I will keep this review short and brief. Tom (our wine tour driver)brought us to some nice relaxing  wine tasting spots ... however maybe it was just a day of bad luck... First,our lunch orders were completely wrong... no one received the right order. Things happen I suppose.. The next issue was time. At each winery stop we felt rushed by Tom (our driver) who even seemed to rush not only us (the customers) but as well as rushing the workers at wineries who were putting together our wine purchases. Tom packed up and put our wine orders in the back of the van and rushed us to the next stop; as a result, we are missing 3 bottles  which we ordered and charged for... better luck next time I suppose. read more

I am sure the owner is probably a nice guy and the tour may be great, but I had a very bad customer experience with this company today. I recently did a search for a wine tour in Solvang and came across http://www.805winetourswix.com. They were closed at the time so I called the following morning and spoke with the owner. I asked him about the services, rates, etc. and I felt like I had to lay out details to even get some pricing. Finally, he told me it was $240 for 5 hours. I asked if that was per person and he say no it's for a minivan group. I then asked about the private tours since it would only be 2 people. Again, I had to clarify what I meant. In the back of my mind I am thinking this is a new business and he doesn't know what to say to consumers. However, they've been in business since 2008. Hmmmm. I then asked about his services, specifically where it reads, "$40 EA Fun Tasting Tours." He had no clue was this was.He asked what web site I was looking at and I told him it's yours I guess. It has the phone number I just called and the line we are speaking on. I was blown away that he didn't know his own web site. He finally says, "Oh I think that means $40 each." I said, "Great, that's the tour I want." He then said, "Well, that's not really the pricing." I of course asked why it's on his site. Again, he didn't really know. I was hoping, like most business that want to be honorable and keep a new customer, he would honor the price that was posted on the site. But he said no. This has permanently turned me off to this company. I feel like a company or person that does not honor an advertised price is probably shady. Again, I don't know for sure but that is the impression he left with me. Sad. I was looking forward to the tour. Make sure you get absolute clarity on every detail of the tour before you pay and execute the contract. I will create my own tour experience. read more

Artisan Excursion Wine Tours - They posted a tour for $40 EA (Fun Tasting Tour) but they did not honor the advertised price. See the last bullet point under Specialties. - Transportation Near Me

"Major Tom" aka Tom was GREAT!! AMAZING personality, lots of fun, friendly, and Knowledgeable! If your planning to visit Solvang and you want to "wine", do a tasting tour with Tom, you will NOT be disappointed. "Major Tom" Thank you for providing a fun and memorable experience! We enjoyed jamming to the 70's with you!! Happy Holidays! read more

Tom was great! We visited 3 wineries, the first two we would have never found on our own, so that was fantastic. We spent way too much money on bottles at both! And the third one was beautiful and it really gave you a good snippet of the wine area in the valley from small to large. The car he picked us up in was clean, roomy, and great. Definitely recommend for a relaxing day full of good wine. read more

From beginning to end this was such a wonderful experience! Tom was so friendly and knowledgeable, and has clearly put a ton of time and effort into his business. We got to taste wine by smaller wine makers, and even meet two of the owners. We were blown away by how great every tasting was! Even the lunch portion was well thought out. In addition to the sandwiches included in the tickets Tom provided chips, cookies, and water. One member of our group had never been wine tasting before, but was so impressed with this experience. I'm afraid we may have set the bar too high. :) I can't recommend this enough, and we definitely want to go again! read more

It was a great time. We were brought to 3 wineries. The first 2 were great and the owners were amazing and told us so much about the wine, and really made sure we had a great time. The 3rd one not so much. The lady was pretty rude and told us zero about the wine just poured it and told us to go outside. The view there was really nice though. Tom was really nice and I would definitely do the tour again. I did notice it seemed like he got mad at us because one girl left her phone at one of the vineyards(and we we're definitely a little intoxicated because those pours were totally heavy) and he told us since we were running late we couldn't go back and get it? But we had no idea we were running late at all. It was never mentioned to us that we needed to hurry or leave? He eventually did bring us back and get it. Overall it was a good experience and I would do it again. read more

My wife and I were staying in Solvang for the weekend. When we decided to do a winery tour on our last day, I called Artisan. Tom picked us up right at our hotel, at the exact time he promised. We spent the next several hours enjoying a history of wine and some great diversity in tastings throughout the valley. Tom was fantastic, and full of information! It was a beautiful day, with a great lunch in a great setting. (lunch was a rather large, half sandwich, with some chips and a nice, cold bottle of water.. just perfect). I HIGHLY recommend Artisan for your wine tour if you are looking for a laid back, fun and informative afternoon. read more

Excellent experience! Professional, well organized and so much fun! Perfect way to ring in 40!!!

