Reviews of Defiance Ridge Vineyards (Winery)

TheLeo Queen

Our first visit to this quaint winery was A+! Roads were flooded due to recent rain however, the signage to the vineyard was helpful. The staff was great....very accommodating! We purchased a wine tasting and the staff was very …

Mary Lynne Henning

Hands down best winery in St. Charles county. The owners and staff are top notch and very accommodating. The wine selection is very nice and the food is great (love the burger). I've only been at DR during the day with live music but I can only imagine how wonderful this venue would be for a wedding reception.

Robert Griesedieck

Fun spot with wine and other drinks, band and lots of room outside for seating

ROBERT H

Great place, reasonable prices

Gei Hu

I was just hung up on by "Dan" in the cafe. He is a real smartass. When I asked about taxes on our reservations he said in a very smart tone "You'll have to ask your Congressman about that." Absolutely no reason to give a smartassed …

kelsey garner

Love it!!!! Came Here for my 21st birthday. It was so relaxing. I want to get married here

Jennifer Miller

Good food and wine. Pretty patio.

Peter Catalano

Excellent service, great music, and delicious wines.

James Hessler

Hot day , fair food.

Jared Fryman

Great service with wine from California. Nice area inside and outside patio to sit with music. Good menu of food also.

Elijah's Channel

Great food and great wines.

John Behrens

Excellent wine and gorgeous building.

Sam Gettman

Got married here 4 years ago. Still married.

Darron Rudolph

Went to dinner there last night and was very disappointed. Wine selection was ok staff was nice and knowledgeable. The food was terrible. The menu has a lot of fried items, nothing grilled. We decided to order shrimp and grits, it was more like none flavored baby food with 4 shrimp with tails inside. Couldn't even eat it. I ordered gumbo over a bed of rice. It was more like a bowl of bbq sauce with sliced sausage in it with a scoop of rice in the middle. This was also not eatable. This is a place we will be going back to anytime soon.

becca mac

Didn't go inside as they were closed but walked around a beautiful little lake with a giant swan who was quite magnificent & very politely asked us to keep our distance! And we did but he did pose a little for the camera. Always respect the wildlife people!

Jon Wiley

Awesome location, awesome staff, awesome wine, awesome food

Sarah jw

The wine was good and the atmosphere was great the staff kinda rude.. the lady at the front door was very abrasive telling us how the winery worked and the lady bartender was behind the bar barking orders and yelling at the guy bartender.... kinda felt like we were bothering the staff to be there... wine was good but you can buy it at the liquor store i recommend one of the other wineries down the street

Maureen Curtis

Fabulous place to have awesome wine and food with a beautiful view!

Chris Zammit

Very beautiful winery. The food was good, albeit a bit pricey. My only real complaint is that the service was slow. Very slow.

K D

Beautiful views. Plenty of seating outside. Has an indoor space for events. Decent selection of wines. This vineyard doesn't have their own wines, but wines from other vineyards. Good food. And service is always friendly.

michael brueckmann

This is an amazing facility. The thought and love that has gone into it shows tremendously. When visiting Defiance, this is a must visit.

Kenneth Swick

Great food, views, and wine.

Tom Bovay

The wine and atmosphere is really nice. We have been there twice and both times the workers were not very nice to us. You can communicate to someone without being condescending.

David Forsythe

Great place !

Tashira Rodriguez

Excellent service and ambiance! Really enjoyed our time there and the staff was very attentive at all times.

Aimée Keener

Not an actual winery. Unless, you define a winery by selling mostly wine...none of which was their own. They sold other companies' wines. It was...disappointing.

Stephen Lawrence

My wife and I recently have gone to this Vineyard. I must say we are quite impressed with how the family has conducted their business at this location. The food is absolutely delicious. We enjoyed the green eggs and ham. The wine choices are excellent. Each wine that is produced here has its own clear taste and character. I loved each one but was able to clearly choose which ones were my favorites with help by the wine connoisseurs. everyone there is very knowledgeable nice and is willing to take your order immediately. I recommend this place for those people who love wine, would like peace and quiet and would love to enjoy some delicious rich food.

Will Huhn

Defiance Ridge was the second of two vineyards I visited on Labor Day Monday. It has a great interior design and patio set up for guests to relax and enjoy the wines they have to offer. Unfortunately, I felt like Missouri wines were a little underrepresented with a strong presence of wines from other states/countries on the menu. Also seemed to upcharge a bit on bottles due to the classier environment even though the wine was similar to others in the area with lower prices

Jan Daniels

Great food and drinks at a reasonable price

Terry McDonald

Very pleasant atmosphere. Good food, nice band. People seem to enjoy dancing. Our waitress was very nice and helpful.

