We received a recommendation for Alex for a winery tour from the front desk attendant at the San Nicolas Hotel and Casino. After talking to Alex we agreed upon a price of $110 for both of us for visiting 4 vineyards in the Guadalupe Valley. He told us he would pick us up in his cab the following morning at 10 am and we would be back around 3 pm. Alex arrived a bit early and easily agreed to stop at a breakfast burrito food cart he knew about. These burritos were fresh and hot. Alex knows a lot of the locals and has a lot of jokes and stories to tell. We really enjoyed his tour. He told us he also offered deep sea and local fishing, and ATV excursions.
He drove us to Don Victor Manuel Vinos Artesanales in the Guadalupe Valley first. Here we sampled lots of varieties of liqueurs, grappa and some wines. This place was packed with two tour buses. While the tourists were being served, Alex told us about Don Victor and even helped the staff pour out samples. We ended up buying a couple of bottles of liqueur and one bottle of almond grappa here. Don Victor even let us fly the drone over the vineyard.
Next, we headed to La Sol y Barro. This small, local vineyard is owned by Aime Desponds, a relocated, retired man from Switzerland. This was our favorite winery, and we bought a bottle of his 2017 Graciano red wine. His paintings decorate the inside of his tasting room, and he told us he built all the buildings on his property using Cob, which resembles adobe.
Third, we headed to La Casa De Dona Lupe. This was a large winery, with a restaurant, outdoor and indoor seating, and lots of bottled goodies for sale. We bought a gift basket here, a 2013 Nebbiolo red wine and a 2015 Tempranillo. Dona Lupe is in her nineties and in good health and lives on the property. However, we didn't get to see her on the day we visited.
On the way to our fourth winery, we passed some olive fields. We asked to stop and buy some olives. Alex took us to s stand along the road and we bought a huge plastic jar of olives, a bottle of olive oil and some hard-boiled quail eggs in a glass jar.
Our last winery was by far the fanciest. Alex told us he would wait for us inside the cab. It was called Decantos Vinicolas and had a full-service kitchen and multiple varieties of wine. They had indoor seating and many outdoor picnic tables. This winery let us fly the drone (see photos). By far, this winery had the most people and many of them were eating as well. They charged for their wine tasting and we ended up buying a bottle of the 2020 Cabernet Franc.
We felt bad because we ended up arriving back at our hotel at around 4 pm. Alex didn't complain and I ended up tipping him for this extra hour. If you want a great tour guide that gives you his absolute most, then I would recommend booking Alex. Since he can be hard to get ahold of, please call him at 646-107-2073. He'll treat you right. read more