cash grab. Puddicombe farms is very cheaply run. Some children were in front of us wanting to ride the train, but they were told that the train doesn't run during the week, except for school groups and the last school group just left so they were out of luck.

I will never return to Puddicombe farms. I will never recommend it to anybody. There are some major changes that need to happen in order for this place to live up to it's potential. It's a long way from being the fun, family farm that it advertises itself as.

P.S. Right around the corner we found pumpkins for 2.00 each. They were twice they size and in perfect condition!

Please note that Puddicombe Estate Farms and winery is located in Hamilton On, Not Dundas. Map Quest has the wrong location as well. Go to www.puddicombefarms .com for printable directions on their web site