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Scheduled Tours
Private Tours
Scheduled
Tours What
is French Wine Explorers?
French
Wine Explorers is a boutique wine tour company offering the highest
level of service and quality in wine and culinary travel.
We
are an American company with administrative offices in
Maryland. French
Wine Explorers specializes in luxury wine and culinary vacations in
France for an international clientele. We have
prepared tours for top wine and gourmet clubs and societies like
the Society of Wine Educators and the American Wine Society, and
for fellow wine and food professionals.
As wine educators, we
try to make our programs informative and fascinating while keeping the atmosphere light and fun.
Our primary goal is to make the world of French wine and
cuisine accessible, understandable and enjoyable for our
clients, while providing a relaxing, luxurious, and authentic experience of
traveling in France.
We're also pleased to offer private tours of the highest quality
in Italy, Spain and Portugal. Our
company has been
recognized by the top international
press, and has garnered high praise from our numerous repeat clients who
come back time after
time on our tours (see
their comments here). We hope you'll be among them!
What
makes French Wine Explorers different from other wine tour
companies?
-
Experience:
since 1990
we are one of very few companies specializing exclusively in high quality wine programs in France. Unlike many companies
that offer only
a few wine tours per
year as a sideline, we are a professional, wine tourism company - our sole occupation is creating and operating wine
tours. Our extensive experience and professionalism assures you
a seamless, exceptional touring experience.
-
Expertise:
we consult with certified sommeliers (see
credentials here) with high-level
professional experience and extensive contacts in the wine
business in France.
Your tour will be lead by a local host who is a wine
professional living in the region you'll be visiting,
with a thorough knowledge of the region and its wines. They will be able to answer
all your wine questions and give you an insider's view
into the local wine business.
-
Access:
because of our contacts in the wine business, you'll have access
to exclusive, prestigious wine estates not open to the
general public. You'll be welcomed
at these estates as an honored guest, not as a
tourist.
-
Authenticity:
unlike
many tours that are
run by people who are merely visitors to France, your
tour will be planned and led by people with the intimate,
first-hand knowledge of the local culture, customs, language and
gastronomy that can
only be achieved by living and working in the country.
-
Service:
we are absolutely dedicated to superlative, personalized customer
service.
You'll feel it in our exacting attention to detail, our sincere and
concerted efforts to make every moment exceptional, our prompt, efficient
and friendly communication before and after you purchase
your tour, and our immediate and complete response to your
needs and concerns during the tour. Our service
doesn't end with the tour itself; we can also help
coordinate other aspects of your vacation, including private guided
sightseeing tours and accommodations in Paris or the
Provinces, or travel
to other wine regions in France, Italy, Spain or elsewhere in
Europe.
-
Luxury:
we mean REAL luxury. Only the finest cuisine and the
best hotels or private chateaux. A roomy, deluxe, air conditioned motor coach stocked with
refreshments. Grand Cru wines with dinner. Tours limited to
12 guests maximum. And great, personalized service
(see above).
-
Pleasure:
we put the accent on pleasure and enjoyment of wine, not snobbery
or pretension. Wine is about sharing
memorable moments of pleasure, and your tour will filled be with
many such moments.
-
Peace of mind:
French Wine
Explorers is well established and financially
sound. All transactions undertaken by clients with our
company are done by explicit contract, where all tour price
inclusions and terms and conditions are completely spelled out
and totally clear. There are no hidden costs and no
surprises. Our goal is to give you peace of mind when booking
your tour.
Why
should I work with a wine tour company - why not just go
on my own?
Working with a reputable wine tour company saves you
time and money, and makes your trip so much more memorable.
