We had Pablo for our wine tour and he was fabulous! He exceeded our expectations. He was friendly and very informative. He has a great deal of knowledge to share concerning the wine industry and its history. He encouraged questions and was very patient with us considering we knew very little about the subject. The itinerary was a s follows: 2 wineries in the morning- he picked us up at our hotel at 9:00 am Lunch 2 wineries in the afternoon He dropped us off at our hotel after a fun-filled day Although he had the wineries picked out, we could have requested a change and he would have gone with it. He did have reservations at all the wineries and also at Brix, where we ate lunch. By the time he dropped us off, we felt like we had spent the day with a friend! read more

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Everything! Incredibly knowledgable, first class all the way ! Went with Max 3 Thanksgiving weeks in a row.

Max is informative, knowledgeable, entertaining, and laid back. We had a wonderful tour (our 2nd) and hope to use him again in the future!

Loved my time in Napa. I have lived all around the country and world. The service and wine I have tried here was second to none. I spent two days on wine tours with Max and he was amazing. He customized the tour to my liking of wine and he also brought in his own collection of Italian imported wines. They were amazing! He was a safe driver and gave us knowledge about the area and vines that grew there. So thankful I had this experience, it made my trip! I now have so much wine to go home to and enjoy with family and friends. read more

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Great family day with Max! Great winery suggestions, awesome lunch to top it off! Max is well known in the valley, and is very knowledgeable on all types of wine and wineries. Great, safe diver, very courteous , we'll be using Max again in the future! read more

Like everyone else that embarks upon a wine tasting tour, I feel I needed to do some major research. During said research, I kept coming back to Max's tour. While it was the most expensive of the bunch I was looking at, it seemed more like our speed, and something we would enjoy a lot more. Max's tour kicked it! I'm so happy I went with him, so much so that we're planning another trip to San Francisco with friends, and we'll hire him again. You'll be introduced to wines that you will instantly make a part of your collection at home. Max will ship wine purchased on the tour to you, but we figured since we had no carry ons, it would be cheaper to fly it back with us for $25. All I'll say about this is... don't follow our lead taking the Bart to the airport, and wandering all over the city with a case of wine. Take a taxi to the airport! Our Sonoma tour started off at 9am the day after Labor Day. While this seemed really early, I understand the importance of the time line - and Max and Evan were right on time. Evan just moved to San Francisco, and as a good friend of Max, is now also working at MaxNapaTours. Total bonus for us, we got to hear knowledge of wines from two pros! It turns out that it was just the four of us, my husband, myself, and the two best tour guides in CA, which also meant we got to go anywhere we wanted. My two picks were La Crema and Peterson. Here was our full itinerary: La Crema Tasting Room Copain Winery Diavola Pizzeria Peterson Winery Zichichi Winery Bella Winery Started off in Healdsburg where we stopped to grab some coffee. La Crema was a tasting room storefront, and since we like their wine, we bought a couple bottles we couldn't get in IL. This was a very quick stop. Next, we moved onto Copain Winery. This was probably the prettiest winery we went to, and had my favorite wine off the day. We bought some bottles here, and also joined their wine club (there was no pressure at all for this, they didn't even mention it - we just seriously loved their wine). For lunch we were taken to Diavola Pizzeria in Geyserville. It was in the 90s that day and didn't think sitting outside for a picnic lunch would do us well. Diavola is outstanding, had amazing pizza and salads, but this stop-over did take a bit of time. Here Max ran into the Zichichi's, who invited us over to their winery. Onto the Dry Creek area (as I requested), and stopped at Peterson Winery. They were closed that day as they were preparing for the harvest. Max worked his magic, and the next thing we knew, we were doing a tasting with the 2 winemakers (and their wine dog Seamus and 2 wine cats Whitey and Old Red!). Fantastic. After this we moved onto Zichichi Winery where we had the most fun tasting of the day. We got to taste wine out of the barrels, and ended up buying a mixed case of futures. Can't wait to get this next year! This is also where I start to get tipsy and begin my wine spilling (crap). Again, Max is prepared for anything and runs to the car to bring me wine-out. Thanks!!! My husband had a blast here, and met with the winemakers who told him all about the winery, and their past experience. I think I could have left him here for the rest of the day and he would have been happy. Last stop was Bella Winery and Wine Caves. Yes wine caves! It was a fun stop, and luckily here I only spilled my water. (embarrassing) They do the tasting in a cave, and this place was by far the busiest of any of the stops we were at that day. I snoozed on the way back, and my husband chatted with Max and Evan. We arrived back just after 6, and ended a lovely day. At the end of the day, we ended up with a case of wine, plus more on the way. It really seemed that everyone in Sonoma knows Max, and he was introducing everyone to Evan as we went. With either of these two you can't go wrong, will have a fantastic time where you'll be introduced to amazing wines, and will have fun memories! read more

