Vinoklet Winery & Vineyard

Am, for once, glad I did not check Unilocal prior to our visit. We took a quick afternoon trip on Sunday to check out the winery and some wines; we did not eat and cannot speak to the quality of food. There was only one other couple there, who told us they are regulars and really enjoy Vinoklet. We purchased a flight of 8 wines for $ 10, which was poured in small, plastic cups which made it a bit difficult to share between the two of us. He prefers red while I prefer white, so sharing one flight was our best option. I really liked all of the wine, but am also not particularly picky. We also ordered a snack plate for $ 6, which included a few slices of pineapple, two types of cubed cheese, pepperoni slices, and a few packages of club crackers. Not an ideal snack tray for wine tasting, but did the job. The grounds are absolutely beautiful, even on a snowy day, and the inside was clean though a bit dated. I guess I am not surprised there weren’t more patrons based on the weather, and am surprised at the reviews here based on our experience (though fairly limited), Facebook reviews, and a few personal recommendations. We had a nice time and purchased a bottle to take home.

Before you read this and think I’m one of those restaurant customers that is difficult look at my other reviews and see that by and large they are positive. I’m not hard to please. I was seriously disappointed. I’ve had friends and family eat here before and say it was delicious and the wine was good. In my experience, the food is severely overpriced. I payed $ 18 for the Salmon Filet that was overcooked and dry, red skin potatoes (the only part of the meal I enjoyed), and over cooked vegetables that most certainly came from a freezer bag and microwaved to over completion. The wine was ok but wasn’t their’s so I feel that doesn’t add any merit to them. We also ordered a cheese plate ($ 6) as an appetizer and again was almost certainly store bought and plunked onto a plate. The server and (assuming) FOH manager seemed like they had never waited on a table before. It was completely disorganized. Check my other reviews and you’ll see I’m not hard to please but when I’m paying $ 18 for a meal I at least expect the food to be fresh and not microwaved. I will never come back to this place.

This place is a joke.
Came in on a Saturday night with a 6pm reservation for six. Were seated and were told we had to wait as they do their wine tastings in groups of 12−15…so we sit there for 25 minutes waiting for our turn. The group before us had to taste 5 wines THEN wait in line to pay for dinner before we were called up because there wasn’t enough room for us to taste until they were seated.
Now it’s our turn, our group and another 4 – 5 people awkwardly form a circle awkwardly hovering another table and blocking the bathroom, so we had to constantly move out of the way for people while we tried terrible wines out of little plastic cups reminiscent of the ones they serve grape juice in church with. Half the wines were Croatian and terrible. Out of the other 3, one was decent so we went with that.
Soup and salad were good, the sides we got after cooking our food were terrible. The place was overcrowded and loud, service was bad and the whole experience was a cluster#%&!. Clearly they’re trying to fit as many people in as they can to maximize profit while minimizing the customer experience.

This review is based on the wine tasting, customer service, and the vineyard itself. Per the suggestion of other Unilocalers, we did not eat a meal here.
Now to really get started… we stopped by for my friend’s bachelorette party. We asked to sit outside for our tasting and were led to a private outdoor seating area. We told the server we did not want a wine presentation during our tasting, so he brought all of the wines to sample on personal trays with a list of then wines & info next to it. It was a gorgeous view and we really enjoyed the experience. It is rare that I go to a place and enjoy every wine I sample, but Vinoklet did just that! Each person in my group left with at least one bottle of wine.
Our server was very nice! He even offered (since he wasn’t busy) to take some pictures of our group in the vineyard. I appreciated that he went the extra mile to make sure we were happy with our experience – and we were! I would LOVE to go back to the vineyard for one of their many events.

Went for a birthday celebration last night. We sampled 5 wines. My favorite wines were the dreamer & la dolce vita. We had both with dinner and took a full bottle of each home. We had salad, bread and soup first. The soup was homemade beef vegetable it was very good. The fresh baked bread was delicious. Then we were invited to the grill room to cook our own meat. I had a nice sized steak which I seasoned it to perfection and grilled it well done. Others in my party had swordfish, shrimp, and chicken. They ran out of salmon. All enjoyed their selections. Next, we went to the buffet and had seasoned corn, redskin mashed potatoes and green beans. The green beans could have been seasoned better not horrible, just a little bland. The coffee was good. We didn’t try the desserts because we brought our own cake. Had a great time and hope to go back soon.

