We had eleven people on this small group tour. We were supposed to stop at three wineries = Castello di Amorosa, Tamber Bey and Keiu Huong. While it was easy to register for the tour, there was confusion about pick up locations. I received at least four different locations from Viator, with a different one from Extranomical, the actual tour operator. When the voucher itself had yet a different pick up location, I had to contact Extranomical to verify. They were very nice and response time was quick.
Our guide, Dustin, was funny and personable. He had some great facts about both San Francisco and the area around Napa as we drove there. We stopped to pick up breakfast, which put us a little behind schedule. Our first stop, Castello di Amorosa. was beautiful. We were asked what kinds of wine we wanted to sample (as a group), so were able to try different reds and each was described well. We had six different tastings with a knowledgeable server, then had about an hour to wander the castle - yes, it's an actual castle - and the vineyards. There are animals there and it was a delightful experience.
The next stop, Tamber Bey, is actually a horse ranch. There is no vineyard there, they bring grapes in and make the wine there. We weren't given any choice of tastings so had two white, two red. Again, there was time to look around but since it is basically just a courtyard with horse pastures surrounding it, there wasn't much to see. Not my favorite stop.
The final tasting was Oakville Grocery, where the wine room has dozens of bottles behind glass with spigots. We were given prepaid cards and you swipe the card to choose your tasting - taste, half glass or full glass. While the wine isn't made there, it was a great way to taste wine we normally wouldn't. We tried a $450 bottle of wine! The place is historic and there is a courtyard to sit in the sun. This one was lovely.
We stopped for a quick photo op at the Napa Valley sign and again at a Golden Gate Bridge turnoff for pictures.
All in all, we had a great day and learned a lot about the area.