Artisan Excursion Wine Tours was such an amazing experience!! We took a girls trip to Buellton/Solvang for my twin cousins 30th birthday (there was a group of 4 of us) and everyone had a great time! My favorite location we went was Esfuerzo wine... we were able to try a brand new batch of dessert wine right from the barrel. Tom from Artisan Excursion was friendly and personable. I highly recommend this for anyone who is visiting the area... actually I'd recommend it to even the locals! I would definitely do this again. 5 stars for Tom and 5 stars for the tour! read more

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My husband and I decided to book this wine tour with Artisan Excursion Wine Tours after looking at several other companies. We were not disappointed. In fact it was a beautiful, pleasant and informative experience from start to finish. The tour consisted of small family owned wineries not larger ones. It was intimate and very personalized. Tom, the tour guide was very professional and easy to deal with. He had first hand knowledge of the area and the different wineries. We will definitely recommend him to friends and family and will be sure to book again when we visit Solvang. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience! read more

Awesome tour! Tom is so sweet, and took us to some great wineries .. we sat down at three wineries and met the owners. All great people. I highly recommend this wine tour. Id definitely do it again! read more

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Tom is a very professional tour guide. He picked us up at the hotel and drove us to three different wineries. The tour was a lot of fun and lunch was provided. Highly recommended professional tour services. read more

Thank you Tom! We had an amazing girls day celebrating my best friends birthday. You communicated perfectly with me and your website was informative and easy to navigate. Your ride was clean and you were very accommodating to all of us. Our lunch was yummy and we loved the special touches to our table. We adored Jen and the wine club. She was informative and taught us the wine makers perspective! Love Jen and the Doll Pond! Honestly the other two wineries were a 7/10...not terrible but not amazing. Overall we had a blast and I would absolutely recommend you and book you again for another tour! See you soon read more

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This was my 30th birthday. And I went with this company because I thought everything was taken care of and I wouldn't have to worry about a thing. So our driver Stephaine picked us up, and asked us what wineries we wanted to go too. I don't know the area very well. So I said please pick the best you think that are nice. So she said fine, but then told me to google a winery to see if it specialized in Pino Noir which was my favorite wine. But I didn't want to sit there in the car to google while on my trip. Then she started to drive, but then had to turn around and come back to solvang because she forgot to pick up our sandwiches I had paid for and ordered a ahead of time, so she should of done that before she got us. Anyways I had paid for a Private tour because I wanted it to be private and not with others since this was my 30th birthday and wanted it to be special with my boyfriend. So I had paid around $330 which included lunch, and tip already. So I thought great I wouldn't have to worry about anything else or money or taking out my purse. Just sit back and relax. Well this wasn't the case, not until our third winery our driver Stephaine said to us I took care of the last tasting since you guys didn't pay. We said, what? Pay? We thought everything was paid for already? What do u mean. She said, "you have to pay for each tastings!" I was enjoying myself, until this conversation came up and my whole mood changed. I asked, what did I pay 330 dollars for? I have to pay that, And pay for all the tastings? At that point I was so upset and irratated and had felt cheated, lied to, taken advantage of, and basically felt like my day was ruined because now I'm talking about money and having to pay more money when I thought everything was taken care of. Since I did pay for a Private Tour, what was the point. So try not to get scammed like I did. Because really all it was, was a driver taking you to these wineries which you can just drive yourself. And Google since that's what she told me to do. Was not worth paying 330 dollars. Having the driver get tiped 50 some dollars. And on top of it we gave her an extra tip. 2 days after the tour I check my credit card to See that Tom, artisan excursion had charged my credit card again, WITHOUT NOTIFYING me 36 dollars. I called him to ask about it and to say how upset I was, and all he did was scream over me, didn't let me talk, and lied and said he sent me a email about him charging me the money. But shouldn't he of notified me before he was going to charge my credit card. I hope he doesn't continue to charge me. He said, the wineries charged him for the tastings, so that's why he charged my credit. Because he couldn't just be nice and say. I'm so sorry for the mix up. Don't worry about it. This whole trip was so not worth 330. I really want my money back or some sort of refund because I feel cheated, disrespected, taken advantage of. And he charged my credit more money without even telling me! Who does that! Please do not book this Private Tour it is not worth it, just do it yourself. Go get your own sandwiches and you can have your own picnic. Wasn't worth it. Very upset and disappointed. Response to his last comment: Just want to remind him that he booked it over the phone with me. And it was his responsibility to inform me, the customer what was included on this Private custom tour that I was paying a lot of money for. Wouldn't you think the tastings would be taken car of and included to? If not, what are you paying for? He told me about the lunch which I paid for and the tip, which in my opinion was more than enough since I tiped more too. But that's it. Told me nothing about the wineries, which isn't a problem to pay. But it's the principle of how this company did it. And it was just wrong. All he is doing is trying to defend himself and making up lies to save himself. But at the end of the day. You upset the customer. And didn't make things better. Just worse and told lies with his response and was very rude to me. read more

