Roblar Winery

Saw in the Independent this week that Roblar is hiring waitstaff and a host, what a great place for a restaurant!!

I can't believe no one has thought of this idea yet!

Promising to deliver one of the most unique wine country experiences possible, Roblar Winery doesn’t disappoint. The striking venue and surrounding scenery enhances the wine tasting experience. The Event Director, a Brazilian beauty, brings to the Valley, her country’s passion and flair for the exotic by featuring Moroccan, Ethiopian, and her native fare in its one-of-a-kind culinary arts program. I’ve attended both the French cooking class and dinner and the Moroccan night with Chef Kareem mesmerizing our palettes. The clever wine pairings throughout both several course dinners were amazing. This is truly one of my favorite spots.

Wine & Food lover
South Orange County

Thank you for a wonderful time and most excellent service. As a Rock Star manager, I enjoy to bring my clients at your beautifull winery. The food and service is beyond five stars. The friendly atmosphere and the attitude of your team members has been always very pleasant. Thank you Roblar Winery for providing excellence for Rock Star cab clients.

It has been always a pleasure for me and friends to visit Roblar Winery. The service, atmosphere and great team member makes a difference. The staff is very well prepared and the tasting just becomes more pleasant. I was pleased to meet the brazilian staff that always seems to work as a team and to provide excellent service.
The menu is also great with a variety of good things to add up to the great wine that they have.

Its always a pleasure to drive from Santa Barbara to that great environment.
Thank you Roblar and staff for providing excellence in every aspect.

Roberta Silva(Roblar Winery)
Thank you for a wonderful time and most excellent service. As a Rock Star manager, I enjoy to bring my clients at your beautifull winery. The food and service is beyond five stars. The friendly atmosphere and the attitude of your team members has been always very pleasant. Thank you Roblar Winery for providing excellence for Rock Star cab clients.

My wife and I just picked up our wine club selections at Roblar Winery last weekend. The 2007 “Block One” Sauvignon Blanc is among the best we’ve tasted. We especially like how Roblar treats their wine club members. When we came in to pick up our wines we were treated to a nice BBQ and live music.

We are members at several SB County wineries. Roblar is by far our favorite. The staff is always friendly and accommodating. The wines are always solid. The cooking classes are not only informative. They are entertaining and very social – much more so than simply eating at a restaurant.

We also really enjoyed the Valentine’s dinner at Roblar. The five course menu was well thought out and executed. I had the lobster and my wife had the duck. Both were perfectly prepared and presented. As always at Roblar, the service and attention to detail really made this evening shine.

Anyone go to the Valentines Day Dinner they are still advertising? The menu sounded adventurous, anyone have any idea if it went on as planned? Good?

Now that their Chef has moved on to American Flatbread- I wonder how the quailty of food is?

The locals are calling Roblar "Grappolo North", every other weekend is Leonardo Curti- anyone can go and see him cook for $35.00 a plate at the restaurant.

I have been a wine club member at Roblar since the day they opened and have attended nearly all of their special events and many of their cooking classes; I have also had lunch there numerous times. I therefore believe that I am well qualified to offer an accurate impression of the winery, its management, and staff.

Prior to the opening of Roblar, I was a member of three other local wineries. I still am. However, when entertaining out-of-town guests I invariably take them to Roblar. Why? Because the beauty of the facility, the quality of the product (food and wine), and the friendliness of the staff are all unsurpassed. My guests have WITHOUT EXCEPTION thoroughly enjoyed their Roblar experiences and always request return trips during subsequent visits to the Santa Ynez Valley.

All of this is indicative of competent management. Regarding the Brazilian manager/hostess, I have always found her to be the consummate professional: courteous, capable, organized, efficient, and willing and able to satisfactorily address any issue that may arise.

There are two sides to every story, and the few negative comments in other postings are certainly in conflict with my extensive and positive experiences at Roblar. To those that may be uncertain about a visit to Roblar after reading some of the other posts, I would urge you to not let the opinions of a disgruntled few prevent you from undertaking what is certain to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

After reading these comments above. I feel the right to tell my experiences at Roblar Winery.
My wife and I have been there not just one but a few times already. We enjoy wine tasting and dinner out and we also consider ourselves " very pick" with food and services.

We've always been pleasured with the food, the wine, the atmosphere and their staff there.
We were also fortune to meet the Brazilian staff there in one of our visit, and our experience with her was very pleasured. She was very knowledgeable of the menu and the wine list.

Back in February was the last time we went there and this particular staff noticed that my wife was pregnant and she was very cordial and added a special touch to our dining and wine experience.
We can't wait to come back there and we believe they are the most unique winery in that particular area.

Keep the good work guys.
Cheers!

