Fall Creek Vineyards

I am usually not the type of person that complains but after my latest visit to the tasting room I am left with no other option. I visited the Driftwood location on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and I must say I was beyond disappointed with the customer service that day.
First of all I purchased a couple of picnic baskets for my family and I. I made a mistake when ordering but Courtney was more than amazing when taking care of my order. On the other hand as soon as we arrived I was told by another lady that the basket did not come with a glass of wine like the menu said it did. So I shrugged my shoulders and for the sake of not arguing I just kept my mouth shut. The food was frozen not cold but frozen should’ve taken photos of the wings.
Second, the guy pouring the wine named Steve is always very rude but this time he was beyond rude. He didn’t smile and uncorked the bottle incorrectly. Then my mother asked a lady which bottle she was holding and she responded with” it’s 27.99 !” Ina very condescending tone. At first I thought she must have misheard but when my mother asked her a different question she again replied with the price and walked away. Never did my mother ask her about the price.
Lastly one of your employees suggested the wine we had ordered wouldn’t pair well with Mexican food. So it wasn’t an everyday table wine for me. I am Hispanic and proud of it but my culture is irrelevant to my wine choice. Besides I was eating the picnic basket so why bring up my race? My parents felt awkward and decided to leave.
I felt so embarrassed because I wanted to treat my family to a wonderful time but instead they had a horrible time.
I have already cancelled my wine membership.

This was the worst place ever! We came to hang out with 5 girls for a bachlorette and the staff were rude, condescending, and unwelcoming. We ended up going across the street to salt lick cellars and they were 100 times better. I don’t know how they stay open with their poor customer service.

Unwelcoming. Condescending. Rude. Over 60 crowd.
The blonde woman even had the guts to tell us that the hallway is narrow and that we are taking up too much space. Though one of us says they had comfortable chairs. Here is to 5 bad reviews in an hour. Cheers!

Nice.
That’s it. Just nice.
Not extraordinary or amazing or can’t-live-without-it.
Just nice.
I do understand it’s a winery and ambience plays a part. But when I can get the very same bottle of wine at HEB for about half of what I paid here… makes it tough to return.
My patio is as nice as the patio here. Soooo… it’s hard to stomach paying twice the price when I could just swing by HEB then sit in my own comfy patio chair and enjoy my own lovely view.

Beautiful area and outdoor seating. Sub par expensive wine tastings that are poured out of spigots from uninterested staff. If you are looking for a place to just relax with a group and not worry about interruptions or being chatted with the staff, this is your place. If you are looking for more of an all around experience and knowledge gained from the staff as well as good quality wines, then look elsewhere.

Only 3 stars today because of disorganization and one indifferent wine pouring gal. There were four other Fall Creek employees who did a good job. They were clearly trying to get everyone who was a Fall Creek Wine Club member their orders.
I like Fall Creek wines. I know they can do better and I’ll be back to visit.

Just an okay place. The scenery isn’t great out back at all when everything is plowed up and all you see is mud. There’s nothing else to look at in the back even if there were grapes growing. If the trees were mowed down and there was a nice landscape, it would be more inviting but instead it looks like a muddy backyard.
Upon walking up to the door, we were greeted by a lady who told us about the $ ¹⁵⁄₆ sample deal they had going on. She swiped our cards and handed us a menu. We were to check off what we want to try and go inside. She was chatty and warm which was nothing like inside. When we walked in, we saw a living room type area and a dining area with a large tall table as well as a screened back porch and down the stairs was another sitting area with a screened pool. We stood there and weren’t sure where to go. We looked for an empty counter and were hardly greeted. The guy there basically said hi, looked at our papers and just poured. He began chatting with a couple but hardly smiled. We tried to get more out of him but it didn’t work. We took our glasses and sat outside. We were all grossed out at the flavor. I wish I had my paper with me still so I could warn people. My friend couldn’t even finish hers but I got mine down somehow and wish I hadn’t. She poured hers out. They had a horrible aftertaste. My other friend said hers was just okay. You get so little that it can be finished in one sip so we went back up. We went to a guy serving in the screened area. He was just as quiet as the last guy. No chatting, all business. He didn’t seem like he would have known what the wines would taste like so I didn’t feel like asking. I believe he was just wearing a T-​shirt and shorts. Not professional at all. We sat back down and were just a little happy with our new picks although we couldn’t finish those and poured them out at the next bar. The lady there wasn’t really thrilled to be there I guess. She said hi and you’re welcome and bye but that was about it. She never looked at anyone getting wine. These servers were stiff. They needed their own glasses of wine. These new selections were better so we sat at the tall table in the dining room area and chatted with some people we met. We ended up moving to the living room area to chat there. It started to get noisy once we all started chatting which was a relief because when we walked in, it seemed everyone there was afraid to talk. Had they have put on some nice French country, or fun jazzy music people would have been happier. You tend to walk in and not be able to see where to start so it immediately starts off odd. I watched new people walk into the place and stand in one spot once they walked in and look around. I guess they also didn’t get instructions on what to do because the counters all look too small to be able to hold several clean wine glasses. You immediately just see groups of people so it looked as though private parties were going on and you didn’t want to interrupt them so you just stand there and wait. We saw people with a plate of some kind of food but there was no one walking around asking if anyone needed anything and all the counters were busy. There wasn’t anyone to ask for food. We gave up and didn’t even get our last samples of wine because they were so terrible and the atmosphere lacking. Many of the people there seemed a bit uptight like the servers. It was so odd. The servers can set the tone and it wasn’t definitely showing it. If you want a glass of water, too bad. You have to pay $ 1 for a bottle of water. That’s a bit disappointing considering they serve food. They should have glasses of water for those who need some.
My advice to this place is to have employees instruct people where to go and how to start out. The locations of the wine counters are terribly awkward and they do not look inviting. If you put a counter into a corner so the server’s back is facing the corner, it looks as though that’s where people get their wine and they will be facing the people walking through the door. Having a serving counter back in the dining room where there are chairs being pulled out and people cannot walk around easily does not help. Your scenery is lacking terribly. Please use excellent wine so people will want to actually buy them and not pour them out unless you’re only banking on people spending $ 15 and leaving. Servers should be happy to be there and act like it. $ 1 for water doesn’t help this place.
I won’t be returning to this place nor telling people anything about it. It was disappointing, boring and stuffy. It may have potential though so I’m hoping it gets better in a few months.