Heather Sparks

We went here for a Mother’s Day brunch. The views were beautiful and the food was great, especially for a buffet.

Isabella Larrigan

great place great people great food just got redone looks STUNNING!!

Jeffrey Lerner

Music was wonderful , food is nice but order early because sometimes it takes over an hour to get your food. Wonderful wine selection. Wonderful outdoor seating with umbrellas at many tables and if you're hot, you can go inside and sit in the air conditioning.

4 Strong

I attended Fireside Yoga which is offered once a month. This was the first time I was at Defiance Ridge Vineyard. The event area is gorgeous with strands of Thomas Edison style lights throughout. The fireside hearth is warm and inviting and while it is a large space it feels very cozy and welcoming. The bathrooms are well-maintained and the Riesling I had with my lunch was wonderful. I would recommend the Yoga program with lunch, dessert and a glass of wine for anyone as an opportunity to slow down and enjoy the morning.

Dale Sapp

Nice view, friendly staff, but slow service, limited dessert, out of Serpedipity ice cream the day we were there. The once beautiful hanging flower baskets are gone from the porch and driveway. Landscaping lacks colorful plants that were once there. Still a nice place, but not as charming as it was with former owners.

Mary Breiten

Lovely place for lunch, but before you book a wedding or special event, be sure to write in the contract: "Event Manager and Event Coordinator will be present at your rehearsal and wedding/event, and will perform only the function of manager/coordinator." Illness prevented the event coordinator from working my daughter's wedding, and the front of house manager Lynn was provided as the substitute. Except she was also serving dinner and working behind the bar, resulting in a serious lack of service, and quite a bit of stress and confusion. Also be sure to write in the contract: " The bar in the pavilion will be open and staffed during the event." Despite several verbal assurances from various employees (Michelle, the former event coordinator, Trevor, another manager, and Lynn), that this would happen, it was not open at the wedding, where over 160 guests had to walk into the tasting bar to be served by one bartender. Most importantly, write in your contract: "Excellent service will be provided by enough staff to serve your wedding or special event." While most wedding venues would consider this common practice, at Defiance Ridge, if it is not written in the contract, it is not provided. Unfortunately, several attempts to request the owner offer a partial refund or even an accounting of responsibility or apology were futile, despite the fact the owner was not present at the wedding (gift cards were offered as a sign of "goodwill"). His reply to our letters was that Defiance Ridge fulfilled it's contractual obligation. If you are considering a large event here, be sure to get those items in writing because they might prevent your special event from being substandard.

David Riggins

Nice place,great service

Holly Beadle

Beautiful view and grounds. Good food and wine! Definitely deserves a visit.

Donald Thomas

My wife and I absolutely love Wine Country Gardens. We take all our friends and family for a visit and out of town guest. Great food and atmosphere, not to mention the view.

brianna nicholson

One of the prettiest views from the windows. Try the wine slushies, they are great! Stay and have lunch on the covered porch or outside. I've been here a couple of times, once during a busy festival and once when it was quite slow. Both times staff paid attention to my party and quick to let us do some tasting. Do not miss this place on your wine trails!

Janet Cockrell

The Wine Country Garden is one of the best wineries that I have had the pleasure of going to. My husband and I enjoy the atmosphere and the politeness of the staff.

Brandon Walker

Went here for an anniversary lunch with my wife after a long hike at the Weldon Spring Conservation Area (Lost Valley Trail) and really enjoyed the experience. Will certainly be returning. Food: 4/5 My wife and I split the rustic cheese board and the barnyard burger. The cheese board came with three cheeses, some nice crusty bread, and a variety of fruits topped with spiced walnuts. The brie was 'meh' but the other two cheeses were delicious. And the burger was phenomenal! We were both stuffed with just these two dishes. Drink: 4.5/5 The house cab sav was nice. A little bit of blackberry and pretty mild. A nice table wine. The peach mango sparkling wine really stood out though--it was bursting with refreshing flavor, perfect for a hot Missouri summer day. Finally, I ventured out and tried some local Wood Hat Aged Blue Corn Bourbon and was pleasantly surprised. The blue corn they make it with gives the bourbon a distinctive nutty and almost buttery flavor. It was very smooth and very tasty. Almost like drinking some kind of sweet nutty breakfast roll. Will definitely be drinking that again. View: 4/5 The vineyard sits atop a hill, with a nice patio overlooking the vines below and with a lovely view of the hills on the other side of the valley. I even saw a doe grazing below us while we ate.

