Reviews of Sandhill Wines (Winery)

Leonard Chee

Excellent wines and service. Theses people are quite knowledgeable

Ashley Lynn Winters

Wines were medium. Heavy tasting pours though.

Jeremy Andrews

The wine tasting is a great value and the wines are exquisite

Sea Dean

Friday happy hour social gatherings with food, wine and music in winter. Crowded and noisy, but socially happening. Come early to get a seat.

itouchcl

They have the best tasting experience with the sofa and staff. All wine tasting should be like this.

Sidney Wahl

I Think their hours online need to be adjusted. It says open Sunday however doors are locked.

Derek Johnston

Terrible customer service. I have gone there 3 times for a wine tasting and left frustrated every time without even trying their wine. They sent us over to Wayne Gretzky winery(next door) bad idea. The wine is awful. It would be a good purchase to gift a frienamie.

Lisa McNeely

Didn’t particularly enjoy their wine tasting, but the tasting room itself was lovely. Friendly staff.

Greg Abramoff

Good location, you miss out on the estate vineyard view being downtown. We came to taste because they are one of the few wineries that do Italian grape varieties such as Sangiovese and Barbera! We enjoyed their red wines, found them needing a little more time aging as they were a little rough around the edges. I also think the $10 tasting fee is way to high.

Dan Tait

Great winery with a great sense of community in a great (and growing!) part of town! Taste Sandhill's great selection of wines, sourced from vineyards all over the Okanagan. Get to the best happy hour in Kelowna on Fridays from September through June for live music, local appies, and cheap Sandhill glasses! I love this place!

Raegan Hall

Such a stunning downtown Kelowna winery! Your reds are divine!

Ada Dollevoet

Great spot for a tasting! Luv the bracelets in the wine shop.

Thalles Evangelista

Great experience. Staff was super nice!

Guo Jing

Great quality food , friendly and efficient service.

Kelsey West

Awsome place to do a wine tasting with many variates of whites and reds to choose from. Will come back again for sure.

Ian Kelly

They're happy hour Fridays are fun.

Tessa Gordey

Had such an AMAZING experience with Kara. Please ask for her for your next tasting she was so lovely and extremely personable. We almost left because of another server being very rude. But Kara took over and made us feel so welcome and comfortable. The wine was lovely as well.

Igor

Good wine and qualified staff!

Louie Parker

Lovely winery, I had the opportunity to visit here on a weekday, lovely staff and facility. I really enjoyed the reds here for some reason. Of all the tastings the whites were well balanced but I had difficulty finding their uniqueness compared to other wineries. Would definitely come back for more!

Ravi Grewal

Best in class.

Brian L Fisher

Sooo much fun..tasty wines and awesome Christmas SHOPPING!! Every weekend???

Igor

Excellent experience. Wine only

Matt Miciula

Live music and wine tasting was great.

K C A

Awesome reds, helpful staff and great atmosphere - Don't miss this stop!

Ian Macdonald

This is a difficult review to write because this is intended solely for the Corks and Forks dinner experience which does not have a Google Business listing and you have to sign up with them to leave a review which doesn't help people learn from authentic reviews. In regards to the space, experience and wine at Sandhill I give it 5 stars. I was here for a wedding and the venue couldn't have been better. I regards to the very overpriced Corks and Forks experience, myself and our group were quite disappointed. One couple in our group had done the experience a month prior and said it was great but agreed that this experience, January 25th, 2020, was unfortunate. After spending $280 for two people you really expect a 5 star meal and truly it was not. We felt rushed at our table, you had to ask to get refills of wine and the dishes were not worth it. I am sorry to write this and impact Sandhills review but I really think that the Corks and Forks pricing needs to come way down or the dishes improve greatly. If a party of 16 people are all spending this for an evening and celebration out you would expect the venue to stay open much later but unfortunately our wine was cut off and we were asked to leave. One member of the group overheard from a staff member that they had plans that night and needed to leave which may have contributed to closing earlier. We would love to come back for a tasting but we will not for the Corks and Forks dinner.