I just have to say that every time we go to Roblar we have an amazing time. I absolutely LOVE this winery and the atmosphere. It is incredibly beautiful, peaceful and has exceptional views from the patios. They have the coolest fireplace I’ve ever seen and the food is delicious. The employees are super friendly and informative about the wine. It’s actually my favorite winery in the central coast. We were fortunate enough to meet the Brazilian host at a cooking class and she was so incredibly on top of it. She just makes us feel so comfortable, always has a smile on her face and makes us feel at home each and every time we visit. All in all, Roblar just has such a great vibe, writing this makes me want to go back for a visit right now. What more can I say, just love this place! :-)
APoe SB Local

My experiences at Roblar Winery have been the exact opposite of the previous poster. After first visiting the winery, I have been back numerous times & each experience surpasses the last.

The wines were excellent & the last time I was there they were pouring a 2003 Cabernet Franc & a 2004 Syrah, so young they are not!

Not only was I impressed with the age, depth & phenominal structure of their reds, I was extremely impressed with the knowledge of the staff. They were well informed on not only the wines, but the property itself. One employee even named all 22 varietals of their demonstration vines!

Roblar has become a very popular spot for us locals & we thoroughly enjoy everything about it; from their lunches to their fabulous cooking classes & mostly the excellent hospitality that is always extended to us!

I have had a similar experience at Roblar Winery.

I found the wines young and over-priced. The staff at the bar, while nice, was sadly informed on wine production- the pourer told me that the white wine was made with the skins on - and that they removed them during the malo-lactic fermenting just before being bottled. Okay.

We ordered lunch, and I was served pesto in place of soup. I ordered asparagus soup and recieved a bowl of pesto!! The panini were laughable- the tri tip was biscotti
sized, none of panini had melted cheese- and the bread was stale.

As for the Portuguese woman in charge there, she refused to apologize while pressed to explain why I was served pesto. She tried to tell our group that in Brazil that is how soup of the day is prepared, with a dollop of pesto (????).

What a waste of a great location, hope someday they get a decent winemaker, instead of a corporate no-nothing.

I've been to several events and cooking classes at Roblar including the one mentioned by the previous posters. Every event has been a wonderful experience. The staff is always very professional and the service unsurpassed. My wife and I had a great time at the BBQ and were very pleased with everything. The food was good. The band was fun.

The only negative for me was a couple of very rude customers who, in my opinion, were extremely abusive to the staff. Kudos to Roblar’s fine staff for putting up with a couple of mean people.

My wife and I love you Roblar! We especially enjoy the cooking classes. Keep up the good work.

That previous post pretty well sums things up. We struggled to figure out what was actually cooked on a BBQ. The zucchini had grill marks, but the chicken most certainly was done in the oven. The short ribs were good, but more of a "stew" than BBQ, which is what got most of us up there in the first place.

The wine situation, while off-putting at first, was resuscitated by the terrific gals behind the tasting counter. In the midst of all the complaints we heard them handling, they were champs maintaining a cheerful attitude, and allowing us to taste the wines before committing our precious 2 ticket allotments to a glass of wine. We found the wines to be pretty good, not earth-shattering, but maybe a little better than the poster above.

I think the most impressive event of the evening was the melt-down by one of the managers, a Latina whose name escapes me. We actually witnessed her sobbing by the front door because, as she told a gentleman (who we assumed is also in management) that people were complaining. Well honey, get used to it. I for one hope that they get their act together, but for the time-being, we'll steer clear of the over-priced events. The venue is gorgeous, and the tasting room is pleasant, but don't waste your time on these advertised events until they get their house in order.

My wife and I had the misfortune to visit Roblar Winery last night for their Harvest Barbecue. It is an impressive new facility - and we were looking forward to a great night of good food, fine wine, and entertainment. Unfortunately, we were disappointed on all levels. The food could only be described as awful. The people sitting next to us summed it up - "it is a sad barbecue when the only edible thing is the bread". Instead of a wine tasting - they gave out two coupons for glasses of wine - perhaps because the wine is so mediocre they don't want you to taste it. The entertainment was amateurish - and it was obvious that management did everyhing as cheaply as possible. I could have understood this if we had only paid ten or fifteen dollar - but Roblar charged $75.00 each for this fiasco. As we were leaving we stopped to talk to the manager and express our unhappiness. We understood this was a new establishment - and sometimes kinks need to be worked out. But the manager was obviously the problem. She rudely dismissed our complaints - saying "what do you expect for $75.00". Unfortunately Roblar management does not understand that wine is a relationship - and if you treat your clients badly you won't have friends. As we were leaving others were streaming out - shocked that someone had built such a great facility but cared so little about their customers.