Super gorgeous new vineyard. Attended a private tasting as part of a bachelorette party. Loved the décor, and the huge patio (which unfortunately we didn’t get to sit on.) The wines were tasty, but pricey for a tasting. Still would return again, a lovely addition to the Driftwood wine scene.

Wonderful place and incredible staff. Very beautiful place. We love their wine. Best in texas!! We will absolutely be back. If you like salt lick BBQ it’s right across the street. We love to eat their first then go to winery.
Incredible B&B accommodations!!! Look them up …

What a beautiful winery!
Lots of separate rooms for your choice in wine tasting, including a screened in patio or open patio, dining room with table, or stand up to the bar.
There is plenty of parking and on a weekday it is not usually crowded.
This winery has a sophisticated feel with knowledgeable staff who are friendly.
The winery offers many options for red and white tasting. Although, I am not usually a sweet wine lover, I did love one of their sweeter reds.
I joined their wine club b/​c it is a quick drive out of Austin and a great place to spend the day with family or friends. I also like that I can choose not to be a member whenever I want without penalty. I am only obligated to purchase 6 bottles of wine in a year.
Excited to head back out soon.

Not good. Did the Premium tasting $ 15 for 6 small pours. Tempanillo was awful. Meritus was OMG awful. Nice screen porch though. Extra star for ambiance.

On a gorgeous 75 degree Feb day, we got to check out this newest local winery, right across the street from the Salt Lick in Driftwood. Ed and Susan Auler are a bit of winery royalty in these parts, having established the original Fall Creek Vineyards in Tow Texas many years ago, and I was super excited to check out this newest incarnation.
The Aulers really found a beautiful spot here with a semi-​rustic, charming house already built, just needing a few renovations for business. Everything from the huge stone fireplace to the stone wall to the light fixtures screams classy hill country décor (and don’t think for a minute I didn’t take pictures for our architect!).
We walked into a fairly large party of ladies at the tiny tasting bar, but our hostess deftly included us in and handled the group well. Hubby and I basically tasted ALL the wines ($ 12 for 6 of their classic tastings and $ 15 for the five reserve wine tastings). Fall Creek uses mostly Texas grown grapes, whether their own or other vineyards, including the Salt Lick grapes across the road. We enjoyed the whites better than the reds but were head over heels in love with the Certenberg Chardonnay off the Reserve list. The grapes for this wine are grown by ex-​football player Alphonse Dotson near Brady TX. Apparently Mr Dotson has gone from violently tackling quarterbacks to gently and lovingly babying grapes and he does it well.
This bottle of Chard was not cheap ($ 45ish?) but my ballin hubby got us a bottle and a cheese plate to enjoy on their lovely back patio that overlooks a POOL??? I failed to ask about that feature but again, I took pix of it’s peaceful babbling waterfall for our architect. That warm sun and moving water and wine… it’s my idea of heaven.
We were so excited also to meet the Aulers as we were leaving. Mrs Auler generously offered us to speak to their winemaker, Sergio, about possibly growing grapes on our property. And as we chatted them up on their porch and met another couple that are building in the area, I realized we were all about to be neighbors and that this winery lounging is soon to be our lifestyle. Life is good indeed.

Great wine, friendly people, and a beautiful place. I bought a bottle of their Merlot. I shall return.

Beautiful tasting room with great wines. Everyone is very friendly here. Not far from Austin so a convenient way to enjoy some Texas wines without having to go to far.