Goose Lake Farm & Winery

If I could give a zero star review I would! The owner of this farm is horribly rude. After searching for a winery we had not yet been to my girlfriends and I found the website for Goose Lake. The website looked new and the hours section had nothing under it, we thought it to be under construction on not well maintained. We found the hours listed under the MN wineries website. We drove over an hour to find the farm. When we arrived we found a gate locked up over the driveway. I had attempted to call and email the information listed on the website 12 hours earlier with no response. Then I get a return call from the owner, I didn’t recognize the number so I told the caller I thought she had the wrong number. She curtly responded that she was returning a missed call and did not misdial.
Shocked I realized it was the owner of the winery and told her we were hoping to stop in for a tasting. She responded she was not open. When I asked about the hours I saw listed she yelled into the phone that she «can’t control Google.» I responded that it was on the MN WINERY website which could easily be corrected if she maintained her info with them. She continued to be rude and I interrupted and said goodbye. We will NEVER attempt to go to this winery again or buy her wine. Awful experience, do not buy the living social!

Just tried to go here. Not sure if it was shut down or what, but the driveway had a private property do not enter sign. We drive up it but there didn’t seem to be a functioning winery. If there was it wasn’t very inviting.

I loved this whole experience! When we arrived, a very friendly dog named Ginger, about 15 chickens, peacocks, geese, ducks, and a very nice woman on a golf cart greeted us. When we went in, the owner was no-​nonsense, but not rude. She greeted us, told us the program, and let us chose our wines. The wine itself was SO tasty! Lots of variety for flavors, from dry to dessert-​sweet. The one that stood out for me was the Black and Blue dessert wine, I love it. She told us about the farm and answered all of our questions. After the tasting, I bought two bottles and a glass, then we went outside to sight see. Ginger the dog came with us and «helped» us feed all the birds, the donkeys, and the llama. We wandered the farm for a while and then went back in and said our goodbyes. Literally the only complaint I have is that the toilet seat was cold, since they only had a port-​a-​potty lol All in all, very low-​key, no-​hassle, fun and tasty experience! Haven’t stopped recommending this to my friends!

I have to agree with the other reviewers, customer service should be key in this business however we were treated rudely by the owner also. I don’t want to degrade anyone who is an independent business owner but this experience was a carbon copy of all the other bad ones. I would hope if anything they could take some constructive criticism and improve on the customer service side. Wish I would have read the reviews prior to purchasing my living social coupon.

We redeemed a tasting voucher on a chilly early December Saturday. The setting and atmosphere was was engaging with a few quirks. Many wineries are converted farmsteads. Goose Lake still is a functioning (hobby) farm highlighted by a peacock and other fowl. An exceptionally friendly dog wanders the yard serving as the informal greeter. Most visitors are likely to be charmed before setting foot in the tasting area
The wine was so-​so. Not bad for Minnesota, but not among the best we’ve tasted of local wines. In fairness, we’re not interested in GL’s fruit wines: apple, beet, blueberry, chokeberry, cranberry, elderberry, plum, raspberry and rhubarb. Could be that fruit wines remind us too much of our misbegotten Boone’s Farm days of youth. Could be the fruit wines a crazy bachelor farmer neighbor once dispensed in mason jars. At any rate, I hazard to guess, fruit wines will remain a novelty rather than preferred beverage for many years.
The service, not so much. We arrived an hour early not having checked the regularly scheduled hours. We called the proprietor and begged for an exception and were told matter-​of-​factly that the tasting room opened at noon, no exceptions. Our initial contact with GL was cold and curt. We were very close to forgetting the voucher and driving away. There was a real estate ‘For Sale’ sign at the entrance to the property, so we wondered if the business was in trouble and the vouchers were a last gasp to try to shore up a failing venture. Business 101 teaches that initial customer contact is key. Had the initial indifference from GL driven us way, we would have been left with nothing to recommend the winery to friends and members of our wine club who also visit local wineries. Because we waited, we can very weakly recommend GL.
The wine tasting presentation was mechanical and by rote. Asking for photo IDs may be necessary, but should be done lightly with humor, rather than with the authority of a bouncer braying to weed out underage drinkers at a college bar. We’ve paid $ 15.00 to taste at Sokol Blasser which was steep but marginally justified. The $ 5.00 fee at GL was hard to justify given the quality of wines offered. GL, in its infancy, should consider using free tasting as a promotional program and eliminate the fee.
Finally, we travel to a winery to get away from our problems, not to have our host share her problems with us. Apparently, the owners have lost a dispute with the tax man about how to define the property which has resulted in a higher tax liability than is considered just. I’ve can’t recall a single instance in my wine tasting experience (which dates back to 1983) when I’ve heard or overheard the wine server complain about business issues. Wow!
GL has potential, but needs improvements, beginning with customer service.