Tom is great. He knows the area well and is very friendly. We had a great time on the wine tour and enjoyed the spots we were taken to. We will definitely be doing this again. read more

Had a blast, 2/3 wineries where incredible. Great wines did not feel like a sales pitch. Made friends along the way as well. You will not be disappointed!! The driving was fine and quick, and the lunch was great! I would recommend this to friends but warning we were not a fan of the wine of the last winery, however the views make up for the wine! (Note we were spoiled by the natural wine of the first 2). read more

Tom picked us up from our hotel and took us to three wineries. He provided lunch and tastings were included. He waited for us and his van is very clean. I would definitely go on his tour next time I'm in Los Olivos. read more

What an incredible wine tour!!! We were excited to just drink some wine but we got so much more. An absolutely beautiful farm, a winery built by generations and GOATS! Oh and I can't forget the sandwiches... DELICIOUS. Tom made it all so easy and was a great guide, I will 100% be going back. Thanks again Tom!!! read more

We had a great experience! Will definitely be back and would recommend this to anyone visiting the Santa Ynez Valley. We had 3 tastings in different areas and learned so much about the region. Beautiful!! read more

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My fiancé and I had a fabulous tour with our driver Tom. He took us to three fabulous wineries, one of them a private winery on a beautiful property! All of the people who served us were kind, helpful, and taught us a lot about tasting. Midday, Tom laid out a beautiful picnic lunch for us to enjoy. We loved everything about this memorable day! I highly recommend Artisan Excursion Wine Tours. read more

Artisan Excursion Wine Tours - Dierberg Vineyard - Transportation Near Me

We had a wonderful time as Tom took us to some exclusive new wineries. We liked the small group it made the experience so much more intimate. I highly recommend Artisan wine tours to anyone who enjoys the exclusive wine tasting experience. read more

Yesterday was raining and cold; the drive from LA was dreary but our day with Tom was really memorable and fun. We visited three wineries, the first of which was a private winery Sogno di Fiore. The owner guided us through the wines with a thoughtful and educational flair. Andrew Murray was next with some fun live music. Tom served sandwiches for lunch and they were delicious. Outside was an abelskabel truck. Not sure about my spelling but you should Google them. They we delicious fried Danish donuts. The last stop was La Fond where I got to feed some persistent goats. The group we were with was sociable friendly. Lastly we able to take home complimentary wine glasses from La Fond. Tom was great and I recommend this tour! read more

Artisan Excursion Wine Tours - Transportation Near Me

This was the best tour! Tom was great, i wouldn't want to do this tour with anyone else! He made the day so easy and fun. The different wineries we went to were so good and they had so much information about the wine. Felt very personal, one of the best days i've had in a long time! Would absolutely recommend and might be booking a tour again soon! read more

Artisan Excursion Wine Tours - Transportation Near Me

We went on our tour/tasting this past weekend9/15/18. It was a very busy weekend for the Santa Inez Valley, but we did not feel the stress and had a nice relaxing day. Tom planned out all the stops and they were perfect! The smaller bus (9 in the group) made for a more intimate experience. I highly recommend Artisan Excursions if you are looking for a good professional wine tour experience. read more

