Galena Cellars Tasting Room and Gift Shop

What a fun fun stop on a cold snowy evening. Marion made our tasting one of our best wine tastings ever! Many many wines to choose from. we tried 12+ and really enjoyed them. We took 3 home with us…

Our families have been coming to Galena for over 30 years. Us, for 4 years now, maybe 4 – 6 times a year and a stop at Galena Cellars is always on our list. We’re case club members and usually leave with a case of great wines; and seasonal gifts from the shop as well. We’ve also frequented the Geneva store (much closer to home) for when the going gets tough.
We have never not been charged for a wine tasting, until today. We questioned this, and when our tasting pourer, double checked with his co-​worker, she barked back that no, that’s never been their policy and she’s just never heard of this. But… she’d let it go for today. $ 10 isn’t going to break my bank; but if I’m a case club member, and leave here with more than a case of wine almost 6x per year, maybe a complimentary wine tasting should be a cost of business.
Every other time we have gone up to the counter for a tasting and gotten started, until this time when the ‘seemingly manager’ decided to be completely rude to us saying that is in deed NOT one of the perks. It was rather busy in the tasting room too, yet she made it a point to come back to us mid-​tasting and re-​announce to us that she’d let it go for today but just so we know in the future… Yeah, we heard your snide remarks the first time dear.
With this case club, you don’t earn points — like other wine clubs. You don’t get a discount on single bottles, or half cases — like other wine clubs. You evidently don’t get a free tasting (though you’ll probably spend $ 100 or more) — like other wine clubs.
This trip, we’d intended to buy nearly 24 bottles of wine to fulfill holiday gifts. Instead, we left with 5 bottles. I was so put off by the rudeness we’d experienced that I almost didn’t want to buy any. Lucky for the wine, I had to get a few. The wine itself is not an issue at all; delicious wines and fun labels.
Dave, who did our tasting, and Marion, who rang us up, were wonderful. They were very pleasant and knowledgable and friendly towards guests. They are definitely NOT a part of the problem here.
We’ll be skipping the Galena Cellars on our future trips and continuing to frequent the Geneva location. They’re much more welcoming and have never charged a tasting. They also don’t hesitate to give you the $ 1 off for forgetting your Galena Cellars wine bag at home. Much friendlier staff and you don’t feel like the clerks want you to leave once you walk in.
The lack of professionalism and friendliness at the Galena location has officially lost my business however.

Stopped in on a hot afternoon and while the shop was busy, the staff was doing a great job keeping tastings and lines moving. The bar was full when we first got in, so we walked around the gift shop for a while. The gift shop is full of cute little knick knacks and wine gear, lots of which would make great small gifts. My SO and I both tasted six different wines for $ 5 each, which is a great deal. The bartender was very knowledgeable, had a great personality, and she made the experience enjoyable without feeling pretentious. We ended up walking out with four bottles and a cute little carrying bag. Great experience overall!

I couldn’t leave Galena without stopping in every winery so going to this place was definitely on my to do list. When we came in there was no one else in the shop. The bartender was very informed about the different types of wines. I thought $ 5 for six tastings was a good deal. I ended up buying a bottle of the Señor Sangria. It’s wonderful!

It was very busy on a hot Saturday afternoon. We arrived but ended up leaving and coming back. It’s 6 tastings for $ 5 which is super reasonable. I tried all dry reds and a spiced apple. I purchased 3 of the 5 dry reds.

Superior wine selection over 50 to choose from! The service was great you can try 6 for $ 5 plus a seasonal 7 th. I really like the bubblin blanc and the nueavo.

Lots of cute wine merchandise. Perfect gift ideas, both punny and functional, all related to a love of wine. We bought a big bottle of chocolate port, since the table wines can be beat (especially by California vineyards, where we live) BUT for kitsch and cuteness this place is tops!

Well, we are talking about Illinois wine here so let’s just keep that in mind. There are some decent bottles but we are in love with their Chocolate Port. It is absolutely delicious; so good to have with either some ice cream or a piece of salted dark chocolate after dinner! We have been to the tasting room twice and the vineyard once. If you have the time and the inclination, a trip to the vineyard is worthwhile. It has a lovely setting to sit and sip some wine. You can pick up some cheese and crackers as well to round out the experience.
Back to the tasting room though, the personnel on both occasions were super friendly and so welcoming! The shop is stocked with lots of cute, funny and kitschy items.