Rune-Leander Mikkelsen

Three people and a baby walk into the Sandhill Winery in Kelowna (sounds like the beginning of a joke but it turned out more of a Shakespearean tragedy). We are the only people in the whole place. Three staff walk by without noticing us. After no contact for 5 minutes we sit down - finally a staff comes over, no hello or how are you, instead a confused “Can I help you with something?” like we just wandered into a place that was off limits... followed by “well, you can’t sit there” indicating the one place we can stand (as the only three people in the whole place) and very reluctantly starts to pour the wine samples we purchased. From the get go she lets us know that she does not have that many bottles open and she is not going to the trouble of opening new ones so will just have to taste what is open. There are only two white wines open so a member of our party asks if there is a Rose she can try instead since she is not keen on reds. The woman rolled her eyes, laughs, looks at us like we were to be run out of town on a rail covered in tar and feathers, and tells us the Rose has been sold out for months! (like we should have known better). When a second member of the group (me) makes a comment about one of the red wines the response from her is “well, I don’t know if you have ever tasted wines from Italy” which is a strange comment since I have a strong European accent.... While making sure we felt like idiots while serving the last drops of her bottles that tasted like they have been open a little to long, she was very verbal about how our two year old could not touch anything (again strange since the two year old was watching Paw Patrol on the iPad the whole time). I asked for a cup of water for my daughter (who pours some on the concrete floor). “That’s just water right?!” staff exclaimed. I’m thinking uh yeah... what else did you serve the toddler... Horrible experience, will never visit again. Luckily we went to Quails Gate for a tasting after, an amazing experience with a wine quality close to the Italian wines I had while I LIVED IN ITALY!

Steve Bolton

Great service and wines were tasty

Cdn. Appliance Parts

Friday night live blues with Papa Dawg and $8 glasses of wine.. Fantastic combination. Earl's Restaurant was there with the tacos.. very well done. 5-7 Happy hour.. will go again for sure. Lots of great people, music, food and dancing. Wine was wonderful - good way to sample reds and whites and get to know the different varieties. Lady pouring was knowledgeable and fun. Christina and Joe

Mark Derksen

Wasn't the biggest fan of the wines, and you can definitely get a better tasting experience/view at many of the other wineri s in town

bryan haffenden

Loved it ! Cool history and a bright future

Jean Bruillard

good

Alissa .R

We were blown away by the quality of the wines here, and then double blown away by the prices! Gorgeous wines at. Highly reasonable price. The tasting room is also really nice, very modern. Staff as very friendly and helpful!

Claire Hanna

Absolutely divine wine selection and our server Alex was full of knowledge and even dropped some pretty good one liners. The space was gorgeous, you could do cartwheels it was so open. Family friendly and they made you feel comfortable but still sophisticated!

Dawn Sweany

With so many amazing wineries and fabulous people, don’t waste your time here! We went in on Friday at around 5:50pm asking if we could do a tasting. We were told in a flat tone ‘no, we’re closed’. I said that we had thought they were open until 7 as that is what was listed online. She said she didn’t know where we got our information from because most websites were updated to indicate they close at 6…hate to tell you lady, we got this information from the Sandhill website directly. I understand that hours change but she looked at us like we were bugs and was so rude. After spending the day with top quality people at wineries like Ancient Hill, I wouldn’t waste my time at this one.

Bob Gray

One of my favorite places to wine taste in the valley. Great wines and friendly knowledgeable staff. We highly recommend.

Ashe Garlough Fitness

So so service wise. Took time to get attention and then ten dollars each per tasting is steep. Definitely better more unique spots to hit for wine in the Okanagan.

Allie Bear

We had a tasting with Gisela during our first trip to Kelowna and were absolutely taken aback by her breadth of knowledge and genuine passion. Not only were the wines unique and of the highest quality, the overall experience left us feeling very invested in the Sandhill brand.

Ian Macdonald

Firstly, generally speaking, the wine is first class and offers good value. A couple of weeks ago we ordered two cases of wine on-line. Free delivery was included. A week or so later one case arrived but it was delivered by somebody with an address similar to ours. The wine had been delivered there in error. They were kind enough to bring the wine to our house. We emailed Sandhill to enquire about the second case. No response. It's been almost a week. We also tried to telephone them. Apparently, they don't accept calls. I then called a Vancouver number I saw on-line and spoke with a person who said their company owned Sandhill. He said he would follow-up and have somebody from Sandhill call. It's been 24 hours and I'm still waiting....... Terrible customer service.

Reinhardt Redelinghuys

Well educated staff, with a decent selection of wines, some better than others (depending on your taste), but all-in-all, very good.

Christoph Raaflaub

(Translated) Very good Merlot wines. Location and tasting are great. (Original) Sehr gute Merlot Weine. Location und Tasting sind toll.