First of all, we do all the legwork for you: with
many years of first-hand experience in the wine regions, we know the
absolute best hotels, best restaurants, most interesting sights
and highest-quality wineries. And we know how to plan
itineraries that keep driving time to a minimum and include just
the right balance of activities and winery experiences to maximize
your pleasure. Sure, you can search the
Internet and find hotels, restaurants and wineries (although this is very
time consuming), but how do you know they're really good, or conveniently located? You may end up spending your valuable
vacation time getting lost, driving to out-of-the-way places
that weren't worth the driving time, and ending up at wineries
where no one speaks English or you have only a very minimal
tasting. The very best estates are still only open to wine
lovers by special arrangement - why not visit
the best during your trip? And do you really want to be
drinking and driving, or having to designate one of your group
as the non-drinking driver, rather than having a driver who
knows the area inside and out? French Wine Explorers will
take all the guesswork out of your wine vacation, do all the
planning for you and make sure that your hard-earned vacation
time and money will be well spent. Isn't it worth it to work with
people who can ensure that your trip will be fabulous? Our clients think so
- see their comments
here.
One more thing: the French wine regions and their wines can be difficult to
understand and put in perspective. With a wine expert host
to guide you during your trip, you'll gain a huge amount of knowledge and come away from your trip truly
understanding not only the wines, but also the culture and
history of the region. That makes a good trip into a GREAT
trip!
Isn't
it better for me to tour with a company that specializes in only
one region, like Bordeaux?
It's best for you to tour with real wine professionals who have
many years of experience running tours in the region you want to
visit. In Bordeaux, for example, we've been working
personally with the top chateaux and planning and running tours
there for 17 years. Our local hosts live in and work
in the wine business in their region and know the region like
the back of their hands, but they are also wine professionals
who can speak knowledgeably about all kinds of wine. So
they can discuss, compare and contrast the wines of
the region you're visiting with other wines you've tasted or
have in your cellar. You can expect a superior level of experience,
and knowledge of all the French wine regions, when you tour with
French Wine Explorers.
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How
do I book one of your tours?
It's easy! Take a look at the scheduled
tours we offer, and then email
us or phone us to ask for the itineraries and reservation
forms of your choice. We'll send them to you by email, fax or postal mail. Feel
free to contact us with any questions you may have.
When you're ready to book your tour, fax your forms to us at
1-443-458-0975 or by
postal mail to the address indicated on the forms, along with
your deposit of US$1000 per guest (US$750 for Great
Estates of Burgundy). We'll send you
confirmation of your reservation, along with information about the tour to enable you
to make your travel plans. Your balance payment is due 90
days prior to your tour start date. We'll send you
extensive information about your tour
once we receive your balance payment, and a full package of
information and a Thank You gift a month before the tour.
Where
do your tours start and end? How do I get to the starting
place?
Most of our tours begin and end in the wine regions.
This allows flexibility for our clients, who often have other
travel plans in Europe before or after our tour. For your
convenience, all tours
start and end near a major city. You can fly into
most French cities via a connecting flight from Paris, or you can fly
into Paris and then take a high-speed TGV train to our starting
point. In most cases, a group transfer will be available
in the starting and ending city for the tour. We'll give you
information on getting to the tour starting point when you sign
up for your tour.
Go
to Top of Page What
kind of people take your tours? What age range?
Our guests come from all walks of life, and include
physicians, attorneys, CEO's, high tech executives, wine and food
professionals, members of wine tasting clubs, and just everyday
people who love wine. Most are American,
Canadian, British or Australian,
but we also have had guests from Switzerland, China, Mexico, New Zealand,
Japan, Germany, Singapore and other countries. The youngest
person who has taken a tour with us was 23, and the oldest was
82. The average age range is between 40 and 60 years
old. We usually have a mix of ages on our tours, and a
combination of couples and singles.
Do I
need to be in good physical condition? Is there a lot of
walking involved?
Our tours are appropriate for all wine lovers as long as
they are able to walk through a winery, walk up and down stairs,
and stand in place for a while during
the winery tour (sometimes there is no place to sit). We
try to drop passengers off as close as possible to the winery, so
the distances to cover are kept as short as possible. We always do our
best to accommodate guests who have any kind of physical
challenge, as circumstances permit. Do
you limit the group size on your tours?
We keep group sizes small, to make sure that each guest receives
personalized individual attention, and to allow us to visit
exclusive estates that do not accept large groups. Our
group size is just 12 guests. We think this
is the ideal size for wine country touring, providing a good
variety of personalities to keep things fun and interesting, but
allowing for an intimate, personal atmosphere during the tour.
