Demarest Hill Winery

I returned again around Christmas time and was very pleased. The winemaker was in a jolly mood and our tasting was excellent. Purchase some really good wine As well as a top notch grappa and some cherry brandy. I still wish they would take credit cards, however

I don’t know how this place has stayed in business for 18 years. The wine was awful, and the woman conducting the tasting couldn’t have been less friendly. My wife and I walked into the tasting room which was completely empty. After a couple minutes a woman wandered in behind us. She offered no greeting, and she appeared to be another customer. But eventually she went behind the counter. In these few minutes I noticed that she was in a photo on the wall, so it seemed obvious that she worked there. We asked about a tasting and she offered us a wine-​stained list to peruse. We chose some wines while she stood silently glaring at us. We both felt as if we were more an inconvenience than potential customers. But we paid and she began pouring the wine. She offered absolutely no commentary about the wines and still her expression was one of almost disdain. All the wines had a medicinal flavor and neither of us bought anything. To the contrary, we just wanted to finish and leave. It was the most unpleasant experience we’ve ever had at a winery. I cannot emphasize enough. …Do not waste your time stopping at Demarest Hill Winery!!! Terrible experience and terrible wine.

I was hopeful driving up the driveway alongside the vines, nice lil ma & pa setup or so I thought. Wow was I wrong. I will keep my comments as factual and as unemotional as possible… I literally felt like I was assaulted, that’s how bad the wines were. From the Chard thru the various reds, there was an awful overwhelming nasty flavor I can only explain as kerosene-​esque. I’ve tasted wine that’s gone bad and I believe that’s best described as tasting like vinegar. This was a whole different animal and I am at a loss how this could be so. To top it all off, we were purposely served flat/​old hard cider. How do I know it wasn’t an oversight? Well our server informed us beforehand = awesome!
If I could give minus stars I would. As I was driving away I was just hopeful I wouldn’t get sick… that about sums it up.
If you visit this establishment, don’t say I didn’t warn you!!!

Coming from wine country, I’ve been very disappointed with NY wine. Demarest is certainly not the same crap we found elsewhere.
I should note that the owner has a taste for vinegar; and some of his wine exhibits a vinegar flavor. However, in the midst of the sour flavored wines, there are the best wines I’ve found in NY so far.

This winery welcomes you to the beautiful, bucolic, scenic Warwick Valley… with air cannons blasting several times a minute. Their wines are awful as are the owner’s inflated, fake personalities.

After reading the reviews on here I am glad I didn’t read them before going. This winery is on a beautiful hill with amazing scenery! It is run by a sweet Italian couple, with no staff but themselves! The owner is a friendly and knowledgable man. The reviews on here say that it is the worst winery however it is just different. It is old Italian wine and it reminded me of my grandfathers wines at dinner on Sunday’s. The wine is not for everyone I will give you that but it is worth the trip if you know your wines. Also if you like to cook they sell the best balsamic vinegar I have ever tasted! My boyfriend also bought a bottle of vanilla for his mom. This is not a commercial stop but if you are looking to relax and enjoy a nice Italian wine, this is the place!

I honestly cannot believe that this place is even in business! I wish I could give it zero stars. This is absolutely the WORST wine I have ever had. Everything we tried reeked of musty old gym socks and was DEFINITELY spoiled. The experience was just awful — we drove up to find the place empty, door locked and lights off — with the owner asleep in a lawn chair in the yard. He woke up just as we were about to leave and I seriously wish he hadn’t. He rushed us through a tasting — we tried about 6 – 7 wines in less than 5 minutes and weren’t told anything about what we were drinking. Everything smelled horrible and off, and it all tasted like moldy vinegar. My fiancée and I went here on a whim while trying out other wineries in the area and we are SO regretting it. Honestly the most disgusting wine we have ever tried. I would NEVER ever go back here. It seems like the owners just up and decided one day that they were going to make wine without any prior experience. A total lack of knowledge about anything related to making wine can be the only explanation to how piss poor this stuff was. Spent the next hour or so afterward trying to wash the awful taste out of our mouths and feeling sick to our stomachs. Both of us ended up being ill, but my fiancées stomach was so upset he wound up vomiting shortly after our tasting — he was trying to be polite and actually finished all of his samples instead of pouring them out. Even some disgusting concoction the owner introduced as ‘Mud’ — a vile chocolate grappa blend. I cannot even put into words how repulsive the wines are here.
Do yourself and your digestive system a favor and stay away from this place.

