Dromana Estate Winery

Future Brides and Grooms on the hunt for a wedding venue after 31st June 2024, please read!

I just wanted to write a review and put my experience with Dromana Estate Winery out there for future Brides and Grooms to see and be able to make informed decisions about booking in what should be an incredibly special day!

Myself and my partner viewed Dromana Estate Weddings back at the end of last year and were instantly sold on the venue, not just because of the beautiful space but mainly for the team involved. We felt at ease and trusted them instantly with our big day in their hands and have heard nothing but positivity from not just previous couples but vendors and suppliers too. This is why, when we found out the original team at Dromana Estate Weddings would no longer be associated with Dromana Estate, we were absolutely devastated.

We received communication from the new management shortly after this was announced letting us know who would be stepping in and taking over. I asked my questions I had and was reassured nothing was changing at all except for management. I have since then, spoken to and heard the stories of many other future Brides and Grooms going through terrible experiences with the new management. Things such as double bookings of weddings dates, misleading information about staffing, and other couples being completely ignored and blocked. These are not my stories to tell so I will not go into detail about these.

Since all of these negative experiences have come to my attention and their complete lack of experience with weddings have left me with no faith in them being able to give me the day I imagined, I made the decision to cancel my wedding with Dromana Estate Winery and request my deposit back. After multiple attempts at contacting management and no luck, I am extremely frustrated with the whole situation. Given I paid my deposit to Dromana Estate Weddings and signed my contract with them under a completely different ABN, I technically have no contract with this new management and believe I am entitled to my deposit being refunded as I did not pay this to them and these circumstances are completely beyond my control.

I am now having to seek other avenues to escalate this further and get my money back. I booked my wedding towards the end of 2023 for early 2025 as I wanted to give myself a really good amount of time and make the process of planning my wedding be a smooth and enjoyable as possible. This was not at all something I was expecting to have to deal with and is causing a lot of stress and anxiety. All I want to do is plan a perfect day to celebrate with my future Husband and all of our friends and family and this is not how I anticipated this process going.

Severely disappointed and stressed!

I wanted to tell of my partner and I’s experience with Dromana Estate recently in the hopes it warns future couples considering this venue for their wedding.

When my partner and I were notified that Amy and Adrian (Dromana Estate Weddings & Events) will no longer be associated with weddings held at Dromana Estate as of the 30th June 2024, we were heart broken. We originally booked our wedding at the venue as we were so happy with the experience with Amy and Adrian, however we have since cancelled our wedding at Dromana Estate due to the horrible experience we have had with this winery taking over.

Once we made our decision, we made sure to notify Samantha (the new weddings manager) in writing, while also asking for our deposit back. This was based off the fact that we paid our deposit to a seperate entity and ABN entirely to who is now managing the weddings. We attempted to get in contact regarding our deposit for two weeks - we tried calling and emailing, however nothing worked. All we received in this time were copied and pasted emails of the first ‘welcome to Dromana Estate winery’ email we received when we were notified of the change. No matter how many times we asked about our deposit, nothing worked. We were nothing but nice at the start, as we were simply asking for a refund of our deposit, and to cancel our wedding.

The only time we managed to speak to Samantha was when we rung the winery itself, and this took about 5 different calls. However, the winery has now blocked my partners mobile number, as he was the one calling trying to get a hold of her. They will not reply to any calls or emails at this point in time.

We made the decision to contact Consumer Affairs regarding the whole situation, who advised us on the next steps. However, even after notifying them of our choice to take our complaint further, we have heard nothing. At this point in time, we have booked our wedding elsewhere. However, we will continue to fight for our deposit.

My partner and I wanted other couples to be aware of how they are treating couples like us - it’s a polar opposite experience to what we have had with Amy and Adrian, and shouldn’t be something that we have to experience when planning what should be the happiest day of our lives.

Went to a wedding over the weekend, the ceremony was lovely and the venue was beautiful for a barn, if you like that kind of thing. The grazing tables and the canapes was fantastic. The main meal was disgusting, the meat tasted like a shoes, no flavour and really dry. The fish was better however it was overcooked. The vegetables was decent. Let me not start on the coffee that was served cold. The staff really need to learn about how to make coffee. Good luck with it all.

At first we weren’t sure whether we would write a review, because admittedly the wine, service and venue were pleasant. The food however, was another story. Let’s start with the baked brie. Traditionally you might expect an entire wheel of molten brie with crusty warm bread, paired with the the listed ingredients. What we received was four triangles of slightly warm cheese, on cold bread (not the listed sourdough). Two out of three mains were abysmal, while the other was wildly mediocre. The lamb cutlets had apparently been flame grilled in the fires of hell and were completely blackened and inedible. To be fair we requested this to be replaced and they did so without complaint and at no extra cost. The seafood linguine was okay but drowning in oil. The duck in plum sauce however, arrived in a bowl, drowned in what can only be described as a watery vinegar. The duck was slightly over cooked but the only edible part of the entire dish as the vegetables were over cooked and soaked in the vinegar concoction. To charge $38 for this calibre of cuisine in one of Victoria’s esteemed wine regions is a bit of a joke. As stated at the start of the review, we weren’t sure whether we would write a review at all (as the food quality was the only issue we experienced) but upon reading the owners truly unhinged responses to previous reviews, we thought it was warranted. Fully expect to be “banned for life” as per previous reviews, but I can’t say that is an unwelcome prospect.

