Couples and pairs
A sedan or SUV, two or three appointments, and no reason to hurry. The value here is almost entirely in the flexibility rather than the vehicle — being able to linger somewhere is what you are buying.
Service model
Private wine tours in Napa and Sonoma
Private means the vehicle is yours, the hours are yours, and the winery list is yours. Here is what that actually changes about the day — and when it is not worth paying for.
What changes
What privacy actually buys
- The schedule stops being someone else's. Start at nine or at eleven. Take two hours over lunch. Decide at three that you have had enough and go back. None of that requires anyone's permission.
- You can change your mind mid-day. The most common thing private guests do is stay somewhere longer than planned. On a shared tour that is simply not an option; on a private day it is a sentence to your chauffeur.
- The winery list is yours. Shared tours visit places set up to receive coaches. A private vehicle can take you to the small estate that seats eight people at a time — which is frequently the one you actually wanted.
- Conversation stays inside your group. For an anniversary, a client you are entertaining, or a family with something to talk about, this is often the whole reason.
- Your things stay in the vehicle. Coats, bags and every case you buy travel with you rather than being carried between stops.
What it does not buy: access. A private vehicle does not open doors that are closed to the public, and we do not claim relationships with wineries we do not have. If an estate is appointment-only and full, it is full — book early rather than hoping the vehicle helps.
Who does what
You own the itinerary. We own the driving.
Being blunt about this is worth more than any amount of marketing copy, because it is the thing guests most often assume wrongly.
Yours
Choosing the wineries and booking them in your own name. Paying tasting fees directly to each one. Deciding how long you want to be out, and where lunch happens.
Ours
The vehicle and the chauffeur. Routing and timing between your stops, adjusted live when the day moves. Your belongings between wineries. Getting everyone home.
If you have not settled the list, send us the areas you are drawn to and roughly how long you want to be out. We will tell you what genuinely fits — including when the answer is "fewer stops than you were planning".
Shape of the group
Two of you, or eight?
Small groups
Four to eight people, usually an SUV or a Sprinter. Private matters more here, not less: co-ordinating eight people onto a fixed schedule someone else set is where shared tours become genuinely unpleasant.
Still deciding
Napa or Sonoma for a private day?
A private vehicle changes the calculation slightly. In Napa, where nearly everything runs on appointments, privacy mostly buys you comfort and the freedom to overrun. In Sonoma, where walk-ins are more common and the county is spread out, it buys you the ability to genuinely improvise — which is harder to do well without your own vehicle.
Questions
Private wine tour questions
What exactly does "private" mean?
The vehicle and the chauffeur are committed to your group for the hours you book. No other passengers join, there is no fixed departure time, and the route is built around your appointments rather than a published itinerary. It is a charter, not a seat on a tour.
Is a private tour worth it for just two people?
It depends what you want from the day. A shared tour is cheaper per head and perfectly pleasant if you are happy being led. A private vehicle costs more for two, and buys you the ability to sit somewhere for an extra hour because you liked it. Couples celebrating something usually find that worth paying for; couples sampling wine country casually often do not.
Do you plan the itinerary for us?
We plan the driving; you own the itinerary. You book the tastings in your own name and pay each winery directly. If you have not decided yet, tell us the areas you are considering and we will tell you honestly what fits in the hours you want — but the reservations remain yours to make.
Can we change the plan during the day?
Yes, within reason — that is most of the point. If a tasting runs long, if you want a different lunch, if somebody wants to go back to the hotel early, tell your chauffeur. The constraint is other people’s appointments, not ours: if you are booked somewhere at three, arriving at four is a matter between you and the winery.
Are tasting fees included?
No. Transportation and tasting are separate throughout wine country. Tasting fees are paid to each winery directly and vary widely by estate. What you are booking from us is the vehicle, the chauffeur and the hours.
Napa or Sonoma for a private day?
Both work, and the difference is mostly geography rather than the wine. Napa is compact and appointment-driven, which suits a private day with a firm plan. Sonoma is spread across several regions and more relaxed, which suits a private day where you would rather not be booked to the hour.
Tell us what you have in mind
The date, how many of you there are, and where you would like to start. Wineries optional — we can talk about those.
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