Defiance Ridge Vineyards

From the road, Defiance Ridge Winery looks like just another winery. But inside is where the magic happens.  Defiance Ridge, they get it. They understand that sometimes, you want more than just a wine tasting. You want an experience.

And what an experience it was.  We got a table by the fireplace – and the view was beautiful, even on the gray winter day. The friendly staff guided us through the menu, which, bless their hearts, had something for everyone, even a gluten-free fella like myself.

I'll admit, I felt a pang of sadness when I saw those golden fries go by – a crispy, salty forbidden fruit. But they had more gluten-free options than most places I go to. And my burger? A masterpiece.  Juicy, cooked to perfection, is the kind of burger that makes you close your eyes and savor the moment. And their coleslaw was nothing that I'd seen before but delicious! My friend, equally delighted with their own plates, pulled pork sandwiches, and chicken salad on a fresh croissant, declared it a unanimous win. Oh, and let's not forget dessert -French beignets with the raspberry coulis.  My wife, a woman of discerning taste, declared the beignets transcendent. And the wine?   The real surprise was the Raisin Ranch –  my favorite choice.  My friend bought a bottle to pair with salmon.

Defiance Ridge, you've won me over.  This isn't just a winery; it's a destination. A place where the food is as captivating as the view, and the company is just as good as the wine. Consider this a standing reservation – I'll be back.

Wonderful venue to spend on our 40th Valentines dinner!
Dinner was perfect!

They allow smoking, so if you do not mind the presence of cigarette smoke, this may be suitable for you. It was quite crowded, which could be appealing if you enjoy a lively atmosphere. The salads were good though there was an issue with the order and the drinks were forgotten. However, the server resolved one issue by removing the item from the bill. If you're seeking a relaxing experience, this venue may not meet that expectation. Despite this, the overall experience was more enjoyable than the visit to Chandler Hill Winery.

Great views and plenty of tables for large parties and small outside. Turkey club with chips was good and spicy chicken wrap with fries even better. The alpaca white blend was good with quick service too.

I cannot thank Hannah and Defiance Ridge enough for how spectacular my wedding turned out. It was extremely hot outside, but they did everything they could to help us stay comfortable. Planning was super easy and I pretty much just answered any of the questions Hannah had for me, and then when I got there everything was set up beautifully. The food was so good and, of course, the wine was top notch. Our photos from the grounds were so breathtaking, and I loved that I didn’t have to decorate very much because the place is already so beautiful! Great outdoor and indoor space so you don’t feel like you’re getting cheated if you had bad weather on your wedding day, because it’s just as nice for everyone to be inside. Also, as a cake decorator who delivers to this venue a lot, they are one of our favorites to work with and we see so many happy couples having the same experience as I did every weekend!
10/10 would recommend your love story begin here!

If you're looking for a beautiful place to have your wedding and with wonderful food - Defiance Ridge Vineyards is the perfect place! We had our wedding here in late September and it was absolutely magical. The coordinators are so attentive and open to any questions, the food was a hit across the board, and the grounds were perfect for photos ☺️ They are also super clear about their prices - so there were zero surprise fees! And I was so pleasantly surprised at the food tasting - they set it up as essentially a whole coursed dinner with the foods we wanted to try (totally beyond what I was expecting)! I would 100% recommend this venue for any engaged couple in the STL area!

The foid on Oct 5th was not good. We ordered Chicken Wrap and Rueben sandwich. Neither sandwich was good. The beef was mostly fat and the chicken was chewy.

Defiance Ridge grounds are beautiful and the lake side wedding set up was perfect. We visited Definance Ridge multiple times before the wedding and had the rehearsal dinner there and every time we had a great time. The guests all raved about how good the food and drinks were and the fireworks over the beautiful venue were magical. The setups inside at the tables were beautiful. Hannah did a great job facilitating with our wedding coordinator and the other vendors and everything went smooth. She did extra accommodations for the wedding party and families for some special circumstances that made everything go so smooth. My 96-year-old Mom who recently had a dental plate installed and they worked with her so she could have a meal she could enjoy. There were other similar requests. She made accommodations for a photo booth close to the dance floor, set up the timing of the fireworks, worked with the band so they could have inside music and outside music for all the guests, provided the perfect outdoor location at the lake for the ceremony, and on and on. Any special requests we had; Hannah tried to accommodate. I would highly recommend if you want a beautiful outdoor wedding and the reception all together to have your wedding at Definance Ridge. We will remember the wedding forever. Thank you Hannah and Defiance Ridge Team! You truly made the wedding so special!

Love this place for our annual luncheon!
Hannah and Lynn are super !