Max Wine Tours - Michael, Evan, and Max (Max Napa Tours) - Wine Tours Near Me

I visited San Fran about 4-5 years ago. Sorry for the late review but better late than never I guess. Tours were great! We did Napa one day and Sonoma the next. He picked us up in downtown and drove us back after wards. He will pick you up from anywhere in the San Fran area. He took us to a few places that were closed to the public since he was friends of them. I had a blast while I was out there. he also took care of the shipping of the wine for a separate fee. Long story short, we'll be using him again when we're out there again. He also was nice enough to stop at the top of the mountain on the side of the Golden Gate (where you see all the classic shots from ) and let us take pictures on the way back. That was awesome!!! Bottom line; Best money for the value out of all the tours and he can get you to wineries that no other service can. read more

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My best friend and I were treated to a wonderful day with Evan on our very first wine tour, and let me tell you: our next wine tour has a lot to live up to! We (and another family of 3) visited 4 wineries in Napa to taste their impeccable brands, and grabbed lunch at a very fine Italian bistro. It was such an intimate and amazing experience, and I'm truly grateful for the opportunity! I'm even more thankful to Evan for going above and beyond to make sure our group had a great day. He was very attentive, knowledgeable, patient, funny, and just an overall great guide! He even made a detour just to give us a great photo op of the golden gate bridge! This is definitely the way to go when it comes to wine tours, and I hope to return again with another group soon! read more

Absolutely phenomenal; our group could not have asked for a better experience! The booking process was convenient and pain free with Max really taking the time to get to know our groups intentions. Our guide, Evan, was extremely knowledgeable about the area and wine making process. It was apparent the company had taken the time to get to know more smaller/ boutique wineries that offered a much more intimate feel. They took care of booking appointments and were flexible with lunch times, extra stops at bakeries or the post office to mail bottles home. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone! read more

Max Wine Tours - Grapes on the vine! - Wine Tours Near Me

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Absolutely fantastic! This is the personalized tour you want to take! Max picked us up, promptly, at 9am. We did 2 wineries and lunch. Max is friendly, knowledgeable and professional. Are you going to pay more? Yep, and it's worth it! Don't miss this tour to Sonoma/Napa! read more

Max Wine Tours - Cline Winery - Wine Tours Near Me

I loved this tour. My husband booked it for my 40th birthday and we had the best time. Evan was a lot of fun and very knowledgeable. It didn't feel like a tour at all but like being out with good friends. I was sad when it was over. All of the wine and food were delicious. Evan knew exactly where to go. We are going home with three bottles and great memories! read more

Max Wine Tours - Gorgeous view - Wine Tours Near Me

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Evan was our tour guide and this was the best tour we've ever been on. He was right on time, took us to wineries that he thought we would like (given the type of wine we told him was our favorite), and never pressured us on time. We spent as much time as we wanted at each winery and had the absolute best time. Next time we come back, we're definitely signing up with this company again! read more

Best Sonoma/Napa Valley Tour Company Max made our trip to Napa the best one yet! If you're up for trying new things, I highly recommend you let Max choose the where you'll be visiting. After giving him my groups preferences, he chose some amazing wineries. Next time we're in the area, I will definitely contact Max for another tour. Thanks again, Max! read more

My SO and I have used Max Napa wine tours two times (for Sonoma Valley and Northern Sonoma) and absolutely loved both experiences. Our guide was Evan for both times, who is extremely knowledgeable and is able to answer any question that we throw at him. You're allowed to request wineries, but letting the guide decide is a lot more fun! I love the fact that the wineries we go to are on the smaller side and not mass-market, which lead to more unique experiences. Additionally, Evan was able to easily adjust our itinerary based on learning more about our preferences throughout the day. I don't ever see us coming back to the Bay Area without doing a tour with this company! read more