What are
the tour hosts like? Are they knowledgeable about wine?
Our tour hosts are are passionate wine professionals who
live in the region you'll be visiting. They all have
extensive professional experience in the French wine business
and are absolutely passionate about the region and its wines. This is one of the key
factors that sets us apart from other wine tour companies whose
tours are led by guides with little
or no wine knowledge, or do not even provide information about
the background of their guides. You can see
our hosts and their backgrounds for yourself, so you can
know exactly who you'll be dealing with. Our hosts have
considerable experience accompanying groups for wine tours;
they ensure that your tour
experience is seamless and worry-free. Most are American, British or
Canadian; our French hosts all speak English fluently, and some
have spent an extensive amount of time in the U.S. We look for
hosts who have
that special combination of high-level wine expertise, personal warmth, friendliness,
excellent organizational and leadership skills, and dedication to customer
service. After an extensive recruitment search, we're
very pleased to say that we've found hosts with all those
qualities and more. They'll take excellent care of you,
and will be able to answer
practically any wine question you have.
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Do I need
to be a wine expert or connoisseur to take your tour?
Not at all. The idea is to deepen your knowledge of wine, and our wine
tours offer great learning opportunities for everyone, even
experts. Our wine expert hosts are very skilled at adapting their
commentary to the level of wine knowledge of the group,
providing good introductory instruction for novices, and more
advanced discussions for those who have more experience.
Some of our guests have an exceptional knowledge of wine; others
are just learning the basics. They all share a love of
wine, and an interest in learning more.
Will the
tour be very serious, or will we be able to relax and have fun?
We have a great time on our tours! Our guests are bon
vivants who enjoy the good things in life. Laughter erupts
often, particularly at meals. Although we include lots of
great wine information in each tour, we're very aware that this
is your vacation, not a wine class. So we make sure the
atmosphere stays light and fun. As Janet Shaner (one of
our guests in Bordeaux) put it, "I
had a great time learning about wine as well having fun with you
and the group. I haven't laughed so much in a while . . . "
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What
clothes are most appropriate for your tours?
For day, it's best to bring clothing that is "casually chic."
France is still a somewhat formal country, and you
will feel more comfortable at the elegant restaurants (for lunch
and dinner) and fine chateaux included in your tour if you avoid jeans, sweats, sneakers
and T-shirts. Especially
for our visits to First Growth chateaux and other very
prestigious estates, elegant attire is requested and appreciated.
We'll be doing some walking, plus the cellars can be damp, so
best to avoid high heels and opt for comfortable shoes for day.
For evening, do bring some dressier clothes for our elegant
dinners (gentlemen, be sure to bring a jacket - some restaurants
require them). What's
the best time of year to take one of your tours?
Our tours are scheduled between the months of April and October,
during the growing season of the vine.
France has a temperate climate, with generally mild conditions
throughout the year. Not counting the unusually hot summer
of 2003, in most regions the temperature rarely gets beyond
80-90°F (with the exception of Provence or Tuscany, where it can be in the
90's in July and August). It's not crowded in
summer in the French or Italian wine regions. We carefully
schedule our tours to give you the best possible chance of enjoying good weather.
What
can I expect from the wine chateau or estate visits?
At all the estates we visit, you'll receive a warm welcome
and a personalized tour and tasting. In most cases, you
will tour the
technical facilities (vat room and aging cellars) in addition
to your tasting. Many times, we go out into the vineyard
with the estate representative to discuss vineyard management and harvesting. Whenever possible,
the tour is led by the cellarmaster, enologist, or owner of the estate.
Often, this person will speak English; if not, your wine expert
host will
translate for him or her, and for you if you have questions. Our
guests often marvel at how unique each estate visit is. At
one chateau, you might see a cooper making
barrels; at another, there will be beautiful gardens; at a third,
a special art exhibit or museum. The tastings can be extensive and
can include barrel samples of the latest vintage and/or bottles of recent
or older vintages. We sometimes taste in the aging cellar,
sometimes in the chateau itself, and other times outdoors.