We decided to take a hour and half drive to check this winery out. When pulling in a lab dog came to our truck jumping up and barking at our dog inside. We have a number of scratching on our drivers door now. A man walked over and said I’m going yo ask you to leave. Our dog was doing nothing! We will NEVER go back. No wonder there is a for sale sign at the end of the driveway!

Stopped here on the way home from our cabin. Was very disappointed in the wines and the tasting experience in general. The dessert wines were ok, but I found the other wines I tasted to be quite unpleasant. I paid for the 8 tastings, which was $ 10 and included the glass. The tasting portions were VERY small… Smaller than I have ever experienced.
I did purchase 2 bottles of the dessert wine. When checking out, the lady (owner?) asked me to not bring my dog the next time. Now, they do have signs that no dogs are allowed. However, our dog is always going to be with us as we would only be stopping by on our way to/​from the Mille Lacs area. And, because of the signs, we did not let our dog out of our vehicle. We can understand not having a dog let out… But not even allowed in our vehicle was a bit much.
I told her that we would not be returning. Poor wine + poor service = no return.

The owner was VERY rude. We came in with a LivingSocial deal for a tasting of 8 wines. From the start she was not friendly, welcoming, or even helpful when it came to our tasting. She didn’t seem very enthused that we were using a deal. She did nothing other than pour TINY samples of wine and tell us the name. There was no one else doing a tasting (only a total of 3 other people in the store who were in and out while we were there), yet she did not tell us anything about the different wines or even talk to us. She gave us our deal included gifts (glasses and chocolate) and was done with us.
Worst wine tasting experience ever — and I’m even including those liquor store wine tastings that randomly happen on the weekends.
It took us an hour driving up there from the Twin Cities. What a waste.

Rude owner!
My husband and I really enjoy visiting regional wineries to sample the wines and learn more about the operation. In mid-​July we made a short trip up to Goose Lake Farm where we purchased the wine tasting package. I was especially anxious to try what I considered to be the more unusual wines such as the beet wine.
Normally you might expect to be excited that the owner/​winemaker was doing the pouring of the samples. Not at Goose Lake Farm. This individual is so rude and unfriendly that it’s hard to understand how she can run a successful business. First of all she overreacted to a joke my husband made about the humongous tip jar at the end of the wine bar. Over the course of the wine tasting she continued to berate him about being a «cheapskate» and «not knowing what a tip jar was.» And she said this loudly — perhaps for the benefit of the Living Social participants who were also trying to enjoy their wine-​tasting experience.
I asked her if the beet wine was a popular wine. Her snippy reply: «All of our wines are popular. If people didn’t buy them, we wouldn’t make them.»
I asked her if they were going to be at the state fair this year. She proceeded to tell me that next year they will be moving out of the horticultural building and into a former church dining hall. When I asked if other Minnesota wineries would be there too, she very cockily answered, «Anyone who can pay us $ 20,000 can play in our pool.» Why such a chip on her shoulder?
And on top of all of that the wines are very unimpressive. The rhubarb wine is flat and tasteless — especially compared to the delightful version offered at Winehaven in Chisago City. The one wine that we came close to liking was the Nowthen Red, and after opening it this past week I realized that even that is very lacking.
I won’t go back, I tell my friends to avoid the place, and I hope that you, the reader, will think twice before going there. Unless you enjoy paying to be abused.