J. Maki Winery

Underwhelming wines, unpleasant staff, and ridiculously high fees…
I stopped by on a whim with my girlfriend to sample some local wines and experience what this winery had to offer. The location and winery itself was beautiful but aside from that our entire experience was less than pleasant to say the least.
The women that we dealt with was quick to be condescending and the wines that we sampled were underwhelming at best. I would have been okay with those two items alone if it were not for the ridiculously high tasting fee ($ 30 per person) which we were not made aware of until after our tasting had already begun. When the tasting was over I reluctantly purchased two overpriced bottles of wine that I did not care for just to waive the tasting fee.
I wish I had seen the other Unilocal reviews and saved myself this unpleasant experience. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Awful.
I should have known not to go into the building after pulling into the empty parking lot. The woman owner was very rude. To start, she carded me before starting the tasting. She says «you look very very young.» I had to leave the counter and go to my car to grab my ID. Who cards at a winery? Not to mention I am 25 years old.
The wines were less than average. We went to taste the red wines which were all extremely dry and lacking flavor. The white wines were just as flavorful as the 10 dollar wine you can purchase at Wine and Spirits.
At the start at the tasting the woman owner told my boyfriend and I, «complimentary tasting with a purchase of wine.» She failed to mention that BOTH of us had to purchase a bottle of wine. At the end of the tasting she rudely said «you are both OBLIGATED to buy a bottle.» The wine bottles are 30 – 75 dollars. We ended up spending 65 dollars on crap wine. Let’s say, we were not happy.
Note– 30 dollars a person TASTING if you do not buy a bottle.
This winery is a waste of time and money. I do not recommend visiting. Awful customer service and overly priced less than average tasting wine.

The wine is forgettable, but you will remember the owner, who is as rude as they come and seems more interested in clearing out his warehouse of sub-​par wine than he is with actually providing any kind of enjoyable experience.
He may as well convert his business to a drive through since he seems to hate it when people park in his parking lot or come into the store.

I enjoyed the Winery.
First off the wine. They have AWESOME high quality wine, which is probably the most important. Their Chardonnay and Ice Wines are some of the best you can find in PA, and I have had a lot of wine. I thought 30 or whatever was high, but that’s waived if you buy a bottle, which i do at almost every winery i can.
The owners are very knowledgeable about wine. As some said, this is not a «everyday» wine for me. Its more of a special occasion wine.
Its worth a visit if you more of «wine» type person. If you are just out for some local tastings, might be better options.

Review is based solely on service. We stopped in 2 years ago, so perhaps they have better service now. Anyhow, we saddle up to the bar to taste the wine. I have never seen someone be so careful pouring the wine, so that they could pour the absolute smallest droplet into the glass and nothing more. it was like a 3^rd of a teaspoon. The woman, I presumed to be the owner, was extremely condescending and a know it all about wine. When we asked what was ice wine, she looked pretty disgusted that we should ask such a dumb question. I don’t recall anything about the wine, just about the rude woman and the high prices. Such a shame, it’s in a beautiful area. If they were more welcoming it would be a great destination place for a Saturday afternoon to drink wine and chill out. Not here though, no way. Not encouraged. They want you to come in, buy their wine and leave.

Be aware — the tasting fee is high ($ 30) and is hidden in fine print at the bottom of the tasting list. We were happy to be informed of this price as we already had tasted our first sip of wine. The wines are nothing special especially for the high price that’s charged per bottle. My friend and I were underwhelmed.

This review is based solely on the service — not the wine itself. Unless you are ready to get a lesson in European wine and vocabulary this probably is not the ideal winery for your average wine drinker who simply wants a glass after a hard day of work. After about 3 tastings I was completely put off by the one owner’s «I know more than you and am going to shove my knowledge and huge French awards (very prominently displayed) down your throat whether you like it or not» attitude (the female). The only redemption is that we happened to get three bottles of wine for around $ 37 (from reading other reviews I gather that is not the norm). We were very plainly about to leave the winery and the female owner still had the audacity to bring out a «wheel of wine vocabulary» and asked me if I wanted to review it… I courteously responded with a «not necessary.» These people need to take a lesson in customer service etiquette.

I am dismayed to read the negative reviews on the site about this winery. I’ve been here several times, and each time I was greeted with warmth. The owners, Janet and Jamie, spent a lot of time in discussion on wines and other topics. Yes it’s true that you pay for a tasting (I think $ 10) or if you make a purchase it is free, but then again most wineries operate this way locally (Chaddsford, Kreutz…) as well as in Sonoma and Napa (was there last June). The chard and PGV are great whites. I mean really great. I have a 500+ bottle collection and bought 6 cases. The reds are different but I like them as well. They have specials from time to time which brings the price down to something more reasonable. Kudos for Janet and Jamie pulling as much as they have out of PA soil!!! I’m a fan and love to support local initiatives. BTW, the place is charming and the drive there is lovely.

I should have read the reviews first. Like many others, was curious about the local winery, but couldn’t enjoy because of the rudeness of the person that assisted us. I convinced a friend to go in after we noticed the sign. I asked if they were open and if they had tastings. She informed me that if we buy then she wouldn’t mind a tasting otherwise she would charge us. The «tasting» wasn’t even enough to swirl, sniff or touch the palate. From other tasting experiences I never imagined three tastings to equal half an ounce total. My friend purchased a bottle of wine for $ 50 and although we were together, Ms. Rude wanted to make sure she collected the tasting fee from me despite the two of us sharing the bottle purchase. Oh well… Never again. Quaint place but little to do other than walk in and buy wine. I think they have a nice wine, but I’m not keen on supporting a business that conducts themselves this way.

Wonderful wines and champagnes. You would never know they were in Chester County. My dad, who lives in CA wine country, ordered a case to take back with him. An excellent experience.

Don’t bother coming. Rude! $ 30 each for a tasting, ONLY if you say you will buy a bottle. For each person tasting…“are you going to buy because I don’t give away free samples.” Sign inside hanging reads: «Only American champagne maker to win an award in France!» Really… Questions were answered with a condescending tone. Place smells like spoiled food. A person in our party humored him and bought a tasting. Most tastings are just that, a taste. Maki poured a full glass. It tasted like vinegar. Most likely, this bottle had been sitting out for weeks… Read the other awful reviews on their website. $ 40/​bottle. Come on… really? In the middle of nowhere PA?

MOST UNFRIENDLY!
My boyfriend and I were on our tandem bike ride and saw the sign on the main road directing us towards the winery. We thought it could be a great idea to take a brake and sip on some wine and have a good time meeting locals… WRONG… we arrived to a nice maintained and charming building but as soon as we walked in we were greeted by a snobby lady that asked us if we were wearing cleats… because, she said, «we just got these new floors, and we ask the cyclists to leave there shoes at the door»…(needless to say, there were rugs covering more than 90% of it). Although, she allowed us to keep them on as far as we stayed on the rugs (my suggestion). Then, she proceeds to show us a big blow-​up print of some award they got 10 years ago for «best champagne» (?) (it’ll be interesting to verify that), and tells us that if we want to test their wines there will be no charge unless we purchase a bottle each. My boyfriend and I looked at each other, agreeing that we wouldn’t want to carry wine home in the bicycle and I didn’t want to agree to buy some wine that I haven’t tested first; to that, she added that if we wanted to test without buying it was going to cost us $ 20 per person (!!). My boyfriend and I looked at each other again and walked out of there. Totally ridiculous! I wouldn’t pay $ 20 for wine tasting at Napa Valley, much less in PA. Sorry but I only give this place 1 star because of the building… for the rest, they can keep it and drink it themselves, which I think it is very much what’s going on there!