The estate representative,
and your host, will lead you through the tastings, helping you identify aromas, tastes and overall
quality. Go
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Do
you include any sightseeing or free time in your tours?
We do! The wine regions are rich in beautiful and
culturally significant sights, and we make sure you get to see
some of them during your tour. Although we concentrate on
winery tours and tastings, you'll also visit charming medieval villages and Roman ruins,
enjoy tours by local expert guides at monuments or museums, and have free time to just meander, relax or
shop in local markets and boutiques. For spouses who have
less interest in the wine estate visits, we can often make
arrangements for them to partake in other activities (like
sightseeing, shopping, golf, spa treatments, etc.) if you let us know in
advance. We're also happy to help you plan a few extra
days in the region if you wish, before or after your wine tour, to take in more local
sights.
How do
you choose the hotels that are included in the tour?
We choose luxury hotels and chateaux that are
authentically French. We avoid tourist hotels and large
chains, opting instead for hotels that are charming and typical
of the region. Many of the hotels we include in our tours
are members of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux group.
We also include beautiful chateaux on some of our
tours, like the totally private 2nd Growth Chateau
Pichon Longueville Baron in Bordeaux. In France,
4-star is the highest level (equivalent to a "5-star"
rating elsewhere), and we use only the best luxury hotels available in the region.
We visit and thoroughly check out each hotel before including it
in a tour. You can expect the highest level of service,
comfort and luxury at these hotels. All hotel rooms
include private, en suite bathroom and toilets, and can
be upgraded if you wish (additional charges will apply).
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What are
the meals like?
Our clients uniformly rave about the meals on our tours. Most
meals are included the scheduled tours. Many will be at
Michelin-starred restaurants; others at excellent,
typically-French establishments that offer finely prepared
gourmet dishes. All will be prepared by top professional
chefs. Lunches will usually be full meals, at least
appetizer-main dish-dessert; dinners often include more courses.
Sometimes you'll have a choice of dishes from a set menu; other times, everyone
will eat the same dishes (see dietary
restrictions, below). In that case, the dishes will be
expertly selected to ensure that everyone enjoys their meal
(based on the food preference/allergy list you'll give us in
advance).
Meals offer great opportunities to discuss food and wine
matching! All scheduled tours include at least one lunch and dinner
on your own, so you can try local restaurants of your choice or
have a lighter meal if you wish.
What kind
of wines are included in the meals?
We expertly match premium wines from the region we're
visiting with each dish. You will also enjoy some of the
best Grand Cru wines of the region during your meals,
particularly on our Prestige tours. We may have you taste wines from appellations not represented in
our winery tastings, or introduce you to some interesting
wines we feel merit your attention. There are usually several different wines served with each meal,
as many as four or five at certain meals. At all meals, we include a minimum of a
half-bottle of wine per person. All wine included in your
tour is chosen by French Wine Explorers' expert staff. You are
always welcome to purchase additional wine or other beverages at
your own cost in
addition to those we choose. Go
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Can you
accommodate people with special dietary restrictions?
We always do our best to accommodate our guests' special needs.
It's usually possible to provide a substitute meal or dish
if you cannot eat, or don't like, what everyone else is eating.
Do let us know in advance if you have any dietary
restrictions or if there are particular foods or dishes you
don't like.
Can I buy
wine during the tour? Will the estate ship it home for me?
You are welcome to purchase wine during the tour. However,
not all estates sell at the estate; in Bordeaux, for
example, very few of the Classified Growth chateaux sell wine at
the chateau (they sell exclusively through wine merchants).
Our American clients should be aware that, according to U.S. law,
only a licensed importer can receive foreign shipments of
alcohol. So you may want to speak with a local importer
before you leave for France, and ask if he will agree to receive
a wine shipment for you. For clients from other countries,
it is sometimes possible for the estate to ship your wine to your
home with an additional shipping charge. In any case, you
always have the option of bringing wine home with you in the
airplane. You may have to pay some amount of duty on your wine
when you go through customs.