The Artisan Excursion Wine Tour was absolutely fantastic, my boyfriend and I truly loved it. We had never done a wine tour before so this was definitely a great first time experience. We had met Tom and he was super friendly and courteous. He also abided by the COVID guidelines and made sure that everyone wore their masks inside the vans, he even aired out the van during each winery stop. Tom mentioned that he had selected tours that he thought would be enjoyable, and it really was. We had such a fun time trying different wines and learning the history about each winery. Our favorite was definitely Esfuerzo Wine. read more

Tom is the bomb!!! We found him on Expedia and had no idea what to expect. He was so friendly and organized with a wealth of knowledge and connections. He picked us up from our hotel and took us around to enjoy some amazing wine in the beautiful wine country. He provided us with a pre- ordered lunch on a vineyard with all of the details of a picnic table decorated for us. I know there are many to choose from, but I doubt any of the others provide the personal touches Tom does. I highly recommend his tour. We will definitely be back. read more

I really struggled with how to write this review because of just how much went wrong with this company, and Tom is the kind of guy to have mean things to clap back with rather than apologize. Tom is not a people person. I have no idea why he is in this business. First off- we were a group of women in our mid 30s and early 40s- not 20 somethings like he thought. He oversold the van we were in, so we were forced to squish in around the two other couples on the tour (they were lovely by the way). He also treated us like we didn't care where we went or what we did. Which is insane- because my friend actually joined the wine club at the first place and we bought HUNDREDS in wine and trinkets from the wineries. We shared our wine with the other couples (Sorry Tom, they hated you too. We all exchanged phone numbers and business cards). I'm a huge wino- I have a collection from all over and I take classes on wine and am insanely interested. When I booked the tour for my friends and myself, I told Tom that we have differing levels of experience with wine and that we would love to visit boutique wineries- if this wasn't possible, I was going to keep looking. He assured me they would be boutique wineries showcasing different parts of the region for wine production- WONDERFUL. That didn't happen AT ALL. There were no winery tours, no barrel tastings, no discussion of how the soil and temperatures affect production and taste- NADA. Wrong sandwich orders for lunch- no apology at all. (BTW Tom, apologies would have gone a long way. Name calling and complaining about having too many people on your tour are completely unprofessional). Also- half sandwiches???? They were so small. I think the part that really got me is when I set up a 5 course wine dinner- in a vineyard for Friday night OVER a month in advance. He calls day of that it's not going to happen and that he has a members-only winery event that's doing a make your own taco bar. He offered it to us for the same price of $215 a person (gratuity included). There are no tacos that could ever cost that much. Also, that's not the same experience at all. I go to those events all the time and they're usually free for members. No way are we paying over $1200 for a taco experience. He wanted to try to reschedule for the next day since we didn't want to do the taco thing. OK, fine. If it works out. By 1 the next day, still nothing worked out so we told him we were going to make other plans. He said he just wanted it to work out for the guaranteed 20% tip. Complaining about all of us was ridiculous. You want dead people on these that just hand you your money? We were not inappropriate at all. We weren't loud or even drunk. Sorry you would just rather be at home than take a group photo for all of us- your job. The other couples wanted to go to a 4th winery too, since we were being dropped off early- and Tom refused. If you had just apologized for any of it- it would have made a difference. But treating us like we're idiots??? Not cool or professional. read more

"The sandwiches are huge"???? Maybe they are huge for 5 year olds!! We were five normal sized ladies and believe me, anyone who is reading this: they are by no means "huge". He also said he had "snacks including pretzels"... it was ONLY stale pretzels, and that was it. When people aren't truthful it really bothers me. Again I would steer clear of this wine tour but if you must go... bring your own food to add to what he provides! read more

