Cave Vineyard

Excellent visit! Only need to buy a bottle of wine to go down to the cave! The service was great! Ambiance is a little dark and cold in the cave but you can sit outside in the deck for light and warmth.

Visited with a group of friends. The flight was fun to do and inexpensive. You can try 5 different wines. They do a spirits tasting as well. You HAVE to purchase a bottle in order to go into the cave. So we got a sweet wine and took it down. It was a decent wine. The cave was neat. Pretty chilly inside it and even just in the entrance of it. A nice way to escape the heat.

I tried the flight tasting, it is decent $5 for 5. Must buy a bottle of alcohol to go into the cave. I definitely would recommend bringing your own food to this place because food selections is limited, so deduct a star. they sell pizza which is $18 for a small pizza, I got the pepperoni pizza. They also have cheese and sausage that is in the fridge. There is also bread that they made and biscuits. Up in cave have seats and tablets to sits.

Went with a friend on a rather rainy fall day, in the midst of COVID season, so probably I am being harsher than I usually would, but I was not blown away by this winery and what it had to offer. I'm sure the views outsider are nice, but we did our flights indoors, which was not that impressive. Flights were $10 (iirc) for a set menu of five (not very generous) pours, either sweet, semi-sweet, or dry. I tried the semi-sweet and my friend the sweet. I was not particularly inclined to buy a whole bottle of anything, which also the bottles seemed pricy for what the wine was, but in order to see the cave, a bottle purchase is required, so I believe my friend wound up with something.
The cave, however, is awesome, and I'm sure on a nicer day when I would be inclined to linger, splitting a bottle down there would have been just the ticket.

I was a bit disappointed in my visit. From the patio, there were amazing views. However, you can't sit on the patio to do a tasting so I missed out on these views. I was on a solo road trip and would have really enjoyed sitting on the patio for a bit while breaking up my drive. The gentleman working the counter when you walked in wasn't the friendliest. He was a bit brisk with the guests walking in. I was instructed to go to a back room to order my tasting. The wines were.....ok. The sweeter wines were decent but I was ok with not making a purchase. The cave is touted as a main attraction but you can only visit it if you purchase a bottle of wine. I must have missed that on the website while planning my trip. Had I read that you had to make a purchase, I would have skipped the winery and spent more time in town or at the other winery I visited. Overall, this was a disappointing stop.

Made a detour stop here on the way to St. Louis coming from southern Illinois. It's in a lovely setting among the beautiful nature surrounding Ste. Gen County. Did a wine tasting, where they offer to try 5 of their wines. None were very impressive compared to the high quality appellations you can find elsewhere nearby in Southeast MO/Southern IL--the Chambourcin, Norton, and "Cave Rock Off Dry" all tasted flat. Dry Rose was okay but did come off semi-sweet to my taste. The Dry Chardonel was pretty good, lovely medium body and dry with characteristic pear & apple notes, and I asked for a glass--they only do bottles (or at least when I was there). I then asked about the cave--they make a concerned point to advertise their Saltpeter Cave, a short walk downhill from the tasting room. The owner informed me that one may not go down to the cave without a bottle purchase. After leaving, and merely going in the direction of the hill the cave was down to take but a PEEK, the owner physically storms out of the tasting room and yells a reminder that one must purchase a bottle to go to the cave (and apparently, even consider Looking at the cave). Never again, do not recommend. Stick with downtown Ste. Gen, Hermann, or Alto Pass, Cobden, and Makanda in Illinois.

Covid notes- Staff wore masks- no gloves- masks were NOT required for customers nor was any social distance if enforced. Tables were not consistently cleaned

As for the winery itself I was extremely disappointed. After reading reviews I had high hopes. Upon entry it was very chaotic and unorganized. We entered the first room observing sign on door of only 1 person from your party to enter...well apparently we are the only people to read that. It was extremely crowded and they had 4 staffers behind thee we counter yelling for next person. The " group" in front of me asked for Tasteing and it was yelled if you want a tasting to go into the back room to purchase it. Front is only for bottle purchases! I proceeded to the crowded back room where only 1 staff member was working will a man periodically came running in from the front yelling for something he needed. By the time I finally reached the counter to order I was told my tasting tray could not leave the back room...??? What happened to the only 1 from your party enter? Also in an extremely rude tone I was told you cannot select the wines you wish to taste. You can only choose fry flight, sweet or semi.
The only reason I am giving 2 stars is the Biscotti were great!
After our tasting we attempted to see the cave but were informed we could not unless we purchased a bottle of wine. So much for the other reviews that said you could. $21 admission to look at a cave...ridiculous!!!
In these challenging times, small businesses are struggling POOR rude service cannot be acceptable. If you have a crowd... be happy. Many businesses would kill for that problem!
Sorry but you lost our business!

Very disappointing for a group event planned. The flights of wine on their website are deceiving and not true to what is offered. There was no one to provide information about the flights of wine and instead a serve your self. The cave was a good experience but definitely recommend drinking ahead of time or brining your own because they weren't interested in up selling their products.

Another must stop in SE Missouri. About 15 minutes off the highway through really cool scenery, the winery has $5 tastings as well as the ability to purchase bottles to go. The coolest part is being able to walk down into an actual cave and drink your wine there. There is no fee to go there. Even if you aren't drinking (like us, we were driving) it's worth the stop. Very, very cool.

Cute little winery and different being in a cave! It's a long steep walk from the bottom to the top (with the bathroom only being up top FYI) so if you or someone with you is disabled skip the cave at the bottom of the hill