What if I
want to stay longer in the wine regions, or add some time in
Paris or another city onto my tour?
Many of our clients spend additional time in France, Italy
or elsewhere in Europe before and/or after their scheduled tour
with us. We can help
with nearly
any type of land travel arrangement you might wish to include
with your tour. How
about a romantic weekend with guided tours in Paris or Florence,
or a few days exploring another exciting wine region? Just
let us know what you have in mind and we’ll help make it
happen.
Can you help me arrange other travel-related services such as
transfers from the airport, transfers to Bordeaux, extra hotel
nights, etc? (for both the link and the answer)
Yes, we would be more than happy to help with additional travel
services such as transfers to the wine region of your choice via
train or car and driver, extra hotel nights and trip
cancellation protection. Please inquire for details. Can
you send me a printed brochure?
Yes, of course! We know that not everyone has Internet access at all
times, and others like to show a printed piece to friends who
may also be interested. We'll include the most up-to-date
schedule and information with the brochure. Just send us
your address, and we'll be happy to send you our
brochure.
If you have any other questions,
please don't hesitate to contact
us!
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Private,
Customized Tours
Why
should I consider a private tour instead of a scheduled tour?
If there are 10 or fewer people in your party, we suggest
that you first consider one of our scheduled
tours. These tours have exceptional itineraries, with
very special tasting and touring opportunities and special
accommodations,
all of which you may want to take advantage
of. Our guests also really enjoy meeting other like-minded
wine lovers, who often become new friends. You should consider a private
tour for any of the following reasons:
- if our scheduled tour dates
are not convenient for you;
- if you prefer to travel only
with the members of your own party;
- if you want a wine and/or
culinary touring experience that is totally customized to
your specifications;
- if you are a group of
professionals or a wine or gourmet club wanting a customized
study tour;
- if you have 10
or more people in your group (although we do accept as few
as 2 guests on a private tour);
- if you would like an
ultra-luxury tour; OR if you would like a mid-priced
alternative to our luxury tours (since we can include the
level of hotel and restaurants that best fits your budget
and travel style).
Why
should I work with a wine tour company - isn't it cheaper to go
on my own?
Working with a reputable wine tour company actually saves you
time and money. We do all the legwork for you! With
many
years of first-hand experience in the wine regions, we know the
absolute best hotels, best restaurants, most interesting sights
and highest-quality wineries. And we know how to plan
itineraries that keep driving time to a minimum and maximize
your pleasure. Sure, you can search the
Internet and find hotels, restaurants and wineries (although this is very
time consuming), but how do you know they're really good, or conveniently located? You may end up spending your valuable
vacation time getting lost, driving to out-of-the-way places
that weren't worth the drive, and ending up at wineries
where no one speaks English or you have only a very minimal
tasting. The very best estates are still only open to wine
lovers by special arrangement - why not visit
the best during your trip? And do you really want to be
drinking and driving, or having to designate one of your group
as the non-drinking driver, rather than having a driver who
knows the area inside and out? French Wine Explorers will
take all the guesswork out of your wine vacation, do all the
planning for you and ensure that your hard-earned vacation
time and money will be well spent. Isn't it worth it to work with
people who can make sure that your trip is fabulous? Our clients think so
- see their comments
here.
One more thing: the French wine regions and their wines can be difficult to
understand and put in perspective. With a wine expert host
to guide you during your trip, you'll gain an unbelievable
amount of knowledge and come away from your trip truly
understanding not only the wines, but also the culture and
history of the region. You'll feel like you're visiting
the region with a friend who lives there, and who can advise you
and show you places you may never have found on your own. That makes a good trip into a GREAT
trip!
What's
the difference between your "pre-packaged private
tours" and "customized private tours"?
We offer two great options for private wine touring. Our pre-packaged
private wine tours are value-priced introductory 2- and
3-day tours in Bordeaux, Burgundy or Champagne (Rhone and Loire
coming soon). They offer a great way to discover one of
the French wine regions during a longer trip to France.