Deliberated long time whether or not to leave this review. So here goes. Honest truth? Tom is NOT a people person. What was promised, was not exactly delivered. Tom is cold, awkward, and a RANCID driver. Could you save HUNDREDS and do this on your OWN? Abso-mutha-effin-lootlty. DO. NOT. WASTE. YOUR. MONEY. First timers? Read on...let me explain. So in addition to the attitude-laden voicemail he left asking where we are staying, we got the same 'tude in person. Id texted him days prior telling him our lunch and place, and he replied "perfect, thanks." So why the sh*tty little follow up vm? Ok fine. Let it go. People were ravin' online AND groupon (where we found him) so, move on. 10:30am, and we are walking over as he parks. He calls immediately. I answer and say, yes that's us walking towards ya. Fiance jets into the main office (where Tom parked in front of) to make sure house keeping comes up. It's 10:31, if that, he doesn't greet me with a handshake, just says nice outfit and where's my 2nd? "he's right behind me in the office" and then he swings into "well we have more passengers to pick up soo umm ...." WAIT. Dude. You saw us RIGHT there. We are here. I just told you where my 2nd is. Why greet ANYONE this way? I didn't ask him to wait! I didn't say "it'll be a few minutes" "could you hold the bus" NOTHING of that sort..so it's like, wait, what just happened? I'm wearing a long dress and heels and realize quickly it's a steep climb inside. TOM does not offer a hand, but the gentleman inside offers a hand instead! As soon as TOM realizes this, he f*cking quips again "umm..there are handrails there to the side but OKAY"...wwhhaaa...?? I'm too excited to be jetting off for some 'fun' to even really realize what a JERK TOM is being. I tell passenger he is a gentleman and take my seat in the (9 seater) van. My butt is hitting the seat when my fiance flies in and we're ready to go. 10:31 still. And NO. If you're reading this shaking your entitled little head going "well, you should have been standing outside in the sun waiting for him at that point" I tell you this. We were standing in the SHADE and began walking towards him as soon as he pulled up and he CALLED. So just, back off ;) So the drive. He calls out asking where we are all from, we answer, blah blah. There's a few of us on the bus. More silence as more passengers are picked up. Where ya from, etc... so we speed out of Solvang towards our first winery. I remember reading something about him talking, telling us the lay of the land, etc or just allowing us to plug our own USBs in and listening to music. What we got was cool rock n roll and HIS SILENCE. Okay fine. Then a question finally... "SOoo IS THIS ANYONES FIRST TIME?" Silence from us all so I just say "yeah this is our first wine tour! :D" to which he QUICKLY quips back "Umm.. no, I was asking if this was a first for the area, soo.." I had to just drop my smiling jaw open and smile at my partner. REALLY? ahaha.. oh man! This is getting good. THEN THE DRIVING. Holy crap. So the music HE chose was so loud, we could hardly hear each other. Fine. But I could hear passengers up front expressing concern over traffic, etc.. I look up and see that TOM IS STRAIGHT UP SPEEDING AND AGGRESSIVELY TAIL GAITING EVERYONE down these gorgeous lonely one lame vineyard road. HEY! A-HOLE! THIS IS OUR FIRST TIME. As a matter of fact, it was EVERYONES FIRST TIME ON A TOUR. Ha! He is tapping his steering wheel hard bc apparently guy in front is doing the speed limit (!!!!), and we are getting NAUSEOUS from his weaving and aggressive swerving. I'm still too jazzed to care, we are all just smiling. Everyones in good spirits. Except for TOM. 1st tasting, hard sales all around: buy this buy that, okay? nice experience, very informative. Tasting is over, we are milling about in the fabulous Spring sunshine when I decide to test Tom and ask a question. I think I have his number by now...so I says, I says "Hey Tom! So, where are we off to next?" Nobody is around except for me and my 2nd. And his answer? "Umm..WELL, I am not going to say until we get back on the bus so I can tell everyone." AHAH OKAY 007. I just walk away laughing AT him saying "dude, I knew you'd say something like that..laame". Go for it man. 2nd vineyard are total pricks. Speed on to the next spot. Wherever TOM stops to do his picnics S U C K S. We finally were feeling 'good' enough for all us passengers to finally speak and basically gang up on TOM. NONE of us were happy with him! We are laughing and making the best of it. Lunch was actually great and we really did thank TOM for that. No prob there. TOM seemed to relax a bit, but my 2nd is now straight HATING on him (along with the rest of us). 3rd spot and we know the drill, we've feelin' fine and the sunshine is grand. End of Story? As soon as we let go 1st passengers at end of tour, TOM is repeating over and OVER again "TIP IS 20% TIP IS 20%". Dude. Get a new line of work, you're totally burnt! WOW. read more