We celebrated my dad’s 80^th birthday at Vinoklet. The celebration was a huge success. We had the baked chicken and pot roast buffet. My husband said the chicken was okay. I had the pot roast, and it was marvelous! The smashed potatoes and vegetables were great, too. The salad was typical buffet fare. The employees were terrific. They were extremely helpful from the time we booked the party and through the actual party. We were able to bring our own cake and table decorations. We had the celebration on a Sunday afternoon. The restaurant is closed, but customers can come in for wine tastings. We basically had the place to ourselves. My dad and all of our guests had a wonderful time!

Wines are horrible. We went to the festival and tasted all the wines. One dry red was tolerable (and twice the price of the rest), so we decided to buy a bottle to drink on the premises. They pulled it out of a cooler of ice. We had to let it warm up to drink it. Bad wines and rude service.

We went to celebrate Mother’s Day without knowing what to expect since it is our first time. The exterior is very tranquil and we started our experience by getting some vino and drinking it on a swing outside. They were preparing for a wedding and it was stunning. We then went inside to confirm our reservation. The service was very poor: we were never explained how the dining process would work; we never received menus; and we were not offered anything to drink, but did receive water. However, most of the dining experience is self-​serve, so it wasn’t a huge deal. We then went for wine tasting, which was nice. The food was the best part. Super delicious and we loved cooking our own food and overall had a fantastic time. In summary, food, wine, and exterior get 5 stars. Service gets 2 of 5 stars and the interior decorations 3 of 5 since more modern upgrades are definitely needed. The best part was meeting the owner, Kreso, who was incredibly welcoming and nice. He gave us a tour and introduced us to the history of the vineyard. Overall, we have fantastic memories from Vinoklet. We definitely endorse Vinoklet with a recommendation to improve the service and upgrade the interior for a true 5 star overall experience. We will be back!

The ambience and wine are what you are really paying for. The salad and soup were mediocre at best. Given the fact that we grill our own meat, that leaves the side dishes to be rated. The mashed potatoes were real potatoes but lacked salt and pepper. The veggies were also lacking in flavor and seasoning. The beans had been cooked to mush. The steak was a great cut of meat and grilled well. (Not so bad if I do say so myself) the dessert was a choice between lemon meringue, cookies n cream pie, peanut butter pie, and cheesecake. I chose the cheesecake and it was obviously not homemade. Definitely frozen. But the steak was good…

Vinoklet is an amazing winery. My now fiancé and I have been several times together, and she had been many times before that with her family due to living and growing up in the Cincinnati area. The staff is wonderful, the grounds are beautiful, and the food is outstanding. I don’t think you could ask for much more than that. I proposed to my fiancé at the winery this past weekend, and everything was great. The wait staff actually prepared a basket of fruit and wine, which they didn’t have to do. One of the servers was also gracious enough to take photos of our moment, so that we could cherish it forever. I cannot say enough nice things about this place. Vino Veritas is our favorite wine, and we would highly recommend it, although the wine tasting allows you to find your own favorite.

I’ll get the nice part out of the way first. The grounds are beautiful. If you live in the area, it’s a nice place to sit at sunset. The art and wine festival are always fun.
But…
The food is absolutely terrible. They have a lot of nerve charging what they do for what amounts to a mediocre steak and a bunch of canned sides and instant mashed potatoes. It is fun to cook on the communal grill, but for $ 37, I’ll go to Morton’s or Ruby’s.
Above all, the worst part is the service. As I read the other reviews, I could relate. It’s downright offensive at times. And yes, the interior feels like some deranged and dilapidated film set out of a 70’s horror film. So that’s either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your sense of humor.
The wine is what you’d expect for being in a suburb outside of town. So I won’t bother with that.
The art and wine festival really is fun though. It’s great to walk check out the exhibitors among the grapevines. Don’t bother eating inside if you go. Just grab some of the outdoor festival style food and enjoy the grounds.

I had my wedding and reception here back in October 2013 and it was AMAZING! The staff was outstanding and the atmosphere was awesome! My guests loved it and all they talked about was the food! Unfortunately it started to rain right when the wedding was over and our outdoor cocktails had to be moved inside but no one seemed to mind! Plus with the winery backdrop our pictures were outstanding!
I highly recommend this place for dinner or a wedding!