Came here for a wedding and it was such a gorgeous venue! The staff were very attentive to everyone, and me in particular as a coeliac which I really appreciated. The acoustics of the rooms were great - it wasn’t too loud or echoey. Loved all the gorgeous vintage sofas scattered around, which made for lovely photos! It really was a lovely venue for a wedding?

We had a fantastic cellar door experience with David. Very knowledgeable and made us feel very welcome.

Unfortunately this place was the most disappointing on our wine tour. The young lady doing our wine tasting was very friendly but the other staff (older women) far from friendly. This place really needs to pick up their act to compete with the other beautiful venues around.

Had a great wedding function there over the weekend! The staff were great especially a young fella there called Sam who was a legend! Would definitely recommend!

Dated, inedible, disappointing. We dined here for lunch today. My partner and I agreed that it was the worst meal we’d ever eaten. We had the scollops in a tomato sauce which was incredibly sweet. The sauce was not a good match for the scollops, and the freshness of the scollops was questionable (my partner felt ill after consuming one). We left the rest of this dish. The margarita pizza looked like a bought base (potentially from the freezer isle), certainly not worth $20, but at least it was good enough to eat. The baked brie was the saddest meal I’ve ever seen… two pieces of average sliced white bread spread with honey (like someone’s breakfast), with a measly wedge of brie in the middle, sprinkled with dedicated coconut… A 5-year-old could have prepared a more appealing meal.
I can’t complain about the wine and the service was good, although we weren’t shown to our table upon entry- just pointed to where to go.
I can’t believe this restaurant is still operating when you could go anywhere else in the peninsula and pay the same amount to receive fresh and high quality food. Avoid this one.

Dromana Estate, which was once a status of fine food, has sadly come to an end. My family and I had eaten here recently and were extremely disappointed with the food we were served. Firstly the pizza which was served, was something out of a supermarket, it lacked any flavour and was very soggy. When it came to the steak, it too wasn’t on par with what was being charged, it too lacked in flavour and size. We did mention this to the staff member at the front before leaving and they did mention they would pass it on, however judging recent reviews, it looks like old mistakes are still being made.

We must say however, the wine is still very good here and bursting with flavour, I highly recommend taking a bottle home.

Like many wineries on the peninsula recently, Dromana Estate may benefit from transitioning from food and wine, and look at becoming wine only, leaving the food in the past.

Make sure you book a tasting. They won't allow any sort of walk in. Turned away, would not recommend.

Turned up without a booking, went to go have some lunch and/or a wine tasting. We were greeted after a few minutes, and were told (to an empty restaurant) that there were no tables and they were short staffed quite rudely.
Went into the wine tasting room, and were told there were no tastings, even though there were 3 people at that time behind the counters, not doing anything

Lunch on the verandah on a beautiful sunny day. The four tapas dishes that we ordered were delicious. The wine was lovely & the service was efficient & friendly. All at a reasonable price.

Large group of us attended this venue having prebooked, and preordered our lunch. We were all excited to enjoy the food, and the wine and the venue itself.

The beginnings were great, the setting was very pretty, the charcuterie board was delicious and the wine tasting was lovely. Unfortunately this is where the niceties end. The mains started coming out with the last arriving about 30-40 mins after the first. Most of the main foods were inedible. I ordered the seafood linguine and couldn't eat most of it. The calamari was rubbery, the prawns and scallops had no taste. The pizza ordered by another was cold and almost still frozen. There were some good reviews from the group like the risotto though.

When the waitress came to clear and asked how the food was, we gave our honest feedback and said that some weren't great so she went and got the chef and (we are assuming) the owner. They came out in a rage that we had said negative things about their food. They were aggressive and looking for an argument, verbally abusing members of our group. Their behaviour was appalling. The gentlemen pushed a member of our group and locked us in the terrace. We managed to remove ourselves from this dangerous situation by opening a side window and jumping out of the terrace.

Thankfully we have video evidence of all of the above and can share this with the police is requested.

Food we chose was good however service extremely slow/lacking/non-existent. Blame staff shortage as seems is happening but more organisation would be a good idea. Then to be told, sorry, no desserts (even though dessert items were on the menu) as they hadn't been delivered, obviously not made onsite. Not impressed.

Very unfriendly staff, especially the main lady who seemed to be in charge. Pizza tasted like it was frozen and microwaved.

Beautiful venue to host your wedding or special occasion. Our Photo Booth fit right in. Hope to come back soon.

1. Service 0.5
2. Food tasteless from a packet and jar
3. Still waiting for my bake brie! 2hrs later
Has anyone seen it?
At least the drinks were good

This place is very unwelcoming.

Response - horrible service with an old lady who was really extremely rude. How are you in hospitality with no social skills? Judging from your response I’m guessing this is her? Is her name Karen?

Couldn’t believe how bad the pizzas were, tasted like frozen McCains pizza. If not even worst.

Wine was average. If you can’t make it then why try maybe import some to sell.

Honest enough for you?

Sadly, a very cold dining area and the cold ashes of yesterday's fire made it a bit of a dismal welcome. The meal and service were fine. Choose a sunny warm day to visit!