My bestfriend and I went on our first wine tour with Jim on December 13, 2018 and it was fantastic. Jim was extremely professional, polite and has a great sense of humor. Jim communicated very clearly with all instructions and options offered. We had a full bus and every single one of us enjoyed ourselves. We made new friends as well as we now have new wines we love! Our driver Pedro was very polite and sweet. We felt very safe on the bus as he drove perfectly throughout the entire tour of the 3 wineries. Our favorite was the Pugliese vineyard. My bestfriend and I look very forward to booking another tour in 2019. read more

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I've attempted to book a wine tour through this company on two separate occasions and i've never made it past the booking rep both times. The rep was rude, abrupt, pushy and arrogant. Surely someone with 13+ years experience in the industry would have learned at least the art of customer service and patience? I'm sure he was right about his ability to put together a great tour but with the poor communication and customer service, i'll never know. read more

My friend and I booked this tour with Groupon. We had never been to LI wineries and were excited to try it. It did not disappoint. The trip was effortless and hassle free, which was exactly what we were looking for. Jim was attentive to everyone and things went so smoothly we didn't have to think which was good considering the amount of wine we had!! I highly recommend and we will use again in the future. read more

Terrible terrible person on the phone to book. First of all, no professionalism, and told me they have hundreds of people calling each day so they don't have time to email people back, even though their tour 5 days later is still not fully booked and even though they have a mail portal on their website which invites you to do just that. Also when I mentioned my dietary requirements he told me that I was asking strange questions and if I can't eat something then that's not his problem. This is before I paid for the trip. Imagine after.... I suppose they don't care for dietary requirements so don't bother asking what you are going to eat or drink. I was just about to go buy my tickets tonight. I am glad he saved me from it and feel sorry for the rest of the company who may be nicer. read more

We have been repeat corporate customers of Long Island wine tours for four years and have worked with Jim every time. He is professional, serves a great meal, coordinates details to a tee, and takes pride in his work and it shows! Our clients wait for this event every year and have started asking Jim to join us at the wineries because they think he's great too! If you're looking to set up a corporate or personal event, I would definitely contact this company. read more

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Thought I'd show this company a little love since they have two one-star reviews. My mom, aunt, and I have been talking about doing a wine tour for years. Finally, this was the year. In true Yelper fashion, I did my research before booking. Unfortunately, there's not much to be found online in way of reviews. Since it was just the three of us (with possibility of a fourth), it was very hard to get anyone who would take on just a few people. I spoke with both Jim and Tommy at Long Island Wine Tours to get a quote. Tommy was not in the best of moods each time we spoke, but Jim was nice and accommodating. After several conversations, Jim booked us for three or four people for four hours. This included pick up and drop off at our hotel in Riverhead, three wineries, all tastings at each, and a lunch at the first winery for $130 each. Not bad at all, especially considering other quotes I'd read online. He even let me pick the time that worked best for us (noon) held this until a few days before when, after a few rounds of phone tag, I finally put a deposit down. We were all set to go at noon that day when the driver, Joelle called a few minutes before to say he was running late because of an accident, but the tour would officially begin when he arrived. This wasn't a problem. He showed up around 12:15/20 in a small limo. I was impressed as I assumed we'd be stuck in a town car. When we commented that we should have brought wine for the ride, Joelle offered to stop somewhere so we could purchase some. We declined, though should have accepted as it was about a 25 minute ride out to the wineries. Joelle was exceptionally sweet and offered his assistance and suggestions when we talked about where to go for dinner, etc. Our first stop was Duck Walk Vineyards, which was my favorite. I'd wish I'd known this going in because I would've bought more wine. We tried seven wines, I believe, and while it was the girl's (I say girl because she was younger than me) first day, she was doing her best to explain each of them. They also had a sheet that gave you the name, price, and description of each. Though I wanted more, I only got one bottle here. After the tastings, we ate lunch and were introduced to Jim, the owner. Lunch was pretty yummy, though I mainly just picked at the pasta because it had cheese on it. But they also offered salad, rolls, sub sandwiches, and water. Jim's wife also makes her own fudge, so we all got little packets of absolutely delicious fudge for dessert. Definitely beats bringing your own PB&J. Jim came over to talk to us/get our full payment while we ate and he was very friendly and chatty. We then moved onto winery number two, Pindar, which was adorable. Unlike the first, where the tastings were inside, this was outside under a sort of terrace that was next to a small pond. It was beautiful and the perfect setting for drinking wine. We did witness the beginnings of what could have been a huge brawl (supposedly the first time this has happened). Some men should not drink wine and take pictures of another dude's girlfriend, I guess. The man serving was a little busier, so not as chatty and informative as the girl at the first. Unfortunately, sparing the setting, this was my least favorite winery as I don't think I liked a single wine here. Most were very dry and bitter. That pleases my mom, but not me. I think we tried four wines in all. The third winery, which I insisted on going to, was Vineyard 48. My friend actually went the week before and told me about it, so I knew we had to check it out because it's basically a big, outdoor frat party during the middle of the day. There was a DJ blasting dance music and most of the people were under the age of 35. My mom and aunt found it amusing (albeit somewhat strange) like I knew they would. We left before it got too rowdy, though. The vineyards were right behind the tasting so it was cool to walk through the "aisles" and see the makings of some tasty grapes. I wasn't a huge fan of the wines here, either, though they did have one that I liked a bit. I'd say they were the strongest of any we'd tried (and the most expensive by far), but nothing stood out to me, so I left empty-handed again. My mom and aunt both loved one of the reds, but couldn't justify the price tag. I believe it was about $50. We're $10-25 kind of people. I got the frozen Sangria from the bar inside while I was here and it was overpriced ($12) and far too sweet. The first sips were refreshing, then it got to be too much for me. The wonderful Joelle didn't rush us at all and we did stay a little past our four hour mark. Though I only left with one bottle of wine, the day was a lot of fun, and worth the money we spent. Jim was accommodating throughout and proved to be running a great business. Would definitely recommend to anyone seeking a wine tour. P.S. This would have been twice as long, but Yelp restrained my words. read more