Thomas K

Place has nice views and good wines but they were sold out of all the food we wanted by about 2 hours before their closing time....

Rebekah Hillerman

Very good wine, good service too.

Kristina Williams

Great food. Great wine. Will definitely be back.

TribbleGirl21

Such a beautiful place!! And the food is delicious!

Barbara Pirge Soelle

New owners.

Rob Greitens

Four of us rode up off the KATY trail this morning and had lunch. We had a great time. The man bartending was a cyclist too. We had a great time discussing beer and wine and bike adventures. The food we had (guys) beef sandwiches and (gals) salads were delicious. After reading some of the reviews here about a 'rude' staff; I am shocked. Our experience could not have been more friendly or pleasant.

Emily Seagraves

Wine was enjoyable, food was reallyfood and they just updated the tasting room and it looks beautiful. The views are definitely worth a stop alone

Ashley Colter

Nice layout. Food was good. Wines were ok. Nice to have the option to try some local whiskeys. Overall worth a stop in to enjoy with family, friends or that special someone.

Bill Freeman

I was at Wine country gardens this week for lunch with a couple friends.We walked around the grounds and the landscaping is just amazing so beautiful.We walked into the front door and we were greeted by a lovely lady that explain how it works at WCG.We then went to the bar to do wine tasting.The lady at the bar was so nice and she know her wines and you get 3 free I thought that was great.We decided on a bottle of wine.We then went outside a picked the perfect table and looked over the menu.I ordered the pulled pork nachos my friends ordered salads.You order at the front counter and they bring the food to your table.We soon received our food all i can say is wow the pork nachos were wonderfully we all loved our food We will return soon and tell all of our friends

Nick Merz

Fantastic setting and a good list of wines to choose from.

Lisa Nichols

Love love love Defiance Ridge Vineyards. Great food, great music and of course dancing :)

Ron Tremayne

Good wine, great setting for out door dining

N Schlueter

Beautiful place. Nice atmosphere. Lousy food service. We were there on a Sunday afternoon. The place was not crowded, but we waited well over an hour for our appetizers. No explanation until we inquired about our order and then no apology. We were just told the kitchen was backed up and they were busy. Later we ordered lunch and at that time were told it would be a half hour to 45 minutes until we would get our food. Over and hour later, the food had still not arrived and we again had to inquire about it. We were served about 10 minutes later than that with no apology for the delay. Will not be planning to order food there again.

Brent Curia

We waited over an hour for our food while people who order after us got theirs. One couple ordered 15 min after us and got theirs. We waited another 25 min and still nothing. I finally got pissed and demanded a refund and we left.. The guy, I assumed was the owner, was indifferent to wanting our money back and didn't even apologize. Wine Country Gardens. Nice layout lousy service.

Jessica K

Recently attended a event here. The venue is absolutely beautiful. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the wine but the staff was so friendly. There is a lot of outdoor seating, plus a covered outdoor area for seating as well and the food was amazing. Beautiful venue for any event.

Chris Cochran

This is an extremely hard rating and review! Venue is beautiful, but only saw 2 bathrooms. We did a wine tasting and chose the Defiance Ridge Cabernet, extremely easy drinking and tasty! We proceeded to the outside patio to drink and order some food. No one ever asked or approached us to take our order, very sad because the food looked delicious. Finished our bottle and told Lynn (she was our waitress for tasting) no one ever waited, she was more than apologetic and made things right. Like I said I usually don’t post reviews this low but Lynn was extremely nice and knowledgeable about their wines. She is the reason we will return!!! Update ** We returned and once again Lynne is the reason we love this place. She has an infectious attitude that puts you in a good mood. Try this place and look her up.

Roberta Mueller

Beautiful grounds, great views. This place is huge. I wish the area for viewing music was larger, but amplification was at a good level regardless. Parking is a bit puzzling, with spotty availability.

shawn long

Wedding, great, just wish they would have rolled down the walls and air conditioned.

LoLo B

Very pretty patio. Lovely for photographs. The venue was nice for the wedding and the reception.

Abby Herndon

Beautiful grounds, food is quick and tasty. The only downside is the fact they don't have any Missouri wine.

Elizabeth Landgraf

Lovely setting and good food!

Brad Touchette

Beautiful surroundings, great stage, awesome wine.

Diane Silva

Love the place! The owners are so nice and the place has such a nice atmosphere! The service was great! We love the wedding coordinator Lisa she was wonderful! Would highly recommend this winery for a wedding or just a night out!