My friends and I did the artisan wine tours with Tom for my 25th birthday. We had the absolute best time! Tom was a great guide and the wineries themselves were so informative and beautiful. We all felt that precautions were taken for covid and that is was a safe and fun experience overall. I would highly recommend this tour for any event or group activity. Great wine, great lunch, great time! Thank you Tom! read more

Tom did a good job taking us to three very different wineries. One was a small private winery with the farmer/owner guiding us through their wines. The other two were fine but similar to most other vineyard wineries. All the locations throughout the Santa Ynez valley were gorgeous and lush. Good times! read more

What an awesome time! Tom was a great host and brought us to some amazing spots. Really loved how intimate each stop was as they were small and it felt more like hanging out drinking wine and learning about the process, different types of wines, etc...than the typical wine tasting at the larger, more well knows wineries. If you are looking for something special and not your typical wine tasting tour, this is the one! read more

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I went on this wine tour for a bachelorette party a few days ago. The price was right and it seemed to cover the basics. We stopped at 3 wineries and had lunch included. We were picked up and dropped off at home, which is great not to worry about. The wineries we went to were fun and all had pretty tasty wine. I will say the tour at Firestone was very slow paced (I guess a new person was doing it?) I would have preferred to have done 4 wineries and no tour. But oh well! Since us girls were chatting with one another the entire time we didn't talk to much about wine or the wineries we were going to with the owner. For our purpose the wine tour gave us a safe way to travel from location to location. As well as taking care of wine tasting costs and lunch. If you are looking for an informative wine tour, I can not comment on that since we did not seek for that information. The lunch provided was really the only "just ok" part. My chicken salad sandwich was really mediocre and that's all you get, just a sandwich. There were some water bottles and a granola bar to grab. I would suggest trying the chicken curry for lunch, my friend got that and it was very yummy. read more

Tom at Artisan wine tours made our 43rd wedding anniversary extra special the wineries we visited were exquisite and Tom was knowledgeable and polite we highly recommend this tour! read more

Artisan Excursion Wine Tours - Transportation Near Me

I would give this place 0 stars if I could. I booked a wine tour over a month in advance and they called me 3 days before and cancelled on me. They told me they double-booked and just realized it. I don't buy it. They have an online booking system that should prevent that sort of thing from happening. The guy said sorry, but didn't offer anything else. I had to scramble to find another tour (all of the all-included ones were completely booked). One of the people I talked to at another company was more apologetic than this place. I ended up having to hire a driver and book all of the wine tastings on my own. It ended up costing me double and took about 8 hours of my time to plan all of this. I also previously made plans around the original tour time, which made scheduling a nightmare. I emailed this company asking what they planned to do to make it right and they didn't bother responding. Terrible customer service - do not get scammed by these people. Also, this was my first trip away from my 2 year old daughter ever. It was meant to be relaxing and fun, and this company very nearly ruined it. Don't waste your time or money with this company. read more

Tom was absolutely fabulous! He treated us like family! The boutique wineries he chose for us were game changers! Way better than the big corporate wineries. Tom was knowledgeable and respectful. We will be back Tom! Thank you! read more

We had the BEST experience on the Artisan Excursion Wine Tour! The service was great! The wine was great! And so was the lunch that was included! We highly recommend this tour. Beautiful surroundings and we weren't rushed at all. Thanks TOM for a wonderful experience! read more

Artisan Excursion Wine Tours - Transportation Near Me

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Great fun. Nice intimate tour. Met new friends, joined a wine club, and ate good food. Would highly recommend.

Booking with Tom was so easy from the very beginning! He kept us updated and picked us up right on time. The first winery Esfuerzo was our absolute favorite! Definitely book with this company, you won't regret it! read more

This tour was amazing. Small group of 6 total and Tom took us to very unique and prestigious wine tours that are not always open to public. Clean small bus. Lunch was fabulous. Felt like a celebrity. Would highly recommend this tour to anyone wanting to get some wine tasting in near Solvang/Lompoc area. Thank you Tom for a wonderful date day with my boyfriend. We loved it! read more

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