They include fine 3 or 4-star hotels, are fully-escorted by one
of our wine expert guides with a comfortable air conditioned
vehicle, and include tours and tastings at some of the region's
finest Grand Cru and Classified Growth chateaux. Just pick
your tour, reserve and you're all set!
Our exclusive Customized
Private Tour Planning Service offers you the possibility to
design your dream wine tour from start to finish, with
extensive, personal advising from our very experienced
staff. Your trip can include multiple wine regions for as
many days as you wish, the most exclusive estates (including
First Growths, as available), ballooning, cooking classes,
cheese tastings, sightseeing, spa services, upgraded luxury
transportation, the best suites in the best hotels or private
chateaux, gala dinners with music or fireworks - we'll work
closely with you to make your dream a reality! We spend a
great deal of time in communication with our clients for this
service, and use all of our experience, contacts and expertise,
we require a retainer of US $1000 to get started designing your
tour - this fee is applied to final balance payment for your
tour. For more detailed information on our private wine
touring options, please see our Custom
Wine Tours page or contact
us.
Does my
tour have to be in just one wine region?
You can travel in just one region, or combine regions into
one tour. It all depends on your interests, what kind of
wine you enjoy, and how long you want your wine tour to be.
We'll advise you on which wine regions combine well. For
example, combining Champagne and Alsace makes a nice 7 day tour,
as does combining Champagne and Burgundy. Burgundy can
also be combined with the Rhône Valley for a 7 day or longer
tour. We suggest 4-7 days in Burgundy or Bordeaux.
Bordeaux can be nicely combined with the Loire Valley. The
Rhône Valley and Provence wine regions also go well together.
Champagne, Chablis or the Loire Valley can be added as a day
trip during a trip to Paris. You can also combine wine
touring in France with Italy, Spain or Portugal if you like. In
Italy, why not tour the Piedmont and Tuscany together? The
possibilities are nearly endless!
Go
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the best time of year to schedule a private tour?
French wineries accept visitors throughout the year.
France has a mild, temperate climate, so it's pleasant to tour
the wine regions at any time of year. The growing season
of grape vines lasts from April through October, and this is
when France experiences its nicest weather, so many people
schedule their private tour during those months. Harvest
time varies, but generally falls sometime from mid-August to
mid-September in the south of France, and between mid-September
and mid-October in northern France. It can be difficult
(although still possible) to
arrange tastings at wine estates during the harvest, as many
estates close their doors at that time to concentrate on
harvesting and starting the fermentation process. We'll
always advise you on the best time to schedule your tour, so you
have the best experience possible. Is
there a minimum number of guests for a private tour?
There is no minimum number. Of course, the more people
in your party, the lower the price of the tour will be per
person. We can put together a private tour for as few as
one person, or as many as 50. We recommend limiting your
group size to 25 maximum, which gives us
a full range of possibilities for wine estates and hotels (many
of the best estates will not take more than 25 guests, and the
finest, most authentic French hotels are often small). Our
Pre-Packaged Private tours are specially designed and priced for
groups of 2 to 6 guests. What
is involved in putting together a customized, private wine tour?
It's a very interactive process between you and our staff. We'll ask you to give us as much information as
possible about what you'd like to see and do on your tour, so we
can fully customize the tour for you. If you're not sure
which region(s) to travel in, we'll use our
extensive first-hand experience of the wine regions to
guide you in your choice. Once you've decided on the
region(s) you want to visit, we'll give you a proposed itinerary
and a price quote. We charge a retainer of US $1000 to start work on
your custom
itinerary; the retainer is later
applied to the price of the tour. Once you're completely satisfied with our
proposal and you've decided to book your tour
with us, we'll send you reservation forms that clearly
state the exact itinerary we created together, the
services included in the tour, and the price. You just
sign and send the forms back to us with your deposit, and we'll send you confirmation shortly thereafter.
Final payment is due 90 days before the tour start date. Go
to Top of Page What
kind of accommodations do you include on private tours?
