Everything To Know Before Planning a Large Group Wine Tour
If you are struggling through planning a large group wine tour in or around San Francisco, you deserve a large glass of wine. So, why not enjoy one with your team, friends or family in Napa or Sonoma Wine Country? It’s only a short drive from the city to reach world-renowned vineyards with wines that rival France, Italy and Spain. Once you taste the wines of this region, you’ll understand why the trip is well worth it.
But, getting a large group to Wine Country can be logistically challenging. Dividing large groups into carpools, getting lost along the way, finding parking and establishing designated drivers all take away from the trip.
So, how do you get your group to these stunning wineries?
Luckily, you can rest easy, knowing that every trip detail is covered. From luxury transportation to sticking to a time budget and expert guides to thoughtfully chosen wineries, we can help you take care of everything. All you have to worry about is deciding what bottles to bring home.
Here is everything you need to know about planning a large group wine tour!
Want to take your friends and family on an unforgettable Wine Country experience throughout Napa and Sonoma? Create your own wine tasting adventure with a Custom Private Tour through Dylan’s!
About Sonoma Wine Tasting
Just about an hour outside of the city, you’ll find Sonoma Wine Country. Nestled close to Napa Valley, Sonoma is considered the more laid-back version of this neighboring famous wine region. The diverse climates surrounding this wine valley complement each other to create truly unique wine grape-growing conditions. This region has over 425 active wineries, each offering distinct flavors and notes from specialized winemaking processes. Sonoma wineries are known for providing a vast array of reds, whites and blends, so there are ample options for even the choosiest wine drinkers.
If you plan to stay in the area for a few days, you can expand your daily wine-tasting activities to include hiking, cycling, hot air balloon rides, luxury shopping, and gourmet dining. We adore their sprawling vineyards, never-ending sunsets and welcoming wineries that serve award-winning bottles. Everyone from wine novices to seasoned sommeliers will create endless memories in these rolling hills!
Why Choose a Private Large Group Wine Tasting Tour?
Yes, you could make a wine tour happen without help. But the bigger the group, the more beneficial it is to leave the planning to the experts. Here are just a few reasons why a private tour is the way to go for large group wine tasting.
Fewer Logistics
There’s nothing more confusing and frustrating than planning logistics for a large group – especially when you are trying to have fun on the trip too. Building your day around Dylan’s Famous Tour ensures that all you need to do is show up!
We take care of transportation, winery choices and every other trip detail so you don’t have to. We can even work with you to customize your tour to include additional experiences or accommodate any group needs.
More Intimacy
Public tours to Wine Country are great for small groups, but we highly recommend a private experience for large group wine tours. When you book a private large group wine tour, you don’t need to find compromises with strangers as you select a start time, pick-up spot, winery stops and additional activities.
Skip any forced small talk with strangers on the bus and focus on the people you came to bond with private transportation to and from Wine Country.
More Flexibility
From the length of experience to the number of wineries we visit, we can accommodate many tour customizations. If you share your needs with our team during the planning process, we can tailor your tour to your preferences and limitations.
Luxury Transportation
The journey should be as fun as the destination! We offer luxury minibus transportation from your chosen location in the city to Wine Country. Our buses are roomy and cozy and can even fit overnight bags if your group plans to spend the night in Napa or Sonoma.
Attention to Detail
As experts in all things Bay Area, we know what a large group wine tour needs to elevate it from great to fantastic. From thoughtfully choosing partner wineries to ensuring everyone gets a photo on the Golden Gate Bridge, we can ensure you get the most out of your experience in San Francisco.
Our Custom Private Tours of Wine Country offer luxury transportation and easy personalization. Making them perfect for a day spent exploring everything the Valleys have to offer!
Who Should Book a Large Group Wine Tour?
Team Building Activities and Corporate Events
San Francisco companies have the unique opportunity to give their employees or clients a luxury weekend. In a world-renowned wine country, without planning an overnight event, what could be easier? When you choose a team-building activity that employees will enjoy, your company can reap the benefits of a refreshed and appreciative team.
San Francisco Bachelorette Parties
Napa or Sonoma bachelorette parties are perfect for a bride who wants to enjoy a weekend of luxury, high-end style and quality wine before her big day! Planning your bachelorette party in Sonoma with Dylan’s Tours ensures that no one has to act as DD while you sip your way through wineries. Bond with your girls and order that extra glass – we’ve got you covered for the entire day!
Friend or Family Reunions
Nothing brings together loved ones quite like a beautiful bottle of wine! Planning a reunion in Napa or Sonoma with your friends or family is a perfect way to create unique memories and catch up with old loved ones. Not to mention the stunning wine country backdrops you can use for the big group photo!