Graham Elger

My favorite winery in Kelowna. Great wines and awesome tasting area

Caleb N

Color me unimpressed. Rude staff that doesn't know their own product. Try to be more like a winery than a liquor store.

Robert Cole

Very professional during the Covid19 pandemic. Good wines and friendly staff in an Urban Vineyard. Would gladly return!

Natalie D

Staff and manager are jerks. Walked for twenty minutes to get to the winery, they were one minute past pouring time and refused to pour us a glass, even though the bottles of wine were sitting open in front of us. On here it says theyre open til 6, but pouring time ends at 530. Hey Sandhill, ever thought about changing that so you don't waste people's time? They offered to "let us" buy a bottle and take it. Oh gee, thanks so much. I dont think so. All they had to do was take the wine and pour it into a glass. They were extremely rude and unapologetic. On principal I would never come back here or recommend this place. Sandhill wine is swill anyway.

Tim Stephens

This place was on our list to visit while in Kelowna & IDK why. I highly recommended it. The biology major sommelier hosting our couch was very eloquent, and her knowledge of terroir unique in Canada. We were not disappointed—Hand Sani on the entrance. No QR code menu, & a bit echo-y acoustics (hearing impaired must have good devices), but I liked it. The staffs are amicable and helpful and good attention to detail. Can't wait to come back! Thanks girls!????We decided on a bottle if Sauvignon Blanc & a small lot Sangiovese to take out.

Corey Forman

La di da indeed. Very nice facility.

Damien Prud'homme

Great wines at a good price! Fun tasting experience

Jerry Miranda

Wine tasting here is great. Open atmosphere. Friendly and helpful staff. An amazing assortment of wines and other items.

Brittany Molen

Wonderful white label Syrah

Danger Daz

Beautiful building with a clean layout and fantastic selection of locally made wines! Ken offered a lot of great wines and backed the tasting with fantastic knowledge. We'll be back anytime we're coming through Kelowna!

Jen Bloom

Great little winery in town with delicious wines and helpful staff. Lots of room inside with a more modern feel than some of the other wineries in the area. They offer a few different brands of wine. Definitely a good stop if you're in the area and don't want to drive out of town to a winery. Try the "Three"!

Elyse Johnston

The service and wine were both amazing!

Alex Storie

Great fun visit, cool atmosphere & tasty vino ????????????????

Stephen Barber

My Friday night must do.. every Friday.

Jaemie Sures

A group of girls and I were visiting from out of town. We got to the winery at 5:30, online it says the tasting room closes at 6pm. The open sign was outside. We were rudely instructed that the tasting room was now closed. We said the open sign is on and that we can make sure to be out by 6 but they refused. The tasting room was full of people and it just seemed like laziness. This left a bitter taste in my mouth, such poor customer service. Especially since we were out of town visitors. I will not be visiting them again.

Chris Dias

Unlike all the other wineries on our extensive journey through the Okanagan, Sandhill is not located atop a hill surrounded by picnic tables, vineyards, and tour busses. Instead, it’s nestled at a corner on the edge of the industrial area of central Kelowna, an extended walk from the beach. No vines. No picnic tables. No view. Just a brutalist piece of architecture you’d think was just a bottling depot rather than a winery, one with not just one but several tasting lounges. On our second and longest wine trip (there’s been three), Sandhill was on the tail-end of 60 wineries and 120 bottles purchased. On our recent trip, only a few weeks ago, it was revisited given my friends and I literally walked by it. It was then we picked up a bottle of 2016 Hidden Terrace Sauvignon Blanc. It didn’t last, as we drove out to a picnic and downed it to the last drop against a homemade charcuterie. It was an honorable death to such a bottle. Sandhill feels like a corporate winery, regardless if it is or not. It features numerous labels all sharing space in a colossal lounge. The first time we visited, we were guided into a small chamber draped in dark tones and dim lighting, bottle bottoms sticking out from the wall behind the tasting bar. Apparently, this wasn’t Sandhill…or maybe it was. It’s all very confusing. There’s a huge sign outside showing Sandhill, but inside, you’ll find Wayne Gretzky (his wine, because I’m sure he has better places to be), Calona Vineyards, Conviction, and Peller Estates, the majority I think are all owned by Calona. The only conclusion I could come up with is that Calona leases a boutique outlet in the Sandhill Winery building, but how do you review one if not reviewing them all? I know we were standing at the Sandhill tasting counter because we bought a Sandhill wine a few weeks ago, but the previous year, it must have been Calona we had been visiting. This is one of those strange occurrences where you have one building with two entrances leading into the same space but two different addresses and two different companies. So, you can end up entering Sandhill and having a tasting at Calona (like we did last year) or enter through Calona and end up at a tasting at Sandhill (which happened this year). So, check that…it wasn’t 60 wineries; technically it was 61. I guess this is a great location then, as you can wander from one tasting to another without going outside. And here I thought Naramata was tightly packed. Sandhill is certainly the larger of the two tasting rooms. It also has the better wine. Conviction is not bad, but I’m not a fan of the Gretzky wine. Maybe it pairs well with wings; I don’t know. Sandhill is a beautiful location with above average wine that is easy to access from anyone in town. Despite its lack of a view, it is still a good visit.