Only $ 5 for a wine tasting! Got to try a bunch of different kinds most reds were good! The cranberry is also a fav

I am Galena Cellars biggest cheerleader but our last visit to the tasting room really left a bad taste in my mouth… and it wasn’t the wine!
We were staying across the street and I was really excited because that meant we could just walk to the tasting room and drink as much as we’d like.
We visited on Halloween night and had a tasting and there was nothing wrong with that visit. There were only a few other couples so it wasn’t that crowded.
The next night we decided to stop by again and wanted to purchase a bottle. We arrived around 5:30pm (was around 38 degrees out). When we walked in we weren’t even acknowledged like we had been the night before. Went to the bar and asked to buy a bottle. The person behind the bar looked at me weird and asked where I wanted to drink it. I answered «at the bar» as I wasn’t sure where else I could drink it? She responded that I can go outside on their patio as the bar is reserved for tastings only. Considering it was below 40 degrees there was no way I was going to sit on a cold patio. I then settled on just ordering 2 glasses of wine. We were instructed that there were a few chairs in the corner where we could sit. Actually, there wasn’t. There was a barrel set up that was playing promos for weddings at the vineyard. There were 2 chairs next to the barrel but they had merchandise on them. My husband moved the merchandise so he could sit… I chose to stand. I felt incredibly awkward and unwelcome as we sipped our wine in the corner of the store under the stairs (for restaurant upstairs). We quickly drank so we could get out of there ASAP. We promptly went to Jamie’s down the street where we were welcomed very warmly and treated like valuable customers.
Also, when I went to take my initial sip of wine I noticed lip prints around the rim of my glass. I really wanted to get out of there so I didn’t say anything (gross) and just drank from the other side. The night before during our tasting the couple next to us experienced the same thing. Person behind the bar went to put a glass down to pour their first tasting and ended up taking the glass back saying «there is still chap stick on this one… guess it didn’t get cleaned enough».
It is really a shame because we were celebrating our engagement anniversary that just so happened at the Galena Cellars Tasting Room in Geneva.
My advice… downsize your merchandise and set up a few tables for paying patrons to sit and enjoy a glass/​bottle of wine. Considering the tasting room in Geneva has an indoor seating area where you can enjoy a glass/​bottle I would assume the same would be true for this location.

Busy. Good wine. Inexpensive tastings and bottles. The Strawberry Rhubarb wine is absolutely delicious. We’ve been twice now, and doing the wine tasting is a true pleasure.

My favorite wine comes from this place. Try the country red. You will not regret it. The selection of wines amazing. I love that the wine tasting is cheaper than most you’ll find. You just walk up to an old wooden bar. Also if you buy multiple wines you can get a reusable wine bag which is convenient for a wineo like myself.
If you have extra time be sure visit the vineyard just outside of Galena. It is so cute! I wasn’t able to take a tour but I wanted too. There was a wedding going on while I was there. It is a perfect location for ba wedding.

Cute town and cute shop! Friendly staff! Bill had lots of great wine and town history. 7 tastings for $ 5!!! Awesome!!! Bought done done to bring back to California! Hope to return!

Huge selection of wines and other ‘gourmet’ foody-​type kitchen things. This is one of the stores I seem to be in the longest when I visit Galena. Wine tastings are only a few bucks and you get to sample 6+ different wines. What’s better than that? Staff has always been very friendly and I never leave empty-​handed. Wines are very reasonably priced.
A lot of fun when visiting Galena!

This was quite possibly the best «bang for your buck» experience on our Galena trip. $ 5 to taste 7 wines, and they have a huge selection of interesting things to choose from. I tried some things I had never even heard of before and liked just about everything I tasted. The guy who helped us was friendly and great at explaining the different tastes in layman’s terms (I am not a big wine drinker, usually). He also provided little accents to your tasting experience, such as dark chocolate bits that would enhance the dessert wines. I was glad to find out that they will ship to CA and hope to order some rhubarb wine in the near future!