Amazing service!!!! I organized our office team bonding day with this company and it was smooth sailing the whole way. Jim is a fantastic guy to work with who made all the organizing very straight forward. They supplied us with a gorgeous group lunch and catered for individual needs of our employees who had specific dietary requirements. The party bus was an added bonus to make for a very fun day. Highly recommend this company and look forward to working with them again. read more

LI Wine Tours is by far the best wine tour company I've experienced. For ONLY $109 you have round trip luxury bus liner transportation from midtown NYC, 13 wine tastings at 3 wineries PLUS hot lunch buffet. All 3 wineries were absolutely beautiful, but different from one another. And the buffet was actually delicious!! (and included a little dessert!) Jim, the owner, is an absolute gem and not only is he knowledgeable, he's a genuinely nice person who truly cares about his business and his customers. I am looking forward to more wine tours with his company this Fall and next summer. LI Wine Tours must be the wine tour company you book with and beats all other travel deals! read more

It was great because I didn't have to do much legwork at all, but the driver was unprofessional and as soon as I paid, the owner became unprofessional as well. the first winery we went to want not aware we were coming, and were quite rude (duck walk winery), the other 2 wineries were fine (also after tasting you're typically happier ;) At the end of the tour I left my phone in the limo and was not able to get in touch with neither the driver nor the owner for hours and when inquiring about this to the owner he was not very helpful. They said the phone was not in the limo yet there were calls made from it later that evening. Definitely put a bad taste in my mouth with regard to this company. Cost me $200 bucks for a new phone... read more

I took a LI Wine tour for a bachlorette party, it was a waste of money, almost $200 per person!! When I called the owner to explain to him what happen he snub me off and had an excuse for everything that went wrong. BUS (where we spent 50% of our time during the day): -We were 16 people and the bus had no A/C on a 100 degree day. One girl, who was wearing a white tank top and khaki shorts, her back and bottom was covered with a brown soot because the moisture from her sweat brought up dirt from the seat material. Completely disgusting. -The bathroom on the bus, which was closed with a bungee cord, had a permeated sewer smell which could be smelt at all times at the front of the bus and through out the bus when the door opened. -The shocks on the bus wear completely shot so every little bump on the road would send drinks flying. -Front door of the bus didn't close properly, NO way passed inspection!! -The speaker were broken, which was something that was specifically requested **When I asked the bus driver about the status of the vehicle he was driving he admitted it was a "back up bus" and was only used when the company was over booked! TOUR: Wines were good. We were given about 3/4 tickets (1 ticket = 1 taste) at each winery, we went to 3. Each winery was very different. One had sparkling wines, which I really enjoyed. LI Wine Tours served us lunch. Our group was last to arrive at a buffet lunch served by the company. It was a buffet style lunch that other groups picked at and were served through out the day. The salad was wilted, pasta was dry, and the sandwiches were picked at by the people before us. We literally had the left overs of the groups before us. One would think you be served a lunch at a winery that would pair well with the food, WRONG. When we complained about not enough food for our party we were offered warm bottles of white wine. My advice look else where. read more