Depending on your preference, we recommend either comfortable,
charming 3-star hotels or luxury 4- or 5-star hotels (in France,
4-star is the highest level available, equivalent to a "5-star"
rating elsewhere) or chateaux. For
small groups, we can often book you into charming bed &
breakfasts, small chateaux or private villas if you prefer. How
much does a customized, private tour cost?
We provide a detailed price quote for all private tours. The
price depends on many factors, but mostly on the number of people in
your party, the number of days you wish to travel, the level
of hotels and restaurants you choose and the degree of
customization you request. To give you just a
rough idea of prices (your tour price will be quoted
individually):
-
for 2 guests with luxury
accommodations, the MINIMUM price would be US$1200 per person,
per day;
-
for 6 guests with luxury
accommodations, the MINIMUM price would be US$700 per person,
per day
-
for 7 day tours for groups of
12 or fewer with luxury accommodations, the MINIMUM price would be
US$3995 per person.
-
for groups larger than 12
guests - ask us for a price quote.
Remember that all tour prices
will be quoted individually. If our price quote
is beyond what you want to spend, in many cases we can adjust what's included
in the tour to fall within your budget.
Do
you offer any incentives for Group Leaders?
Yes! If you have a group of at least 10 other people, we
can offer you a FREE tour as the Group Leader. That means
that everything that is included in the tour for your group will
be free for you. The Group Leader is the person who acts
as spokesperson for the group in discussions with us to put
together the Group's tour. The Group Leader takes the
responsibility to sign the Group Reservation Form and Terms on
behalf of the Group. The free tour is our way of saying
Thank You for choosing to work with us, and our way of
recognizing the extra effort involved in serving as the
spokesperson for the group.
Do you have special
programs for wine or gourmet clubs and societies? How about
wine or culinary professionals?
Yes, and we work frequently with professional groups and
wine/gourmet clubs. We have put together tours for groups
like the Society of Wine Educators, the American Wine Society and the Texas Wine Society, and
for a number of California winemakers and growers, wine
journalists and other wine professionals. We
are uniquely qualified to create and operate exciting, in-depth
study tours for wine and gourmet clubs/societies and wine and
food professionals. See our web
page on these in-depth tours for full information.
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What if I just want a wine expert and winery appointments in a wine region?
We can often arrange that for you. In fact, we're one of the
few companies that offers this service. We have wine
expert hosts in most of the major French wine regions,
including Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley, Provence, Burgundy,
Champagne and the Loire Valley. We can arrange for you
to have tours and tastings at the leading estates of the region,
and accompany you for one day, or for
as many days as you like. Just ask us for more
information. Do
you offer self-guided tours?
I'm afraid we don't. We have developed trusting, long-term
relationships with the leading wine estates, and they ask
us to have one of our representatives present for tastings to
ensure that appointments are kept. We also
feel that you will get a great deal more out of your time in the
wine regions if you have the guidance of a wine expert for
at least a portion of the time you're there. If you don't want an entire package with
hotel, local transportation, etc.,
we recommend that you plan on having us arrange at least one day with one of
our wine expert hosts (see question just
above), so you can get a good orientation
on the wines of
the region and ask lots of questions before exploring further on your own.
We can also plan a package tour where you have a local host for only
the days you want to visit wine estates. Is
it possible to schedule just one day in the wine country during my
upcoming trip to France?
Yes! There are three wine regions that are close by and make a
wonderful day trip during your stay in Paris. Champagne is only
a 1 1/2 hour drive each way, as is Chablis. The Loire Valley is
just 2 1/2 hours each way, and you can combine wine tasting
there with a visit to one of this area's famous, historic
chateaux. You'll be accompanied by one of our wine expert hosts
and/or drivers, who will pick you up and drop you off at your
Paris hotel. Included in the private day tour are local sights
of interest and 2-3 tastings, and recommendations for lunch.
Our guests often tell us that their one day wine tour with us
was the highlight of their trip to Paris!
Do you plan wine tours to other
countries?
Yes! Due to the request of our clients and our love of
wine and travel, we have extensive resources and partners in
many countries including Italy, Spain, Austria & Chile. Please
contact
us for further
information.
If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to
contact us!
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