Sonoma
Free Wheeling Tours
There
is a big difference between Sonoma and Napa when it comes to flexibility
and touring wine country. This article explains some of the variations
in attitude.
| The
other day I was booked for a bus tour through my friends at Beau Tours.
When they sent me the run sheet I was surprised by the brevity of the comments.
That's where the itinerary is described. When you are taking a thirty passenger
bus into wine country filled with a group of thirsty people you want to
have an idea of where you're going.
But
then I saw the note: Sonoma Tour, Clients have their own itinerary! How
cool and how Sonoma. This would so not work in Napa just over the mountains.
I remember a tour there in a stretch hummer with a dozen young folks from
American Canyon.
They
had all been to wine country many times and so they thought they could
free wheel their way around the valley en masse. "Not So Fast!" Napa says.
Half the places we went to gave me a hard time, and one turned the clients
away in the parking lot. |
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At
the beginning of the run I had explained to the clients that very few wineries
would allow a large group on a Saturday in the high season without warning
but they had pooh poohed my concerns. Experience matters!
In
Sonoma wineries are more open to groups arriving on the fly. They're happy
for the business. They're happy that the customers came to Sonoma instead
of going to Napa. Yeah, they may get slammed for a little while trying
to find enough clean glasses, but they know that the numbers that come
through their tasting room doors equal future sales through store shelves
and restaurant wine lists. When you look at the most best selling restaurant
wines in America Sonoma runs neck and neck with Napa.
That
doesn't mean that I'm not going to talk with the client in advance, and
then call my friends at the wineries to arrange a more pleasant reception
for our group. What's the sense of having friends if you never call them?
The point of all this is about attitudes. Napa is very aware of their international
reputation as the top wine destination in the world. I read an article
in the San Francisco Chronicle about a popular Napa winery that gets 400,000
visitors yearly. The whole province of Bordeaux only gets 700,000 wine
visitors. In Napa this is one winery! Admittedly it has deli, but still!
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Standing
at that international pinnacle may make Napa nervous, I think that Sonoma
doesn't take itself quite so seriously. They could if they wanted to; Sonoma
is probably the second biggest wine destination in the world, more historically
significant than Napa, more convenient to the city via the Golden Gate.
But for some reason, they're just a bit more relaxed, a little more casual,
and they don't get so crazy when you bring them a whole bunch of paying
customers, at once.
Note:
Whenever you visit wine country with a group it is always a great idea
to make arrangements with the wineries in advance. This allows them to
allocate staff and find enough clean glasses. Your transportation company
is happy to do that and will have great ideas about how to put the wineries
in a sequence that works best for the guests. |
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For accommodation in Napa
Valley, California, visit All
World Vacation Station
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Resources
: Ralph & Lahni de Amicis are authors of the Amicis Winery Guide
Books and iPhone Apps, and owners of Amicis Tours and Cuore Libre Publishing.
They are authors of over twenty books on health, design and travel. Their
products can be found on the sites http://www.amicistours.com
and http://www.spaceandtime.com
Keywords
:
Sonoma,Napa,wine,tour,groups |
