Rosa Fiorelli Winery

Wow! Such a great experience at this winery and vineyard.
I live in Bradenton and was looking for something to do on Valentine’s Day with my boyfriend. Upon searching online, I stumbled upon this winery. I asked around and only heard positive experiences, so we went ahead and booked their «Cheese and Crackers» tour online.
When we pulled up, we both commented that we were surprised we had never noticed it before! It’s located very near to Hunsader’s Farm. Upon arrival, we were greeted by two friendly faces. The first (who unfortunately I cannot recall her name) was Rosa’s daughter and she did our wine tasting. She told us about the history of the winery and she was very knowledgable about the wines. The wines are made from muscadine varietals, so they are not your classic Cab or Merlot. The wines were very interesting and tasty. She also pointed out the impressive antioxidant levels.
After the tasting, we were given a tour by DK who showed us how/​where they ferment the wine. He also walked us through the vineyard, showing us which vine was what type of grape and answering any questions we had. He then walked us to the table they had set up for us in the vineyard and brought out our «cheese and cracker» plates. The plates consisted of cheese, crackers, fruits, and deli meats to snack on.
We were both so impressed with this experience. Our table was by itself in the vineyard on a beautiful February day. It was such a romantic and intimate spot to enjoy a light lunch that I almost don’t want to tell others about this gem. The wine was excellent and we indulged in half a case to bring home. Both of the employees we spoke with were knowledgable and very friendly. Also, the place has a very family-​oriented feel, which I loved.
Not only will we be back to buy more wine, this place will now be on the top of our list for date nights or any events we may host. Highly recommend to all wine lovers!

This place was such a disappointment. We drove almost two hours just to take a tour and enjoy the winery experience and turned out that the owner wasn’t prepared for us (they had written our visit down on the wrong day). They didn’t give us the tour we paid for, nor did they have the food we had pre-​ordered. The owner tried to play it off and said he upgraded us to pizza, but I really don’t see how pizza is an upgrade from nice cheese and crackers.
We didn’t pick grapes, nor did we stomp them as promised. What we did get however was a wine sampling, and it was some of the worst wine we had ever tasted. One of the people I was with actually spit it back into her cup.
We were so fed up that we didn’t even bother to complain before we left. We just wanted out of there.
We were so surprised because the reviews for this place were great. I learned that this winery has new owners so perhaps that’s why it just didn’t live up to the other reviews.

My fiancé and I had so much fun celebrating our 3 year anniversary here! We did the wine and dine dinner event which was excellent. I was surprised how much food I could have that was vegetarian friendly. Wines were also very tasty and the live music was great. Definitely worth the $ 50/​person. Just wish there were more people our age there… We were the youngest couple by at least 25 years :) We will definitely be back again soon!

We were on our way down alligator alley, decided to pull over in Bradenton for a break and saw the signs for a winery! After checking it out online we realized they were having their harvest festival right now! We high-​tailed it over there for the end of the fest but it was fantastic! Mr. fiorelli showed us where the fest was and we got to sample their entire wine selection– from sweet whites to dry reds, there are some definite gems.
The staff was friendly and the patrons that stuck around were in good spirits. We were sad to miss the live music and grape stomping but the vineyard is beautiful and the wines were delicious! We stood around sampling the wares and munching on the slip skin grapes and settled on buying the red dessert wine. Hot tip — check in with Unilocal or foursquare for $ 1 off! Good stuff all around!

We have been twice to this place and love it! Our past trip was to the harvest festival and they did a great job with this event. You were allow to pick grapes off the vines and then stomp them in a bucket. It’s a really good experience that not many places offer. They had food vendors set up in the back by the pavilion and were selling bottles and glasses behind the bar.
The location is far from the highway but worth the trip. The two owners are awesome and very friendly. Make sure to do a winery tour with Mr. Fiorelli and do a flight tasting with Mrs. Florelli. They live right on the property and drink their wine with every meal.
I highly recommend stopping by if you are in the area.