Really not a fan of their wine but I do like the friendly conversation I had with the person in charge of the wine tasting. Love the view of the area.

For the love of god-​DONT GO HERE! I really wish I had read the reviews before now. I don’t understand how they’re known for any awards with their funky foot fungus tasting wines, perhaps the Sommeliers were already tipsy from previous wineries b4 coming here. An older lady who I assumed was the wife/​owner didn’t say a word to me & my friends as we were tasting the wine. Very difficult to stomach the small samples of toxic waste that came from the bottles disguised as wine. I expected strawberry & peach flavor wines to be somewhat sweet & easy to manage, NOPE! STILL GROSS. Not long after we left, my friend had the pleasure of having to taste it again as it was coming back up. She spent the rest of the day feeling like crap & it ruined our fun plans for the evening. I want my $ 5 back

The wine is not great but definitely worth a trip for the experience. The owner and his wife have a million stories and it’s like watching a comedy routine!

Deserves 0 stars! If you’re considering going here, do yourself a favor and AVOID this place at all costs. Their so-​called wine tastes more like dirty feet and rubbing alcohol combined.
My friend and I went for the tasting (unfortunately) which started off with the Chardonnay Supreme. I nearly puked. In fact, half way through, my friend and I managed to duck out while the owner wasn’t looking to avoid the remaining 2 or so glasses in the tasting… and my sober friend puked because she couldn’t stomach it.
It was damn awful, and I have nothing good to say about the wine there. I guess at least it was only $ 5 for the tasting, and we got a few laughs out of that experience.

EEK!
I am glad this wasn’t the first Warwick winery we visited.
Two stars at best because the owner had a lot of personality once he got done complaining about how he doesn’t make any money to two of the other guests.
I feel bad saying it — but I feel like I must be honest to other Unilocalers — the wine was awful.
Where in the hell is this winery buying their oak? I wouldn’t be surprised if these wines were barreled in cedar or pine, but in reality they are most likely throwing really cheap oak and hardwood chips into stainless steel.
There is a very awful fault on the finish of every wine, and it is the same for all of the wines tasted here. Some sort of acetic almost cedar/​pine like finish. Like a mix of Acetaldehyde and Ethyl acetate maybe? Not sure, but the same fault came up on all of the whites most particularly the «Super Chardonnay» and Riesling, as well as the Noir.
Something has gone terribly wrong there, and I feel awful for the wine maker.
He brandishes a lot of medals but they are for grappa and brandy. Should have tasted those instead.

DON’T MISS OUT ON THIS PLACE! So great!!!
I’ve been to a lot of different wineries over the years and I thought this place was adorable! It’s run by the owner who experiments with all different sorts of wine and spirits. There are some I liked, some I didn’t, which is typical of any winery. If you expect to be coddled, then this isn’t the place for you. You need to ask some questions. The owner tells you about the wines as he pours them, but doesn’t overindulge you.
He’s got a great story and is so sweet! He has won SO MANY awards for his wines over the last couple years, just ask to see them — he’ll tell you all about them! And the balsamic vinegar… BEST I HAVE EVER TASTED!!!
I’m glad I didn’t read the reviews for this place before we went or else we would’ve missed a great spot! If the wine wasn’t good, they wouldn’t have won multiple awards over the last couple years! The place has character and it’s a diamond in the rough. Please, PLEASE don’t miss out on this charming little spot!

Please, please, please listen to all the other posts here… The wines are acidy, old, cough-​syrupy, and have a hint of olive juice essence to them. I don’t have much to say that hasn’t shady been said. :-(

Ok, they get 5 stars for the scenery, 5 stars for their Peach wine BUT honestly, 0 star for the personality of the owner (elderly gentleman) and 2 for the staff… Wine tasting, well this is where you get the experience the gruff personality of the owner who seems to prefer customers who look Italian than those who do not, regardless of what they purchase. BUT I do love their peach wine which will keep me coming back!