Cassie Barry

Great place to eat lunch. I would NOT recommend using them as a wedding venue due to the amount of stress I felt while trying to communicate with their team, not abiding by what was promised regarding the wedding, complete lack of customer service or care and lack of organization. After discussing all the issues that occurred before the wedding and the day of the wedding with the owner, we were met with excuses and a disrespectful response. For the amount of money that was paid to them, I am in shock of the lack of care he had.

Kirstie Bischoff

I've been here both for brunch and weddings, and both were wonderful experiences. The back patio has a beautiful view, and the gazebo was the perfect spot for a wedding ceremony. They offer open bar packages for events, which is a favorite of guests. The reception venue has a large brick fireplace with an open dance floor. They were very accommodating of all vendors and everything went off without a hitch!

Sandra Simon

Can’t get through on number listed in you web site Please check this out as we have a book club that would like to go and can’t make phone contact to save a table for at least ten people for lunch!

terry horsfall

Good wine, food and view. You need to supply your own friends, although everyone is very friendly.

K Mohrmann

Nice place under new ownership. Wish they had a full bar but the view is great!

rochelle cotton

Beautiful and fun. Great music!

Andrew McDougall

Great food and good pie. Great place for lunch.

Adam Kruse

The best wine in the Defiance area, because its not missouri wine! Good full food menu, and great patio. I noticed some people were having a big charity event there later, and their space for this seemed perfect too.

Erik Hankins

Love this place, but menu just changed. Was not impressed with new food options, lot of fried items.

Alberta Jones

Great place for a large or small gathering. Food is good and reasonably priced. Large selection of wines for sale.

Cody James Wilson

I grew up here in Defiance and as a kid actually worked here. It is not the perfect place but it's pretty dang good. The staff for the most part does what it takes to ensure a good visit and the food is pretty good with average prices. Only thing I could critic would be the staff should be full service versus the fast food nature presented.

Ed L

Nice place with good wine and food

koRona

Great home-made ice cream; very unexpected at a winery. The service was fantastic as well.

Deb

Fun atmosphere and good food. The wine tasting was fun too! I go here a couple of times a year for events or family/friend fun for lunch. I also love their landscaping and plants they sell. Really great place!

Patsy Osborn

Took our family to lunch. The food was awesome. So was the service. I made arrangements for the ladies of my neighborhood. We are so looking forward to the experience and the beautiful Views.

Ryan Schmid

Nice indoor and out, great wine.

EMMA DOLAN

The best place ever

Sharon Grass

Beautiful grounds. If you like sweet wines they have a good selection.

Edwin Penfold

Entertainment was great, cost of wine was high. Plan not returning. Better wines for less cost at other local wineries.

kit harrison

Nice place.....staff , definetly not very friendly !

Kathleen Thomas

Our absolute favorite winery - Wine Country Gardens! We recommend it to everyone. The food is outstanding and the assortment of wines and atmosphere are superb. A "must do" on a pretty weekend!

Jerry May

Have been there several times and have always enjoyed myself.

Doris Altmansberger

This was my favorite winery....Please bring back the old menue. I am craving the fish tacos.

Diane Burkard

I loved the atmosphere and the scenery. The food is good, and the drink selection is great. They have many different kinds of wine from all over, and for those who don't like wine, they also have a full bar. I have never experienced any rudeness from anyone working there and highly recommend it.

L Greer

First trip to this winery. Loved it, we'll be back for sure. Great wines, beautiful atmosphere, nice food selection, nice live jazz music, gardens, views. Very dog friendly, all the staff stopped by to talk to our dog.

Julie Probus-Schad

Menu selections have changed; some for the better and we MISS pork wings and portobellos!!!

Ashley Taylor

Nice, beautiful. Excellent food and service

armando garcia

Pricey but fun

Carolyn Sorensen

There for a wedding & reception. It was quite lovely!

Judith Westermann

Beautiful atmosphere in countryside. Delicious food...especially Portobella sandwich with apple cole slaw. Friendly and great wait staff! Would be a good venue for a large corporate outing also!

jenny hyman

The wines were great and the view on the lunch patio is gorgeous.

Andy Dincher

Lots of room for improvement. Not serving their own vintages and the grounds need a clean up

Ronald Bell

Great food and service. Great view also.

Jordan Strope

My husband and I used Wine Country Gardens as our wedding venue and it couldn't have turned out more perfect! Michelle was there to help us every step of the way! Her staff was very attentive and made sure everything happened on time! The food was top of the line! Every guest complimented us on choosing a great venue! Thank you michelle!

Brian Linden

Great staff and place to relax.

Andras M Marton

In our opinion, it was a good venue, with good food; however, the mosquitos were out of control, and the venue was very hot despite ceiling fans. Granted, you are essentially on a porch, but we've been to others without the mosquitos and cooler air.