Great service on our wine tasting, the ladies were very knowledgeable and friendly. Loved the wine selection and the shop, vineyard was closed. Highly recommended stop.
Galena was an adorable little city with a lot of character and the roads were a fun drive!

This was a nice little shop. Decent selection of wines. I picked up a couple on my visit last weekend. $ 5 for 6 or 7 tastes. My palate was agreeable with most of what I tried. There is parking available.

I’d never done a wine tasting before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I liked how this place has a very relaxed & casual atmosphere — not like the snooty place I had imagined in my head. We went to their actual winery location on the outskirts of Galena, not the downtown storefront.
The price was inexpensive for the tasting — $ 5 for 6 wines and we had a bonus taste of their seasonal cranberry wine. The ladies were all very friendly & knowledgeable. You do stand at the bar for the tasting part so some people might not like that or if they are busy you will have to wait. They have many tables outside so in the nice weather you can just buy a bottle of wine you like and relax outdoors with friends.
We ended up purchasing 4 bottles — 2 for us and 2 to use as Christmas gifts. They have something for everyone, including people like my husband who prefers his wine taste more like juice than wine. He tried a blackberry wine which tasted and smelled like a jolly rancher candy!
They offer tours of the facility as well but we did not take the time to do so.

I am so excited to write this review. Galena Cellars has a 3.5 star rating? Seriously!!!
They deserve 5 big FAT stars!!!
Let me first start by saying how great their staff is. The ladies that work here are very knowledgeable about the wine and helpful when called upon. If they know you have been there before for a tasting, they assume you know what you are doing. Perhaps, they shouldn’t but they do. Now, if you need help or want their opinion on something, just ask. They are right there behind the counter.
Now, this past weekend we went in for a tasting and to pick up a bunch of their Señor Sangria we all love so much. Their tastings are $ 3.00 for 6 «tastes». You are provided with a wine list of all of your options and each wine is categorized by the type of wine. For example, Dry Reds, Dry Whites, Semi-​Sweet, Fruit, Dessert, etc. I marked 2 things on the wine list that I wanted to taste and my fiancé picked out his 6. I asked the gal helping us to pick out ones that she thinks I would like based on the simple fact I gave her and that’s that I like sweet wines!
She suggested: Muscat Canelli, Pomegranate Wine (a NEW wine the are making!), Oktoberfest, Cracklin Apple Wine in addition to my selections of Señor Sangria (which I already am fully aware that I love) and Cranberry.
We ended up purchasing 6 bottles of wine this weekend. They offer you a $ 1.00 discount when you purchase in quantities of 4, but I was not going to buy another 2 bottles just to save one more dollar.
I learned after coming here earlier last year that they have a store in Geneva, IL which is much closer for us to visit, so if I want something and can’t make it out to Galena, we can hit up the Geneva store. I have a tip for you all: If there is a particular wine that you want, call the Geneva store first to make sure they have it. They sell out occasionally. For example, the first time I went to the Geneva store it was to get a few bottles of the Señor Sangria and they were completely sold out! I got a few bottles of the Country Red which is what they use as the base for their Sangria, but its not the same.
They also have a little shop (in addtiion to the inventory of wine) where you can purchase wine related gifts, such as wine corks, coasters, the new wine coozie, t-​shirts, welcome mats, games, wine racks, chillers, and books. It’s really a cute little store with a lot of options for all you wine lovers out there.
I love Galena Cellars and don’t mind driving out of my way to purchase their wine. My friends and family deserve a good quality wine if I’m going to get them some and Galena Cellar’s wine is the way to go!

My wife and I were here over Valentine’s Weekend. We paid $ 1.00 to sample six wines, not a bad price. The girl behind the counter seemed like she was put out or annoyed at having pour us wine and at times seemed a little condescending. The wine itself is decent. There wasn’t anything that jumped out that was fantastic.
As I’m more of a beer drinker, I would have appreciated a little more feedback from the staff other than, «what do you like?» I also didn’t like the fact that she made disparaging comments about another winery in a neighboring state.
If I’m in the area, I’ll stop in to get wine, but I won’t go out of the way to do it.