With temperatures on the rise, visits to local wineries are heating up.

I have never been a big fan of the food at most of the area’s sipping spots, because not many go all out to make interesting cuisine. Instead they offer snack-friendly dishes such as pizzas and sandwiches, or they simply rely on the bevy of local food trucks to offer sustenance for the flocks as they taste away.

But there is no questioning that the relaxed atmosphere and tasting the different vintages crafted by these establishments is always fun.

Vinland Reserve Winery, a rather new establishment tucked in a developing area with apartments and office buildings on Provision Parkway behind Parkview Regional Medical Center on the north side of Fort Wayne, had a menu that not only bucked the norm, it also really enticed with upscale and unique offerings.

It was also a beautiful place with an upscale look centered on its Viking theme and a back patio with fire pits that has no rivals. However, those looks did not give Vinland a wonderful atmosphere. And, all things considered, the food selections enticed but didn’t excite.

To its credit, Vinland is trying to be welcoming for everyone. It is family friendly, and it offers many small plates that are perfect for wine tasting as well as salads, sandwiches and full-blown heavy entrees.

Though it was beautiful, it was not constructed properly, as its high ceilings made it very loud. It was like being in an elementary school cafeteria one evening after I had made a reservation for two and put “date night” under the special instructions.

Adding to the headache-inducing noise was the fact that we were seated a few feet from a pianist who tried to add mood music but whose instrument was amplified to excessive levels to be heard over the roaring crowd. I didn’t drink enough wine to have a headache the next morning, but I had a headache when I left because of that noise.

My servers must have had headaches, too, because I can only assume the noise played a role in the errors that were made when it came to our orders. One of the samples in my dining companion’s slushie flight – a great idea for a winery, by the way – was incorrect, as was one of the wines in my wine flight.

Then my main dish – the Viking Grains with chilled blackened salmon (quinoa, Mexican rice, lentils, arugula, pickled red onions and artichokes, heirloom tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds with a balsamic vinaigrette) – was delivered as the Wheelhouse Greens, a salad with many of the same ingredients. I realized I asked for the “grains” and my server must have thought I said “greens.”

The Viking Grains proved to be a nice dish, though I think a freshly blackened and warm salmon would be better. It was perfectly dressed, and I did not even touch the ramekin of extra dressing that came perched on top of its rustic metal bowl. The ingredients were sectioned off in each quarter so there was some work to do, but that just allowed me to play around to get the perfect combination in each bite.

The kitchen was to blame for the rest of the mistakes at Vinland Reserve Winery, and that cannot be blamed on the noise. To say dishes were inconsistent would suggest some were good and some were bad. These dishes were inconsistent across their plates.

The Nordic Chicken and Waffles was the best dish I tried – well, half of it was – and had the potential to be one of the best versions of this somewhat new classic anywhere. Its two “pearled sugar” waffles and two large brined and buttermilk-fried chicken breast strips were stacked alternating on their side, sort of like files in a cabinet, on a wooden cutting board with candied cashews scattered over them, an artfully piped dollop of maple cream cheese on the board, a little hot honey on the side and a dusting of powdered sugar.

The first issue was that there was way more sugar on the chicken than on the waffles, but the cream cheese was so good on the waffles I didn’t miss it there.

The most glaring issue, however, was that one piece of chicken was perfectly fried while the other was burnt so bad it was inedible. That was a shame, too, because the cashews were a fantastic addition that every plate of chicken and waffles could benefit from.

The Greek Viking mimicked the waffles. It featured bone-in beef short ribs with couscous, sweet potatoes, naan bread, kalamata olives and tzatziki sauce. It was also beautifully plated and looked like a meal fit for a Viking with the three sizeable ribs nested atop the naan and couscous with the rough-cut potatoes and whole olives scattered around the cutting board.

The first bite of short rib – actually, the whole rib – was terrible. It was tough as shoe leather and overcooked so badly there wasn’t enough tzatziki in either corner of the board to make it worth eating.

Before I sent it back to the kitchen, which I had to do given its awfulness, I decided to take a bite off one of the other two ribs. Glad I did because the others were perfectly braised to be tender, moist and fall-off-the-bone delectable.

Was it one bad rib, or was there a big tray of ribs back in the kitchen that had been prepared at different times that differed in quality? It does not appear on the menu anymore, so perhaps I will never know.

The couscous added nothing to the dish in terms of flavor and, adding to my dismay, the sweet potatoes were badly undercooked and somehow managed to not be sweet at all.

The final main course I tried didn’t have the same kind of issues, but the Lobster Roll still had issues. There was way more bun than lobster salad for starters, and there was way too much Old Bay in that salad along with chopped celery and crab, which was not discernible from the lobster.

Actually, neither shellfish was discernible because of the horrid amount of Old Bay that turned the salad orange and killed the sweet seafood flavor. And nestling it on top of arugula – a returning character on many menu items – was a bad idea because those peppery greens only helped mask the seafood.

Both appetizers I tried suffered from a too-heavy and a too-light hand when it came to seasoning.

The Duck Bacon and Sweet Corn Won Tons – served atop arugula, of course – were more like tacos, and there was no sweet but a lot of salt in their cream cheese filling and the Korean barbecue sauce drizzled on top of them.

The Miso Sesame Deviled Eggs were decent little eggs, and I liked the crispy bacon piece jutting out of each, but I couldn’t taste any miso or sesame. And at $2 each ($12 for six), I expected better.

I would have tried more desserts had I not been racing to get out of Vinland Reserve Winery because of all the noise. The two I did try – Carrot Cake and Cookie Butter Cheesecake – were nice but not exciting in any way, which is exactly how I would describe the wines I sampled, too.

Restaurant: Vinland Reserve Winery

Address: 4494 Provision Parkway

Phone: 619-3424

Hours: 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday

Cuisine: New American

Handicapped accessible: Yes

Alcohol: Full bar

Kid-friendly: Yes

Menu: Miso Sesame Deviled Eggs ($12), Duck Bacon & Sweet Corn Won Tons ($16), Viking Grains ($16; $24 with salmon), Greek Viking ($39), Lobster Roll ($16), Nordic Chicken & Waffles ($18), desserts ($10)

Rating breakdown: Food: 1/2 (3-star maximum); atmosphere: 1/2 (1 max.), service: 1/2 (1 max.)

Ryan DuVall is a restaurant critic for The Journal Gazette. This review is based on two unannounced visits. The Journal Gazette pays for all meals. Email DuVall at [email protected] or call 461-8130.