DO NOT USE Long Island Wine Tours, Jim's customer service is lackluster at best. After discussing with him at length the needs of my party and our desire to try and go to three wineries he continued to assure us that we wouldn't want to leave the first and would probably stay there all day. Low and behold, we didn't (shocking I know my friends better than Jim) and moved onto the next one, stayed there for a bit then asked to move on to the third. The only problem is that Jim only gave the driver two stops, so our day ended earlier than anticipated. When I called Jim was rude and misogynistic, dismissing me as drunk (I was not, I barely drank). Do yourselves a solid and take your business elsewhere. The only reason I gave them two stars is because the driver treated us well. read more

We made 3 stops, and were rushed from the second to third winery because the driver had somewhere else to go and we were switching limos and drivers at the third stop. Then WE had to wait at the end of the day to leave. We got in the limo, which another group had been using, and it was filled with their empty pizza boxes, soda bottles, bags of chips, etc. The owner was completely unhelpful during the wait as we were contesting it, and has been unhelpful since then as we have been trying to get some of our money back. Also, the second driver we got was spotted tasting the wine at the winery. He had his young daughter with him, too, which is highly unprofessional. Do NOT book with this company!! They are extremely unprofessional and unwilling to satisy their customers! read more

I`m sorry I ever called this guy Jim. I should have known when I saw his website that he had many "grateful" customers. What hubris! I tried to discuss some things I wanted for my group but....Jim starts telling me what "You" want. When I asked for a specific winery he said "Why do you want to go there?". I should have read the review here and the 3 filtered reviews at the bottom-check them out. I did find another company that was easy to work with, they listened to what I wanted. We had a great time. read more

WOW!!!! Unbelievable service at a very reasonable price ! Worth every penny. We had a party of 16, going out to 3 different wineries with lunch being provided at the second stop. From pick up to drop off was 5 star! The first winery opened early just for our bus! That really made us feel like we picked the right company to take us out here. The owner greeted us and walked our party thru what to expect here and the rest of the day. Lunch was amazing!!!! They served us 3 different kinds of wraps, 3 different hot dishes like chicken franchese, and eggplant parm. They also had salads and breads as well! Then at our final stop the owner was so nice to give me a gift at the end of our day to say thank you. I was very appreciative and blown away by the service this place provided us. We had so much fun that we all agreed, We will be making this an annual event. Next year can't come soon enough. read more

Long Island Wine Tours - On our way out east!!! Bus was awesome. - Wine Tours Near Me

1.5 HOUR TRIP TO AND FROM VINEYARDS WITH NO AIR CONDITIONING!!!! I recently booked with Jim at Long Island Wine Tours and celebrated mine and my cousins birthday this past weekend. DO NOT book with this company!!! Jim is the most unprofessional owner I have ever had to interact with. After spending $140 a person (since we were picked up in Queens) the limo bus did NOT have working air conditioning and the thermostat said 84 degree!!!! I complained about this before we were even out of Queens and on our way and nothing was done about this. I was even questioned like i was lying even though the bus thermostat said 84 degrees!!!! Jim met us at the first vineyard after I complained about the AC since it was 85+ degrees outside and the whole group was uncomfortable. We showed up to the first vineyard sweating!!! Although we made the best of it we expected the limo bus to be replaced while we were doing our tastings, which is not an unrealistic expectation. Instead what happened was that Jim joined us and followed us around pretending he was fixing things and they went out and bought 2 fans for a 24 passenger limo bus like that would do anything. When I confronted him before the last vineyard and stated that this is unprofessional and ridiculous that we would have to drive home on a hot limo bus, he became very argumentative and rude. He stated he would rather have been sitting poolside with a drink in his hands but he was trying to help us (not sure exactly what he did). He actually had the audacity to complain for giving us bottles of wine while all that gesture was, was actually to try and bribe us and shut us up. I asked for some money back and his response was that "he would think about it". Before having time to ask him about the money again he exited the limo bus on a random corner and ran across the street and I have not heard from him since. When i confronted the bus driver, he only responded that he didnt know what to say but that Jim took all of our money and he didnt have any other information. ****DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY**** I HAVE NEVER WRITTEN A REVIEW AGAINST A COMPANY BUT I HAVE ALSO NEVER BEEN TREATED LIKE THIS BEFORE.....TOTAL DISRESPECT AND UNPROFRESSIONALISM read more