Jake McIlravey

Decent staff and great tasting!

Kaitlan Hunter

We arrived right when they opened because we had reservation for 11am. They seemed inconvenienced with our presence and the server was very short with her responses. She seemed like she didn't want us there and it made us not want to purchase any wine.

Justin Egert

Very knowledgeable and friendly staff. Great atmosphere. And perfect location.

Melkalver Melkalver (Johnny D)

I visited the winery as part of a Red Dog Tour. This was our first stop. The wines were good quality. The location very clean and spacious. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. I'd have appreciated to be given some more history of the location, but really enjoyed the service.

Kristen Wilson

Wedding plans went awry for us when unexpectedly had to cancel our venue 6 months before our date. Thankfully, Sandhill saved the day and committed to maintaining our vision. Then COVID hit. Yet again, Sandhill showed their kindness as we cancelled our summer plans. Not only is their wine fantastic, but their staff are incredibly understanding and adaptable. I highly recommend Sandhill for both drinks and events!

John Beauchamp

Awesome place!

Shannon Hussey

Lovely wines. Good prices. The tasting is a little pricey if you just do the tasting so definitely helps your decision to buy a few bottles.

Sarah Reid

Great experience. Kim was really knowledgeable and friendly. So far best tasting experience in Kelowna. They had a great variety of wines for us to try, interesting variations of classics french and Italian grapes. We'll definitely be going back.

Angela B

Amazing and affordable wine selection. Beautiful tasting room and friendly staff!

Anna Agosti

I would give ZERO stars if that was an option. We stopped in to pick up a few bottles of wine/not tasting as I've had some of their wine before. We picked a few bottles from their wine store and went directly to pay. The lady at the till advised us that one of the Rose I selected to purchase was for "members only". I had to sign up for their membership to buy it! There was no sign, no indication that this was a members-only wine on the shelf. How does this place expect to bring in loyal members if they require you to sign up for a membership and then have their wine on the shelf for anyone to purchase?? The person at the till even commented that it's not right...that you should be able to purchase the wine without a membership. Hey Sandhill - maybe if I can buy your wine and try it, I'll become a member??? ever think of that? Needless to say, I will not be returning - as there are 100's of other, better, wineries in the Kelowna and OK area.

Emily Greer

Excellent!! We had our wedding (ceremony & reception) at the beginning of March and Sandhill went above and beyond our greatest expectations. My husband and I are from Ontario and all communications were done via email... Annika, the estate manager helped with everything from venue, wine and making caterer recommendations. We chose Relvas Catering and were extremely happy. Linda and team made the night run seamlessly. All and all the night was perfect and we couldn’t have asked for a better venue. Would highly recommend as a venue and of course for the wine!

Pascale Mayer

(Translated) Nice visit, although slightly disappointed that the tasting costs are not deducted if you buy wine. There are 2 types of tasting: 5 base wines at $ 10 and 5 premium wines at $ 20. We took the $ 10 one and no red wine really impressed us. Pity . Extremely simple welcome. (Original) Belle visite , quoique légèrement déçue que les frais de degustation ne soit pas déduis si on achète du vin . Il y a 2 types de degustation: 5 vins de bases à 10$ et 5vins prenium à 20$ . Nous avons pris celle à 10$ et aucun vin rouge ne nous a vraiment impressionné. Dommage . Acceuil extrêmement simpatique .

Kalyn Chua

Love this place ! If you are here in kelowna for a short stay, do come here for wine tasting. We had a lovely time attended by the staff Megan :)

Cindy T

Fabulous wines! Great service! Dont miss it.

