Booked this for my mom’s bachelorette. We went on a Saturday. There were 7 of us and we were in the van with another group of 6. Big group, But the van was roomy and air conditioned so space wasn’t an issue.
First, for the scheduling that happened leading right up to the trip, I can’t say enough wonderful things about the employees who helped us. We had multiple changes including paying and then having one person switch to non-drinker AND having to add 1 more person the day before the trip. I know that caused a number of logistical issues and they were so nice, helpful and kind throughout. I couldn’t have been more appreciative.
Day of - Agree with the previous reviewer. We went 3 locations - 2 wineries and a Los Olivios tasting room (Roblar, Saarlos & Sons and Vincent Winery). LOVED the 1st place. The ambiance was beautiful, the wine was delicious and the staff was knowledgeable and helpful. I really liked the ambiance at the other places, but our whole group wasn’t really fans of the wines. For one of the wines at Saarlos the gentleman that was helping us said “this is our deli wine.” Granted we were about to have sandwiches, so maybe the idea was that it would make for a nice pairing, but I’ve never heard anyone describe it as such. The rankings for all of those places online are high, so it might have just been our palettes, but we dumped most of our wines at both locations. Roblar also coincidentally had some of the highest price point bottles out of all 3 wineries, but having done a fair amount of tasting, you can get excellent wine at a lower price point. We just didn’t like the wines having tasted a pretty good variety between the sparking, whites and reds between the 7 of us.
Lunch was provided even though it was a Saturday from Panino, which looked to be an incredibly popular location as we walked by. It was delicious and was a big hit! It was a nice surprise!!!
Two suggestions from me.
1) Due to Covid restrictions water at the wineries was not as easily accessible as it used to be. At the 1st winery they brought plenty. 2nd place they brought out one carafe and we couldn’t get someone to refill it. I asked if they would refill my water bottle and they refused for “cross- contamination purposes.” Thankfully we did get lunch that day so our guide provided water. A Godsend, but I know lunch isn’t normally included on the weekends. Vincent wouldn’t bring tap water and had water on the menu for purchase (though transparently I don’t remember if our group was charged.) The point being, on a hot day like yesterday water was pretty hard to come by most of the day and if I hadn’t brought water bottles for my group, we might have had some issues. Would have been great if maybe there had been water offered on the van between tastings.
The other thing is that on the website there is an option for the wine tasting and then it looks like another tour that is a wine and cupcake tasting. I figured we didn’t need the cupcake tasting, but on this day they combined the tasting and the only difference was that at the tasting room, some people got cupcakes. Everyone in my group when the guide said that looked at me asking if we had gotten cupcakes. It was a little uncomfortable as I had to explain that on the website they are shown as different tours and that I didn’t “cheap out” by not just getting the cupcakes. I think what might be helpful if this is the structure going forward is to instead of listing it as different tours, just offer an option to add it onto your tasting for an additional charge. Granted you can (and some did) just purchase when you get to the winery) but this would avoid this awkward moment of “why didn’t we get that.”
Overall, really fun day. The company does a great job of making sure guests are happy and comfortable. We would come back and try some new places!