The worst customer service I've EVER experienced. DO NOT BOOK HERE!!!!! The owner is a scammer who will rip you off. I booked the "Sauvignon Blanc" package at $130 a person (gratuity included) plus $10 for lunch and $20 for tasting fees at three different wineries for a bachelorette party two months in advance. Pretty resonable I thought. I told them the party would be no more than 18 people, but they said they'd call a week prior to the event to confirm the headcount, timing, location, etc. I never recieved a call so decided to call them to confirm and let them know the final headcount would be 16. Jim, the owner, is the rudest, most unprofessional business owner I've ever dealt with. He not only insisted that we pay for 18 people, but that we still pay for the 2 lunches and two wine tasting fees for people that wouldn't even be there!!! The day of the tour we asked him for the two extra wine tasting tickets, since we paid for them, we wanted to use them. He not only yelled at me, but the bride saying that we didn't pay for the tickets and that the extra cost was just part of the service.....which doesn't make ANY sense. It's a per person charge so if we were forced to pay for 18 people we should have received the tickets/lunches associated with them. We tried to talk resonably, but he's one of those people who incoherently ramble over you, making outlandish statements about how he's doing ME a favor. He even threatened to cancel saying that he could've charged me $500 more dollars...for what I have noooo idea. To try and smooth things over he offered to give us fudge which was funny because it was part of the lunch WE PAID for anyway. What a JOKE. Completely absurd. read more

I went on a tour with this company for my sister's Bachelorette party. We ended up having to wait for a limo outside in the cold for about 45 minutes having to pee - the owner is SHADY! He was going to send us home in a limo with other people's stuff in it (including their purses) without telling them. When I told him I was not a happy customer and wanted some sort of partial reimbursement he told me too bad. If you go on a tour with them, keep a close eye on your limo! read more

Great idea, but horrible customer service. The owner does not how to treat customers. Very similar experience to some other yelp reviews on here. Choose an alternative company to spend your hard earned dollars with! read more

Omg.. Do not use this company!! booked them for a wine tour, the limo driver was so unprofessional. He beeped the horn when he picked us up, the company promised us a full bar in the limo, but gave us a few plastic cups, one pint size bottle of water for eight people, and a few ice cubes. We were promised a picnic lunch, only to be given less than the amount needed and no utensils leaving us to eat salads with no forks. When asked for a bathroom break, the driver pulled over on the side of the road, refusing to open doors for us, just a mess, dont use them for a wedding or event.. You will be embarrased by them. read more

Not upfront with costs. My daughter purchased this tour on Groupon for me as gift. When I redeemed, I was told there was an additional $50 fee for the actual wine tasting. Two of the vineyards were ridiculously crowded with similar type tours and buses. One vineyard charged extra for premium wines. All in all, you d be much better off getting a designated driver and doing the wineries yourself. read more

i set up a surprise birthday party for my girlfriend and this wine tour service was great. The owner was an absolute pleasure to talk to and gave me information on every winery we went to prior to the tour. This company also provided a great lunch. They had great wraps and salads and the owner and driver was always checking in seeing if there was something we needed. Over all i would HIGHLY recommend this company for your next winery tour. read more

I wish I would have read the review from July 13. Apparently we had the same bus. Jim promised to send me a "great bus". I planned a surprise 60th wine tour for my mother and we were bringing our children on the tour as well. I was so embarrassed when the bus showed up. The bus was filthy!! The seats were soaking wet (apparantly the windows were left open) so we had to bring towels to sit on. Everyone was wet though the towels and the towels turned brown. Gross! The AC did not work, there was mold growing on the walls, the bathroom door had a bungee cord holding it closed, the radio did not work, there were spiderwebs on the seat behind my mother's head, cigarette burns in all the seats and the main door did not close properly. So unsafe!! Our driver was great ... He was trying to help anyway he could. After calling the head of transportation, Kevin, we got another bus. We pulled over on the LIE to switch buses, woke up our sleeping children and had to move all of our stuff. 2 hours later we were on a clean bus and made the best if the day. The next problem was the order of the wineries was wrong so we missed our first winery where we were supposed to listen to music. We went to 2 wineries instead of the 3 I had discussed with Jim. Very poor planning. Spoke with Jim during this and he didn't even Apologize... Just said " well you are getting a different bus, right?" horrible expeience! We will use Elegant wine tours for our trip planned in October read more

