Perhaps we caught them on an off day, but if my experience is the metric used I implore you to not go. Although having someone drive you around on a cute trolley so that you can drink sounds amazing, the ride did not meet expectations.
'Before we begin I would like to remind you that the wineries tastings are not included in the price, and neither is drive gratuity. '
--not what you would call professional.
The speakers lacked the necessary volume to be heard, and the drive checked the volume while we were parked (the trolley is 10x louder when traveling at 50mph). And although the driver had a few funny stories, they lacked depth.
Now, the wineries tours told great stories, and directly contradicted things that I know to be true from my own personal travels. I tend to believe my own experiences, and felt as though the person giving the tours were miseducating the public in a similar way to how a creationist would. I paid 100$ for the trolley, and then 30$ for the tour--I expect some pretty good education for 30 minutes of walkie talkie. To have someone boldly lie to me with 'facts ' that I could get off of a wine bottle, and stories that were clearly faked was not only ridiculous, but insulting.
I've heard around the town that the trolley used to be free. Unfortunately, given that level of knowledge and customer service, free is what that trolley ride is worth.
Wanna have a better time? Go visit sterling wineries, Kendall Jackson, or safari west. All are less cost and better in every way that I mentioned above.
Réponse de l'hôte
Apr 2014
We are happy that you enjoyed the look and “Logic” behind our Trolley Tour. However, I am personally very sorry that you did not enjoy your recent Sonoma Valley Wine Trolley tour.
You indicated that you did not know that tasting fee’s and the driver’s gratuity was not included in your ticket price. The fact that these fees are not included, are true. We do indicate this information on our website, on our tickets and even when you call us to book. Additionally, before you depart from the Historic Sonoma Plaza, the driver also indicates that tasting fees and gratuity are not included.
If you check with our competitors, you will note that tasting fees and gratuity are not included in their tour pricing either. For that type of experience, you’re looking to spend upwards of $250.00 pp plus; which makes our $99.00 plus some modest (negotiated) tasting fees, a real value.
Our Trolleys are built on truck chassis and are not actually cable driven Trolley cars. However, even with an actual cable driven trolley, the sounds of the rails and street are louder than an enclosed coach. When our Trolley cars are running on local surface streets, the vehicle noise levels are not unrealistic. The drivers discuss the factual information while touring around the local areas. When the vehicle hits the open road, noise levels can go up.
The wineries we visit are almost all Sonoma County Harvest Fair award winners. Their rankings are from 90 to 98 point award winners. If anyone has a product and story that is factual, I personally would believe them. I am sorry that you feel that our award winning winery partners were not up to your expectations
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You also indicate there was a tasting fee of $30.00. We do not have any Sonoma winery partners that charge $30.00. We negotiated all the fees with each of our partners. For example, if you were to drive into the Benziger Family Winery on your own, you would expect to paid $25.00 pp for the same thing that you would have paid $20.00 with our guests on the Wine Trolley. The entire days tasting fees on the Wine Trolley, are $45.00. This is the fee for all four stops. That is about $11.45 per stop.
As for being a free Trolley, we are not a Public Transit service. The City of Napa used to have a free trolley service and then the service moved north to Yountville. You may have spoken to someone from either Napa (City) or the town of Yountville. And that service is actually on a bus that is designed to look like an actually Trolley. Ours is built from original blue-prints of a Trolley
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The Kendall Jackson property is a lovely location! Their wine and food pairings as well as gardens are beautiful! And, Safari West is also a fun property, with wild animals wandering around a awesome animal preserve.
But Kendall Jackson is a winery that is located in Santa Rosa (The Russian River Appellation) and Safari West (Mark West District) is located in between Santa Rosa and Calistoga. We are located in the Historic Sonoma Valley - Growing Region. Our job is to entertain our guests, teach the history of the Sonoma Valley and spotlight the award winning wineries in the Sonoma Valley.
Perhaps you should consider charting a private vehicle and experience a higher end luxury tour that visits wineries that you select and that will meet your expectations. Please keep in mind, you will also be paying more for the vehicle and winery tasting fee’s than you did with our Sonoma Valley Wine Trolley tour
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Please feel free to contact me directly and I will do whatever I can to assist you further.