Birthday Parties
Nothing feels more celebratory than heading out of the city for a unique birthday activity! Our luxury buses can fit everyone you want to join the birthday festivities. With several chances to toast and offer some birthday wishes, it’s a great way to ring in another year around the sun.
Engagement Parties
Time to pop some champagne? Celebrate the happy couple with a private wine-tasting party! With our different options for transportation, the guest list can be as intimate or welcoming as you like. Spend a day toasting to the newly engaged at some of the valleys’ most trendy and stunning restaurants and wineries.
What Can We Expect During a Large Group Wine Tasting Tour?
Premiere Wine Tasting
Every winery we choose to support is selected thoughtfully. From award-winning bottles, to unique wine specializations to welcoming tasting room atmospheres. We strive to offer variety and quality with every winery option!
An Expert Guide
Both Napa and Sonoma are beautiful to visit no matter what – but the stories to listen to along the way make the area come alive. Our guides are experts on everything wine country and the wines that it produces. From the history of the area to stories of the wineries you’ll visit, each anecdote will help you further understand the magic of this region.
Your personal tasting guide is also there to help you with wine recommendations, food pairings, and advice on what to do with your time in the area.
Seamless Transportation
Transportation can be the most difficult aspect of planning a Napa or Sonoma wine-tasting tour. Our luxury sedans and mini-busses will comfortably transport you out of the city and into wine country. With a dependable driver and seamless transportation, you don’t have to worry about a thing as you explore the wine menu.
Opportunities for Delicious Food
We can carve out time in your itinerary to experience some of the delicious lunch options! Downtown Sonoma Square, or Oxbow Public Market in Napa are both fantastic foodie spots. You can have over an hour in either destination to explore different flavors.
Here are just a few of the restaurants we love to recommend:
- Girl and the Fig – this lovely little French restaurant is all about the details. Think custom plates, embossed burger buns and (of course) several fig decorations. And the tastes are as lovely as the decor! With fresh ingredients, decadent flavors and generous portions.
- The Plaza Bistro – The Plaza Bistro is an ideal choice for Southern Italian and Mediterranean fare. This spot on 1st Street is welcoming and approachable without sacrificing high-quality dishes. From fresh seafood to juicy steaks and shareable plates!
- El Dorado Kitchen – El Dorado Kitchen offers California-inspired fine dining. Taste unique delicacies like caviar and oysters before enjoying one of their creative and flavorful entrees. El Dorado Hotel is also a fantastic option for staying overnight, with relaxing decor and a convenient location.
Our expert guides are knowledgeable, fun, and personable. Book your Private Wine Tasting Tour today to get started on creating memories with the ones you love, and the wines you love!
Example Itinerary
The good news? You can plan your itinerary! This is just a template of what your experience in Wine Country can look like – but ultimately, the number of stops and time spent in each place can be up to you and your guide.
10:00AM: Pick-up at Your Hotel
We will kick off our large-group wine tour by picking you up from the meeting place of your choice! Whether it’s your hotel or company building, we aim to make transportation as easy as possible for you and your group.
11:00AM – 12:15PM: Visit Winery #1
After about an hour of driving through the city, over the Golden Gate bridge and down the winding road to wine country, you’ll arrive at your first winery! You can spend about an hour walking the grounds, chatting with your friends, learning about the wines and rating your flight from great to best.
12:30PM – 2:00PM: Lunch in Downtown
After the first winery, we can take a picturesque lunch break in the downtown area. You plan your lunch, so you have your pick of popular restaurants to consider. Whether you make a reservation at one of the fine dining restaurants or opt for a more casual midday bite, there are more than enough options for everyone to find their ideal meal.
2:30PM – 4:00PM: Visit Winery #2
After lunch, we set down the vineyard-lined roads to our second winery location. You will have over an hour to soak in some afternoon sun and sip some award-winning wines as you chat with your group.
5:00PM: Drop-off at Your Hotel
After a full day of wining, dining and enjoying the stunning scenes of Wine Country, we will transport your group to wherever you want to end your trip. Many groups choose to drive back to San Francisco and their hotel. Others opt to extend their time in Napa or Sonoma with some local accommodations. Whether it’s in the city or Wine Country, we’ll get you where you need to go.
What Wineries Can We Visit?
When you book a private large group wine tour, the winery choices are up to you! Here are just a few of the wineries we love to support. And if you want to base your choices on specific wines, our guides can help you plan the perfect itinerary!
Robledo
Bright stucco, gleaming wood finishes and roots in Latin culture make Robledo Family Winery stand out from the rest. As the first winery in the United States to be founded by Mexican vineyard workers on their land, generations of family members have dedicated decades of hard work to grow this beautiful vineyard and tasting room.
Specializing in stunning red wines, Robledo Family Winery believes in a vine-to-bottle process with tricks of the trade passed down through generations.