I called Long Island Wine Tours to book a tour for my friends bachelorette party. The guy on the phone was very nice and helpful and said he couldn't book the tour so someone would call me back later that day. Two days later and no return call, I called back. Was told they took my number down wrong, ok fine. But again, was told they couldn't book me right then and would call me back and send an email with details. Two days later, no call and no email. I gave them a 3rd chance and called again and was told for the 3rd time they couldn't book me in then. At this point, I gave up. Too bad, they lost my business and the lack of customer service has now warranted a bad review on yelp. If you can't figure out how to return the call of someone who wants to book business with you, what else are you going to do wrong? read more

A couple of friends and I wanted to book a wine tour.... called to set it up and the customer service was absolutely HORRIBLE !! I personally made this Yelp account to write about how awful he was...The guy was completely rude, and just felt like he wanted nothing to do with us and the business we were trying to give him! Ended up using Macari Vineyards and they were absolutely amazing !!!! read more

DO NOT book this tour!!!! If there were a way to not give a star at all that would be my choice. This is a SORRY excuse for a company that is supposed to provide a beautiful day out in wine country for special occasions. I went for a bachelorette party in July with 16 ppl. The bus that showed up was another sorry excuse for a "party bus". It was 105 degrees that day and the A/C only made the front of the bus cool which was too bad for the rest of the ppl in the back of the bus. Therefore we were forced to ride 2 hrs each way with the windows down on the LIE with things blowing everywhere, and getting soaked from our drinks spilling all over us, as well as being soaked in sweat in order not to get heat stroke. The door the to the bus did not completely close which is really safe for highway driving (sarcasm). The bathroom door was held closed with a bungy cord, one of the seat cushions was completely ripped, there were no cup holders, and no ipod hook up which tells how dated the van was, so we were left to use our own portable speakers. At lunch which was included in the tour, they ran out of food to feed us and there were no plans to get more, which was due to the company splitting the food they served to us between another unrelated party that ate before us. When we complained, the owner of the company was contacted by phone and gave us a HOT bottle of wine that had been sitting on display for compensation. We did not need more wine, we were on a WINE tour!!! We needed more food. This of course made our bachelorette feel horrible and left her in tears that some ppl were not able to eat. We made the best of the day as best we could. On the way back some girls were talking to the driver and asked how the company was able to provide this bus. And after providing some excuse that the bus had passed the TLC inspection he finally admitted that it was the spare. I contacted the owner myself and left voicemails while on the tour letting him know how upset we were and not once received a phone call. He is obviously a poor business owner, who should not be running a business since he does not know the first thing about customer service. I could have had a better, and cheaper time in my mothers minivan!!! I would NEVER, ever recommend this company to anyone and that also goes for the rest of the 16 person bridal party that went. Big mistake. read more

Maybe we just had a bad tour, but this tour was nothing like it was portrayed on their website or in their videos. We didn't get an education about the wines or wineries. We were given a bus ride, (no music on the bus, no commentary just a bus ride) wine tasting coupons, and a lunch buffet (the only credit due was, the lunch was delicious!!) At the first winery, it was nice to have the tasting bar to ourselves but we had a very cold welcome when we arrived. Nobody greeted us and we were all confused as to what we were supposed to do. Jim, our tour guide (if that is what he was supposed to be), was not there to greet us, and didn't arrive until about a half hour after the arrival time. We were given 6 tasting coupons. The bar tenders at the wine bar took our tickets and poured out wine; that was it. No education on what we were drinking, no communication at all with us. At the second vineyard, Jim told us we would have the place to ourselves. About 15 min. into it, another tour bus came through, and made it almost impossible to get to the bar. We enjoyed the view of the vineyards while eating our hot and cold lunch buffet, but we thought we would get a tour of the vineyard and a little education on the wine making process. We didn't get any of that. Jim did offer us a glass of Chardonnay and gave us fudge samples. He told us there would be live music, but it was someone who plugged their iPod into the speakers. There was live music at the last vineyard, but the band was on break almost the whole time we were there, and it was so crowded. There were no seats to sit and enjoy it even if we did get a chance to hear it. We were very disappointed in this tour, and we wouldn't recommend it. Next time, I would definitely hire a private driver for the price they are charging for this tour. read more