I came to Vinoklet on a Saturday for the grill out special.
It is $ 35 for dinner, wine tasting, and a half a bottle of wine per person (bottle of wine per couple). If you want to get the steak it is a couple of bucks on top of the $ 35. Vinoklet is a nice winery with a private gravel parking lot. You walk back to the restaurant area under the vines that hold the grapes that will make the very wine you can drink here. There is an indoor dining space, an enclosed outdoor space, and I believe there is also outdoor dining here.
With your grill meal package you get a salad that you serve yourself, dinner that you grill yourself, and dessert that you can pick from. Don’t forget about the wine tasting that is done by the owners themselves and the half bottle of wine per person. You are free to start with your salad and proceed at your own pace. They have grilling/​cooking instructions for all of the different options. You have a choice of chicken, steak, cod, salmon, and shrimp for your entrée. Sides include potatoes, green beans, corn, and dinner roll.
Vinoklet is a great vineyard in Cincinnati and I recommend coming out and walking through the fields. There was a wedding going on during our dinner and they used the area by the pond for their ceremony. After they finished they went to the reception space that is set up in Vinoklet. Enjoy a glass of wine and walk down to the pond or take a seat in the grass under the trees. Vinoklet is a must do for anyone from Cincinnati.

The motel where we were staying was about 15 minutes away from the winery/​restaurant, so my wife and I decided to visit and kill some time with a wine tasting. It was early Friday afternoon and the place was completely empty which wasn’t too surprising as they only do dinners on Friday. We told the lady who greeted us that we wanted to do a wine tasting and she showed us the menu. They make eight wines: four whites, two reds, a rose’, and a dessert wine. We opted to try the two reds, $ 1 per taste plus tax. She offered to open up the sun room for us and we accepted. It was a nice view, looking down a hill to a pond with rows of grapes vines to each side. Our hostess returned with a small tray holding 4 plastic medicine cups filled with wine and two glass wine glasses. She told us which sample was what wine and left us in peace. So we sat there, chatting and enjoying the view. One wine (Brother Joe) was a Cabernet Sauvignon blend (with Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin) while the other (Cincinnatus) was a Merlot and Chambourcin blend. Of the two wines, we preferred the merlot blend over the cab.

Vinkolet offers one of the most bizarre dining experiences in Cincinnati. As soon as I walked in the door I knew my girlfriend and I had made a mistake. The outdated décor is reminiscent of a nursing home that hasn’t received an update since the 1970s. The main dining room features dirty and worn out green carpeting with a collection of off-​putting artwork on the walls.
After waiting approximately seven minutes before any employee greeted us we were shown to our table which hadn’t been cleaned off from the prior guests despite a virtually empty dining area. We sat at our table for fifteen minutes without menus when finally we were invited to our wine tasting. To use the phrase «wine tasting» is probably a stretch. You are provided with less than a full sip of five awful tasting wines that probably retail for $ 9 a bottle. The person providing the commentary of the wine tasting knew nothing about the wine or wine making. The whole demonstration lasts about ten minutes and you are provided with animal crackers between wines to clean the palette.
After the «wine tasting» you select which bottle you would like with your dinner and what you’d like as your entrée. My girlfriend and I both went with the NY strip steak. There are no chefs at Vinkolet. Instead you are shown to a room with a giant grill and provided with two raw steaks. There is salt and pepper for seasoning, but that’s it. After your prepare your own dinner you are shown to a buffet to select your sides. The room was filthy and the food was cold. It reminded me of buffet you’d expect to see at a rest stop on the side of an interstate.
To summarize, we paid $ 108 to cook our own steaks with cold mashed potatoes and microwavable dinner rolls with a bottle of wine that tasted like poison. If you are looking for a classy romantic evening this isn’t your destination. What a joke!

Came here for a double birthday party to do the prix fixe wine dinner.
First, your hostess will explain the 5 wines on the menu and give you a taste of each. You then pick your favorite, half or full bottle, and pair it with a meal (steak, chicken, salmon). The price of the meal depends on what meat you get, but I HIGHLY recommend going for the steak if you want the greatest bang for your buck. I believe the steak was only a few bucks more and much, much bigger portion than the meager chicken. Salmon comes wrapped in foil (to grill) and was just terrible.
The fun part is grilling your own meat with your friends while trying not to act too tipsy. Believe it or not, 5 wine tastings in quick succession works wonders on people’s moods. I almost forgot they pulled a quick one by charging me extra for the wine I selected (prices vary by as much as $ 5 depending on the wine).
The sides that are bad for you are tasty, and the vegetables overcooked. We didn’t look twice at the dessert since we had brought our own Bonbonerie cakes (birthday benefits!). Afterwards, when your party is sufficiently buzzed, you can migrate outside to stroll the vineyards. We were here in the winter so we sat huddled around the fire pit outside before calling it a night.
Supposedly a prix fixe $ 35 meal, but there are so many add-​on charges (which meat, half bottle/​full bottle, which wine), that I ended up paying $ 45+. Totally not worth the splurge or the long drive, but wine makes any party a happy party, so no one complained.
P. S. — If you’re vegetarian, you can get pasta instead. Portion is suspiciously ginormous.