***Response to Defiance Ridge Vineyard’s reply below***
Started off horribly!!! Was instructed to go into a room where the band was playing by a worker but Imagine being the only black couple walking into a room full of people who don’t look like you. All heads are turning and whispers start. You and your wife proceed to sit down at an empty table with 6 empty chairs . An irate server runs over and aggressively asks if we are part of the Shriners party. We politely say no. Then she yells and aggressively says we can’t sit at this table! Ok. Where can we sit? Anywhere but here she responds yelling with an attitude. Then walks away. You don’t know if race played apart in her attitude but it’s hard not to think so. She was so nice to everyone else that we saw who were not a people of color.
Another server saw what happened and politely directed us to sit outside where we could still hear the band but not see them or sit some other tables that were not restricted. We chose to sit outside.

Outside was much better. Destiny!! Our server was polite, informative and kind. She answered all our questions about the wine and food and helped us make an informed decision. We ordered food and wine.. had drinks and even picked up a few bottles of wine to take home with us. We were celebrating our 25 yr wedding anniversary and wanted to visit a winery close by and have a good day. We thanked Destiny and tipped her very well for her service. She saved the day which was on the way to being a horrible experience per the rude and yes ,possibly racist server we encountered earlier. We are not sure if we will visit this establishment again. Being belittled over empty seating is uncalled for and should have been handled in a professional manner.

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The response from the vineyard is disappointing and shows a lack of accountability from this establishment.

We sat where we sat at the direction of the bartender. Within one minute, we were confronted by the 1st server, who was extremely rude. Us not being able to sit there wasn’t a big deal. We’d never visited this vineyard and were appreciative of actual guidance.

When we asked her where we could sit, her terse response was, “Anywhere but here”, then she quickly walked away. That is not an appropriate response to a question from customers who are simply trying to locate seating. Immediately after that, another server walked past. I asked her where we could sit and she politely told us we could either sit one table over, at any table in the pavilion without a tablecloth, or on the patio. I’m not sure if the second person we encountered in the pavilion was a manager. If she wasn’t, the manager mentioned in the vineyard’s response could have only been basing her opinion on what the first server may have said, in an attempt to make herself look better after such a poor encounter.

The entire interaction, from the time that we walked in until the time that we chose to enjoy the patio, took one to two minutes. It seems that the vineyard tried to insinuate in their response that we got some of the catered food for the private event, which is untrue. We walked in, sat down and were immediately accosted by their rude server. The fact that the vineyard chose to respond in this manner makes it seem as if they are attempting to use tired, oppressive stereotypes to try to justify their discourteous employee’s actions as heroic-to protect wrongful food consumption-rather than villainous. This is such a tired trope for people and companies that don’t have a strong moral compass.

Due to the poor treatment and the vineyard’s response, we will not be back. We will spend our money with companies that can at least maintain the appearance of professionalism and holds their employees accountable when they fall short of that expectation. Whether the server is habitually rude is of no concern to us. She was rude that day. Having a bad day is understandable. Lying abou

Amazing place! We all celebrated our friend getting proposed to here and got to try some wine tasting with Murph, who was super kind to offer us suggestions. The Farmers Board had great tasting cheeses and meats I couldn’t stop snacking on. The food has amazing quality. I ordered an Ozark Burger and showed up picture perfect on my plate. The burger was so soft and filling it felt like I was bitting into a cake!

If you’re looking for a winery with a great atmosphere and food to complement the wine, this is it!

Come for live music and split a bottle of wine!

I hosted a bookclub meeting here over the weekend with a small group, and the experience was perfect great wine, great food, great conversation and beautiful setting. Thank you!

wonderful vineyard with the possibility of tasting , too bad about the heat that prevented us from enjoying the garden but the interior and the very nice staff repaid us !!!

I had a group of 4 people, which were 2 couples! We showed up 20 minutes before close, we knew they were closing soon so we had no intentions of staying as we understand that dynamic. We were goi g to do a quick tasting, take a picture and leave. We got there and they were really busy, the bar tenders that did the taste testing were fine. I went to the back patio to take a picture with our group as we were going to leave and this older grey haired guy that worked there with this longer mustache approached us telling us that they close. We said that we understand, we’re just taking a picture and we’re leaving. He proceeded to hound us as there were several groups of people that were still there and hanging out, but he didn’t say anything to them! I asked him about an outside bathroom if it was open as the one that was inside had a long line. I was going go to go to the restroom and leave, and when I asked him about the restroom he was rude and said that it’s probably closed. I went to the restroom, which was open, and as I came out he was standing there like he was monitoring and making sure I went to the bathroom, the entire time there’s people there hanging out and drinking! I was really confused on this, I don’t know the guy at all but I’m a black man and this guy is hounding me, while there were several white patrons there hanging out comfortably. I definitely didn’t appreciate this interaction as I told him exactly what we were doing and he still seemed to treat my group in a disparaging way. That was my first time going there and I was really excited to go there and I’ll probably never go back ??‍♂️?!