Small Group Napa Valley Tour for Wine Lovers

Randall was extremely helpful in sharing early on the 5 "s" rules of wine tasting, of possible wines to taste and why, together with possible lunch sites, thus reducing the anxieties of the trip so we could just relax, enjoy ourselves and learn!

The date of the tour we had booked was changed at short notice which caused inconvenience to us We were taken to only one of the vineyards which was mentioned at the time of initial booking . The Maria cencetto wine tasting was very unsatisfactory was as it like doing a tasting in a restaurant and not a vineyard . We were asked to tip the host . At The Twomey vineyard , we were only offered 3 wine tastings The guide was good and did her best and gave her a $100 tip On the whole , we were not happy with the way the tour was organised

Such a fun day with stops to a castle, two smaller relaxed wineries and lunch in a cute town in Calistoga. On the way back, the tour stops at the Golden Gate Bridge for pictures. We loved our tour guide, Randall, who was very knowledgeable about wine and made the tour so lively!

Great communication with your company before trip. Dustin was the best driver. Gave us so much information. Castle was beautiful, horses farm interesting, and wine tasting at Oakville so fun. Great stop at Napa sign and Golden Gate Bridge to wrap up the day. Met some nice fellow travelers. Only 15 people in our tour. Would recommend it to anyone.recommend it to

We had an amazing time with Doug as our tour guide/driver! All three wineries were very enjoyable. The castle was our favorite but Tamber Bay and Ru Vango were still very nice. The only downside was that you don’t get a tour of any of the wineries to really talk you through the wine making process. We would book again!

We had a nice tour. Our guide, Randall, gave some helpful insight and knowledge all throughout the day. The first stop was at the Castle. Randall warned us the staff was slow there and he was not wrong. We had just under two hours there and honestly, we could have used more. This place was the biggest and had the most tastings. I was extremely unimpressed with the plastic bag of bread sticks thrown on the table but grateful we had at least something. For the price of this tour and the appearance of the winery, I would expect a nicer presentation. Although our server, Gerard, was very kind, I felt like he had a lot on his plate and our tour group was an afterthought and they were just herding us in and out. Randall had recommended some wines to try before we went and this was extremely helpful. The wines were quite good and we did ship some home :) Lunch was in cute town with plenty of food options and adorable shops. We had 1.5 hours and that was a good amount of time. We enjoyed lunch and visiting a few shops (the Mad Mod Shop was my favorite). The second winery (the stables one) was in an absolutely picturesque setting and we enjoyed the wines too. I also loved petting one of the resident cats in the main shop. The one thing I would change here was add in some food items, be it crackers, bread sticks, anything! People around us were doing pairings with simple foods, like meat, cheese or cookies and I am unsure why our group tasting did not include anything. I really think all wine tastings should always be paired with a bit of food to help balance out the alcohol (and it just tastes wonderful!) We had about an hour at this winery and that was a perfect amount of time. The last winery was very small and we had an hour which was way too long in my opinion. We could have been in and out in half an hour for how fast it went. Also no food/snack served :( The wine was quite good though (especially the rose!) We stopped at the golden gate on the way home for photo op which is always nice. All in all, it was a good day and tour. One last thing though, the van for the small group tour has capacity for 13 or 14 passengers but even with 11, it was quite cramped. We were in the second row and my husband is 6' and his knees were crushed into the backs of the seats in front of us. Thankfully, because someone else moved to the front seat, he was able to move to a seat closer to the sliding door which gave him so relief. But know that the van is cramped. Had I known what kind of vehicle it was, I might not have booked. I thought it would be a mini bus not a van. But it worked out because two people did not show.

I would give the overall tour 5 stars because you do get a lot for your money. But, I give it 4 for a few reasons. Our tour guide was great but his driving skills were a little rough. A few people were late so as he was trying to decide what to do he made a call on the road and almost ran a red light. If it wasn't for a passenger that said stop, he would have ran that light for sure. There were 2 pedestrians in the walk way so he would have no doubt hit them. He also merged and cut some people off while driving. Now for the wineries. Castello Di Amorosa is absolutely great! The wine was excellent and they gave you options to try. The winery was beautiful. I highly recommend that winery. Tamber Bey winery was also beautiful and had horses. So that added a nice touch to it, but the wine wasn't very good. Ru Vango, was ok but not that great to look at. It had a nice vineyard but the winery itself looked so plain. That wine was also not very good. If I was in charge of scheduling this tour I'd end with Castello Di Amorosa (save the best for last?). The other two weren't great overall so I'd recommend changing them up. But that is just my taste. I liked the tour overall. But next time I go I think I will pick the wineries myself to limit disappointment when tasting.

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.

Ross is the best! If he is your driver you are in luck. So pleasant and knowledgeable. He put up with our danish jokes. The castle was worth the visit all on its own. We had a great day and got back around 7pm. Would definitely go again!

Tried to cancel on us and then booked an uber instead of a bus with your guide. Trip started an hour late and we were rushed through everything. This was my third wine tour through Napa/Sonoma and cannot recommend it.