One of the worst dining experiences in my 3 years living in the Buckeye state. There is a reason that Ohio wines never win medals for wine competitions outside of the midwest. I should have known what I was in for when they handed me a pair of cough medicine cups to taste the wine. We then proceeded through a series of 8 locally crafted wines, each worse than the previous rot gut. What was even more painful was being informed that I had to choose a bottle to accompany our dinner.
Not to worry, the dinner was equally unimpressive. Each diner choose 1 protein and proceeds to a room with a BBQ grill to cook their own food. New flash: When I pay to go out to dinner, I want the restaurant to cook for me! Then it was off to the «fixin’s» bar where we had the pleasure of choosing between canned corn, boiled vegetable medley and a vat of mashed red potatoes.
The salad bar consisted of some cut lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, croutons and 2 choices of dressing straight out of a can. I can only imagine what Robert Irvine would say to describe this unimpressive venue.
My recommendation: AVOID AT ALL COST!!!

If this was a review on the atmosphere/​grounds, it would be 4 – 5 stars. What a beautiful property and nice change of scenery. The vineyard is gorgeous, with rolling hills lined with grapevines, pretty ponds, etc. There’s a huge fire pit outside for chilly nights. Landscaping is lovely, and the building is quaint.
Wines: I’m not a wine expert, but feel fairly experienced enough to know what is pretty good. There’s a reason that Ohio isn’t known for its wines: it isn’t the right climate for wine. So, will this be a Napa quality selection? No. That being said, I really love that there is a winery in Cincinnati– it feels like you have transported out of Ohio for a little while. The wines are very sweet and fruity, so if you like that, you will like the wines. I preferred the Premium Cabernet, as it was more like what you might expect from a Cab and tasted pretty good and not so sweet.
Food: If you go for the «Grilled to perfection» dinner, you are really paying for the whole experience, not really the food. It’s nice to taste all the wines, and you get a half bottle per person (extra for the two premium wines). The sides and salad were fine, but very cafeteria-​like. The steak, I’d say, is the most worth it, because it tastes great on the huge grill. Next, I’d probably suggest the chicken or pork chops. I tried my friend’s salmon– it was not very good. I had the shrimp, which was good, but was only one skewer of regular sized shrimp and not very filling. It’s fun to grill your own meat, but on the same token, at $ 35 – 37 a pop, you kind of wish the rest of the food was a little bit better. There are also no vegetarian options. I think they should throw in some portabellas or something on the menu for our non-​meat eating friends. So, all together, I’m a little torn at whether the price tag meets the perceived value.
I would say that if you haven’t experienced Vinoklet on a beautiful spring or summer evening, you should do it. Just adjust your expectations for the food, and soak in the pretty sights. You can make an evening of it with friends or on a date, and hang out on the grounds after you eat.

We had a reservation for 25 for the Wed. night spaghetti special. The $ 7.95 special advertised online (under specials for Wed.) was not the same as what we found was offered — it NO longer INCLUDES a glass of wine, but was $ 6.95 + wine for $ 4. However, the food was still cheap so we said «OK». We were there for the company & didn’t want to cause a scene. They need to change the website. I have to agree with other reviewers that the food was out of a bag, box, or can.
It is really a shame because the grounds of Vinoklet are really gorgeous! There is a wonderful, long, grape arbor that you walk through to get to the restaurant. That leads to a pretty courtyard with a water feature & many beautiful flowers. There is a pond with a large, landscaped area next to it for weddings, etc. We took a short walk down the paved walk through the vineyards, next to another pond, and were treated to a beautiful sunset!
The restaurant itself inside was OK. We ate on the attached area with a greenhouse type window & ½ the table had a fantastic view:) Downstairs outside there is a patio area where after 7pm there was live music — on a Wed. They said they serve food downstairs too.
The staff ranged from friendly to overwhelmed to OK.

My husband and I did the $ 35.00 a person dinner where you get. Soup/​Salad, Grill your choice of fish, steak, pork chops and chicken, a bottle of wine and dessert.
Pros: I like the view where we were sitting which overlooked the vineyards at sunset and grilling was fun! I got the salmon and it was flavored lemon butter. I got the Cincinnatus red table wine which was excellent.
Cons: The vegetables was really soggy and overdone, the dessert tasted processed.
I think the pricing is alittle to high per person. If it was $ 25.00 a person, I would consider coming back again.
The staff was very helpful friendly.