Robledo is an ideal winery visit with a welcoming atmosphere, delicious pours and a selection of cheeses to pair perfectly with your wines.
Nicholson Ranch
Get transported to the rural rolling hills of France with this chateau-style estate. Nicholson Ranch Winery offers relaxing indoor and outdoor lounges that nicely balance an upscale atmosphere with an approachable charm.
Nicholson relies on a natural and sustainable winemaking process and only uses grapes from their 40-acre estate. With many wines aging up to three years in French oak barrels before ever touching a glass, Nicholson Ranch prioritizes quality over convenience in every bottle.
Bring your glass of wine on a stroll of the grounds, or enjoy comfortable semi-shaded seating perfect for soaking in some lovely weather and appreciating every sip of handcrafted Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Syrah.
Cline
Cline melts East Coast style with West Coast style at every turn in their stunning wine-tasting areas. The luxury cabanas offer a stylish and intimate setting to bond with your group, while the garden patio is the perfect place to enjoy a flight of some high-quality wines.
Cline grapes are free from pesticides and herbicides, relying on cover crops and compost teas to nourish the soil and produce the highest-quality harvest. Their family has spent over 40 years perfecting the production of beautiful wines that pair perfectly with a sunny afternoon on their romantic vineyard grounds.
Roche
Roche Winery is a luxury playground for everyone who enjoys a lively atmosphere and excellent pours of wine. There is ample shaded and sun-soaked outdoor seating that looks out to the sprawling rows of vineyards. Another family-owned winery, The Roche family has put over 30 years into building their reputation in the Sonoma winemaking community.
And if you decide you can’t get enough of the bottles you can find at the Roche Winery, plan for a round two at their downtown Sonoma tasting room! This cozy location offers the perfect ambiance for an evening pre-dinner glass.
Can We Customize The Tour?
This Wine Country Large group wine tasting tour is yours to customize! No matter how you picture your experience exploring the scenic vineyards of the Valleys, our team can help your plans become a reality.
Winery Hotel/Inn Drop-off
Your trip to Napa or Sonoma Wine Country doesn’t have to stop after a few tasting room visits. If you and your group decide that you want to make a weekend out of the trip, our tour can drop you off at your planned accommodations. Just bring your luggage on the bus, enjoy a day getting introduced to the area and then end your tour falling into a sumptuous bed at a stunning inn, hotel or vacation rental.
City Tours
If your group is from out of town, we recommend including an overview of unique San Francisco neighborhoods before setting off to Wine Country! We have taken over 15 years perfecting our city tour, which includes several iconic San Francisco sites before crossing the famous Golden Gate Bridge on the journey to the valleys.
Bike Tours
One of the best ways to elevate your wine-tasting experience is by including a bike tour through the rolling hills of Wine Country. This bike tour is incredibly approachable, even with the valleys’ iconic rolling hills! We supply easy-to-use e-bikes with motor assist for a seamless pedal through the sights and smells of world-class wine grapes. Enjoy watching the vineyard rows whiz by as you make your way to the next glass of wine!
Start Time
Make the most of your trip the way you want by customizing your tour start time. Large groups can enjoy a morning full of activities before setting off on a Napa or Sonoma Wine Country tour or start the drive to the vineyards bright and early.
Number of Wineries
If you have a schedule to stick to or have limited time to work with for your trip to San Francisco, you don’t need to sacrifice a trip to Wine Country! Our large group winery tours can customize the number of wineries you visit to keep your trip short. If all you have time for is a single winery before your next activity, we will ensure the winery we visit complements your group preferences and offers an unparalleled wine-tasting experience.
On the other hand, if your goal is to see as much as you can on your winery tour with no time constraints, we can also add more stops on your wine-tasting tour. Our guide will create an itinerary showcasing each winery’s distinct specializations, making each option unique and memorable.
Vehicle Size
Don’t split up, gang! Our extensive group tours prioritize keeping groups together for maximum bonding and fun. We have different vehicles for different group sizes, from 6-person sedans to 50-person luxury buses.
We can accommodate up to 200 people on this tour, so feel free to extend the guest list!
A fully customizable and flexible tour option can be found here. Dylan’s can get you where other tours can’t, with ease and excitement! Whether you choose a bus or bike tour, you’re sure to have an absolute blast.
Book a Large Group Wine Tour You’ll Love!
From luxury friend reunions to successful team bonding activities, a trip to Wine Country is all you need to create a memorable experience in the Bay Area. Ready to book your large group wine tour? Reach out to our team to plan your exploration through the Bay Area Wine Country!
Looking for more wine-related guides? Check out our other posts:
5 Essential Activities to Elevate Your Wine Tasing Experience
The Ultimate Guide to Napa Valley Wine Tasting
Best Ways to Get to Napa From San Francisco
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