点评:A five-star experience. The view alone is five stars, but our server, Carmen, curated a delightful experience from start to finish! Carmen clearly knew her wines; she was patient, and her smile radiated genuine warmth.
I lived in San Francisco for many years and we frequented the wine country. I am now trying to lean into the Australian and Zealand wines (whites, Pinots and other offerings) rather than the big bold Cabernets of California that defined the wine education in my youth.
Carmen and I had a big discussion about Chardonnay oak and stainless, and again, it was clear that she knew her wines and especially the Volcanic Hills wines that she was serving. We also overheard her at the other tables educating other patrons and even trying to navigate some language barriers. She remained unflappable. All tables received a great deal of attention from her. This was no mere “pour and go” tasting. Carmen really took the time to educate every table about her wines. Kudos Carmen for such an incredible experience!
We ended up taking home a few bottles. One of them never quite made it back to the states, because we still had a few days in New Zealand, and I opened it up in Wellington!
Our next excursion after the tasting was at one of the Maori cultural centers, and Carmen told us a bit of history of the folks there and how she was related. What a great way to prep for our next experience and dinner. I was also really enchanted by one of Volcanic Hills whites, which is unusual. Those bottles make it home to the states!
翻译:五星级体验。仅凭景色就足以称得上五星级,但我们的服务员 Carmen 从头到尾都为我们带来了愉快的体验!Carmen 显然很了解她的葡萄酒;她很有耐心,她的微笑散发着真诚的温暖。
我在旧金山住了很多年,我们经常去葡萄酒之乡。我现在正尝试偏爱澳大利亚和新西兰葡萄酒(白葡萄酒、黑皮诺和其他葡萄酒),而不是我年轻时葡萄酒教育中定义的加州浓郁赤霞珠。
Carmen 和我进行了一场关于霞多丽橡木和不锈钢的深入讨论,再次,很明显她了解她的葡萄酒,尤其是她正在供应的火山山葡萄酒。我们还听到她在其他桌子上向其他顾客介绍她的葡萄酒,甚至试图克服一些语言障碍。她仍然镇定自若。所有桌子都受到了她的极大关注。这不仅仅是“倒酒就走”的品尝。Carmen 真的花时间向每张桌子介绍她的葡萄酒。卡门,为我们提供如此美妙的体验,我们为此点赞!
我们最终带了几瓶回家。其中一瓶没有带回美国,因为我们在新西兰还有几天时间,我在惠灵顿打开了它!
品尝之后,我们接下来的游览地点是毛利文化中心之一,卡门给我们讲了一些那里的人们的历史以及她与毛利的关系。这真是为我们的下一次体验和晚餐做准备的好方法。火山山白葡萄酒也让我非常着迷,这很不寻常。这些酒瓶带回了美国!