Kent Sandy HAYGLASS

They were bought out since our last visit. Hallelujah ! Much better managed tasting experience and milieu. Knowledgeable friendly staff , excellent wines as before when Howard Soon was winemaker, diverse selection at reasonable pricing (lots of BC wineries do count on a patriotic homer population paying inflated pricing to be "local" just as widely seen in U S...not at Sandhill). Small Lots range usually very good and their "3 " is excellent quality and PVR. Highly recommended. Here you come for wine quality, not cliff top views accompanied by ok wine

mary penonzek

Lovely place. Signed up for their wine club and only came in to taste wine!

Allen Lou Burke

Sandhill is part of Kelowna's history. They have been making fermented juice for many years. A craft they take pride in. Try their new Rose. It's Orange and a lovely blend of Gamay Noir and Merlot. Perfect with spicy food. I know I just had it tonight. Cheers!

Peter Chmiel

Firstly, generally speaking, the wine is first class and offers good value. A couple of weeks ago we ordered two cases of wine on-line. Free delivery was included. A week or so later one case arrived but it was delivered by somebody with an address similar to ours. The wine had been delivered there in error. They were kind enough to bring the wine to our house. We emailed Sandhill to enquire about the second case. No response. It's been almost a week. We also tried to telephone them. Apparently, they don't accept calls. I then called a Vancouver number I saw on-line and spoke with a person who said their company owned Sandhill. He said he would follow-up and have somebody from Sandhill call. It's been 24 hours and I'm still waiting....... Terrible customer service.

Thomas Hutchinson

We stopped in & sampled some fantastic wine, excellent server,funny & explained our samples like a pro, ended up buying bunch of wine, very well layed out as per covid social distancing

Dulcie Verduyn

We were turned away at so many vineyards, it was so nice to walk in withput a booking and to be able to do a tasting. We felt very welcomed and the wine was tasty!

Rebecca White

Amazing customer service! Thanks for the help with the glassware! Love the Friday evening event!

Wanda Turkington

They had an open house. The man pouring for the tasting was not helpful. Example. ....first was a "small lot" that is all he said. We had to ask details etc. Later he mentioned everyone was just there to buy wine at a good price. This was at 3:00 in the afternoon. Myself and the others I was with felt rushed and disappointed.

Dana Wilcox

Poor service and mediocre wine... Don't waste your time there are much better wineries in Kelowna.

Dean Mistry

Excellent experience. Wine only

Mandy Rajtschan

Love Sandhill wines. Kim served our tasting and was fantastic! I've been here several times and its always great.

polarexpression

Great atmosphere, friendly staff and delicious wine.

J K

Excellent customer service! I really enjoyed the tasting experience. Amazing quality of wines with amazing price.

Linda Chang

nice wines, nice staff!

bdelgaty

We just visited the Sandhill winery in Kelowna and Selina was our wine hostess. The wine was fantastic, but Selina made the experience memorable. She was very knowledgeable about the wine and just a very nice person. Loved everything about it.

Nicolas Rodriguez

This place is beautiful and the wines and tasters are very good and give you good experience. The only let down was the service past the wine tasting, we were here Friday for happy hour and the cashier and servers were not polite and not very friendly and welcoming, which is upsetting considering this brand and beautiful location and tastes. The staff seemed annoyed and more preoccupied with themselves than the customers. I hope they improve their service soon!

Ahmed Shaaban

A wonderful wine tasting experience! My girlfriend and I were visiting Kelowna and decided to do our very first wine tasting here. We did the Lots Portfolio tasting for $25 and got around ~10 wines in which we could choose 5 to taste. 2 of the 5 were very expensive ice wines that were an absolute blast to try! The ambience was great too because of the sleek and modern interior of the space. Our hostess was a wonderfully intelligent person who explained everything very well and answered all our questions with top notch answers - thanks Kate! Would recommend to anyone having their first (or tenth) wine tasting!!

Shirley Gamble

We visited Sandhill Winery on Monday July 12 about noon and had the most wonderful experience from the time we walked in by reception and Brandon who was exceptional doing the wine pouring. Thank you for much. Paul, Lorie, Doreen and Shirley

Sam A

Fantastic people and amazing wines!

Manon Routhier

(Translated) good wines, excellent service, fantastic atmosphere for happy hour, talented songwriter, arrive early because there is a queue so popular. (Original) bons vins, excellent service, ambiance fantastique pour le "happy hour", chansonnier talentueux, arrivez tôt car il y a une file d'attente tellement c'est populaire.