Bad wine. If you are going winery hopping, just skip this one. As past reviews have said, some wines taste like cough syrup, others like dry crappy wine. They have about 20+ wines to choose from. I feel like they should focus on a few and make them better.

This place should be called Robitussin Winery. I’m not a wine expert but good grief! My friend wouldn’t even touch the port, and wish I hadn’t either.
If anything we had some hilarious laughs at how bad it was … sorry folks

Undrinkable. Do not go here. The old man poured wines that had long since turned. I literally had to spit out the wine. We left as fast as we could. Not to mention the dirty pouring room and entire lack or character or ambience. Sorry to say, but its true.

If you happen to enjoy absolutely terrible wine, this is the winery for you! My wife and I decided to stop here as we drove up to Beacon for a wedding weekend without looking at any reviews or information about the winery. This was our first mistake.
We should have known something was wrong from the second we pulled into the parking lot and there was only one car… in the middle of the day… on a beautiful Saturday… during Labor Day weekend. Things only got worse from there. We got out of the car and within 30 seconds heard a blast from a shotgun… uhh what’s going on?
Then made our way to the tasting room that almost look abandoned from the outside. There was a sign that said to ring the bell for service and then to come on in… so we followed the directions and got inside. There was another couple finishing their tasting and walking out with completely dejected looks on their faces. We approached the bar and requested a tasting. The elderly gentleman (who turned out to be the proprietor) gave off the feeling that he really wanted to be somewhere else. Every question we asked was met with a nonchalant response.
Now, the tasting. I’ve tasted some great wines and I’ve tasted some decidedly mediocre wines, but never have I tasted so many wines from one winery/​tasting that were basically undrinkable. We tasted at least 12 different wines (all different varietals) of the 50+ (who makes 50 different wines?!?) and there were only a couple that didn’t make us want to vomit. The information we were able to pull out of our host: he retired 13+ years ago, bought the property, and decided to make wine without any prior experience. He made all the wines and only made the best wines (according to his palate). If it isn’t great, he doesn’t sell it. If i had to describe the taste of the wine I would combine the smell of dirt, sweat, and dirty feet with the taste of rubbing alcohol and vinegar/​wine that has turned into vinegar.
I felt so bad for this old man that I picked up half a bottle of the porto fino and went to pay for it and our tastings. We didn’t have enough cash (had no idea it was cash only) to cover the tastings ($ 5 each) and the bottle ($ 15) and offered not to get the wine and just pay for the tastings. Instead he just took the $ 19 we had and called it a day. While this was very generous, it seemed like he was anxious to actually getting rid of a bottle of wine.
Conclusion: if you’ve read this much, do the smart thing and pass over this establishment… it’s not even close to worth your time. Until it’s sold and/​or comes under a winemaker that actually knows what he/​she is doing this is a winery to avoid at all costs.

Stop number three. This winery was recommended by a local winery, Clearview Vineyard, also in Warwick, NY. Our party of four continues to merry, merry imbibe more while I became a lush to $ 7.00 to sample seven wines and keep our souvenir wine glass… woo-​ho! A business card, brochure and wine list with descriptions in conjunction with their souvenir wine glass my ever growing collections are abundant and diverse.
N.B. Cash only as Demarest Hill Winery do NOT accept plastic in any genre, but checks are accepted.
The entrance to Demarest Hill Winery has two cute hand carved wooden bears which one carries a welcome sign. In addition to wine, they also produce vodka of Orange County, Coco Brandy, Lemoncella, Grappa, Sherry or the more for liquid revelry. The associate in the front line of operations who administered our seven different samples of our choice for the tasting was efficient but do not appear knowledgeable and certainly not very informative as a vintner or vintner master. My personal likes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Rose Cabernet Sweet for the reds while I take a delight in Resiling, Peach Wine and Apple Wine for the whites. Sampling the Grappa among other Brandy and liquors are an additional fee to the $ 5.00. A microscopic sip of the Grappa induce me to la-​la land pegs me coughing to oblivion. The Grappa is entirely strong at 105 proof!
A single facilty available is relatively clean with a clamorous fan roaring overhead.