Jerad Shuster

A great lunch with an amazing view.

Chris Robert

My favorite winery in MO. Also one of the best places to host a wedding. If you have not been you need to go. Great food, great wine, great views.

Laura Jordan

This is an amazing Winery. The wines are delicious and the food is wonderful. It is especially great venue. They treat all guests like family. It is always a pleasure to come here.

Jim F

This place is incredible. Great food and atmosphere. One of the cool things is the huge swan that patrols it's pond. If you like wineries this is a very close to St. Louis and just 25 minutes from downtown St. Charles. You will love it.

baac 46

I had my reception here because it was beautiful and I was promised that if I also booked a Friday rehearsal dinner, I would be able to decorate ahead of time (a must for me). Instead, they booked another reception to end only an hour before mine began (which didn't actually end until a half hour until mine began)! I didn't find this out until after I had bought a lot of very expensive decorations. I never got so much as an appology from the owner because my ability to decorate wasn't in the actual contract. The owner THEN offered to give me the other brides phone number (without her consent) to beg her to let me put up some decorations ahead of time. Aside from that, they did nothing to try to fix their mistake or help in any way, and refused to have their staff help put up decorations. I ended up having to pay people to come do it (friends who had really wanted to be able to attend the ceremony instead). It was a disaster and made my wedding day VERY stressful. Moral of the story, do not take their word for ANYTHING and make sure every want you have is in writing in the contract. Otherwise it's chopped liver.

Brian Lewis

Amazing patio for drinking wine outside! Decent beer selection for a winery.

Lisa Kearney

Highly recommended. Awesome venue for a relaxing lunch or a glass of wine with friends and/or family. Great food, wine, views, and staff. Never a bad experience. We visit often!

Will Christensen

Everything is redone and beautiful. Hoping they do something creative where the old flower shop used to be. Inside is gorgeous! Outside is beautiful!

Joyce Neikirk

Beautiful views, great food, friendly staff and fun, talented local bands.

Adrian Grellner

Had a great time.

Anne Boedeker

Great place. Good servers and terrific band today- The Garden Party.

THERESA WERDER

Really nice place. The music was great! Can't beat Rogers and Neinhaus. We'll be going back.

Tammy Mueller

everyone is so nice there. great atmosphere, wine and food

Lloyd Mcdonald

Live music, good food, oh yeah very good wine

William Vancil

Very nice ..good food

Victoria Glosecki

Great food and great view!

Amie Martin

Beautiful sitting and food is great!

Donald Potthoff

First visit after the conversion to Defiance Ridge from Wine Country Gardens. Lost are the old menu favorites, the menu has shrunk significantly. The prices have changed and now there is full service seating when ordering food. Bottom line is we were very disappointed being this place was one of our favorite wineries.

Kim Barber

Beautiful view, and great wine!

Ann Kelley

Stunning venues with beautiful vistas and great event space. I was here for a wedding and was seriously impressed with the spaces, views, service and large size.

Jane Hicks

Great environment and food. Attended wine dinner and had wonderful time:)

Bill L

Wine Country Gardens is my favorite summer/fall getaway. I've been coming here with my friends for about 2 years now after discovering it was so close to the Katy Trail. The food is fantastic (I love the brisket sandwich and chips) and the landscaping is so beautiful with a wonderful view of the valley. I'm not a drinker, so I can't say much about the wine, but I always have fun talking to the bartenders and giving them a hard time about not serving Missouri wine. I mainly wanted to write this review because of the thoughtful way I was treated on my birthday. When my friend mentioned my birthday to the cashier, the staff brought out our food along with a large Happy Birthday sign and wished me a happy birthday. It was a very nice surprise and much appreciated. Yes - I'm a big fan of WCG.

Night Hawk

Very mellow venue. Not over crowded. GREAT food. Relaxed, garden, old home setting. Friendly staff. Light on staff, but helps with the relaxed atmosphere!

Mary Szpatoski

We really enjoy the Defiance Ridge Vineyards. Cindy & Chuck have been doing an amazing job rejuvinating the winery. Look forward to enjoying the summers & upcoming events!!

Nancy Broeker

Just opened with new owners. The wine and good was a little pricey. Good service but they were not busy.

Amanda J

Very disorganized. Didnt plan for the nice weather. The guy doing wine tasting wasnt interested in helping us. Sat down and waited 15 minutes for someone to take our order after talking to multiple wait staff. Then it was going to take almost an hour for a cheese tray. Wont be back.

Dennis Knapik

Great food, view of the river valley/bluffs, huge outdoor patio