This is our third tour with Max Napa Tours and I have to say they are all so unique I could not rate one better than the other. To this point they are all 5 stars, so look no further than Max Napa Tours. On this tour I contacted Max via e-mail in late July and inquiring availability for a particular Sunday in Sept. Max responded in a few hours with a yes and the planning began. Our plan was to have Max pick us up at our hotel in Frisco, take the tour and then have Max drop us at our hotel in Yountville, just north of Napa City. Max knows all the wineries he has taken us to in the past as well as what we like and dislike when it comes to wines as well as tastings. A few days had passed before hearing from Max again. Max had provided us with a full itinerary which included 3 private tastings as well as time reserved for lunch at The Girl and the Fig, in Sonoma. Max provided us with a few winery options a along with links to their web sites, to help us in our final decision. When the big day finally arrived, we were treated at our hotel right on time. It was great to see Max! All our tours were outstanding, as well as lunch. One additional note, Max and I are both photo enthusiasts and own identical cameras. I jokingly said to Max, "since you know how to use my camera, maybe you could take photo's during the tours , so for once I will be in some of the pictures." Max said " sure thing, I'll take pictures for you" I though that was awesome. One final note, don't look any further for a Napa Tour! Max is the best. read more

Max was an excellent and very enjoyable guide in San Francisco and wine country! We did the northern Sonoma valley wine tour on a Saturday in December, the off season. He was punctual, friendly and professional with water and cooler in vehicle and picked up a box for us even when I didn't think I needed one (and I did)! He was very accommodating to people with varying taste and knowledge levels. Max listened to all of our needs and requests throughout the day and customized the tour accordingly. He took us to great wineries, small and large and a fantastic lunch spot as My best girlfriend and I highly recommend Max's wine tours for anyone looking for a personalized wine tour!! read more

I'm usually leery of tours, but this was awesome. I didn't want to be on a bus or van, this was the perfect solution. Evan was our guide for the day. He made the trip incredibly interesting and fun. We were fortunate to travel with fellow food and wine lovers. When I booked this tour, Max followed up the same day to gauge our preferences and see if there were any particular wineries we would like to visit. I didn't know that much about the Napa wineries, but I was impressed with Inglenook (one of Coppola's properties) during a quick web search. They took care of the rest of the details, including tasting and lunch reservations. We were also picked up and dropped off at our hotel. I was impressed with each winery we visited, which ended up being 4 total (or was it 5? I blame the wine), including the winery I requested. Evan was also very helpful with those who needed to ship the wines they purchased. If you are visiting San Franciscio and want to take a day trip to Napa or Sonoma, these guys are top notch. read more

Simply amazing!! We randomly found Max after doing extensive research on the internet...and he gave us the most personalized wine tour ever!! We requested one place to go to and he planned everything else. But the best part of the day was when he changed our itinerary mid-morning to include a winery that he thought we would enjoy more than what was originally planned. Max is very personable and it felt as if we were traveling with a friend. The next time I travel to Napa, Max will be the first person that I call!! Thanks for a great time!! read more

This was my second tour with Max Napa Tour and I can't wait for the next. Setting up the tour was very easy. I contacted Max via email, he promptly responded (even though it was around the exact same time that he was in the hospital welcoming his new son into the world). Payment was easy and he asked questions to help determine the best adventure for our day. Evan was our guide for the day and he couldn't have been more fantastic! We had a combination of both wine-drinkers and beer-drinkers, and Evan was able to accommodate everyone. He even found us a double-rainbow! Everyone at the wineries and breweries greeted us and we never felt any pressure to make large purchases. Evan had made a reservation at a great restaurant that accommodated the two vegetarians in the group and everything was absolutely on point. Both Evan and Max are SO much more than 'tour guides'. They immediately feel like friends and treat you as such, making the experience so much better and more memorable. Evan went above and beyond when I left my phone in the car and he even followed-up via email with suggestions for my next trip to Iceland. Full-service and more. Again, the title of 'Tours' doesn't even begin to describe the richness that this company provides to all of their customers. read more

A first class act company, everything was perfect! We celebrated our anniversary with friends and had a great day enjoying Napa its wines and culinary adventures! read more

My wife and I booked Max for a weekend tour of Napa Valley to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary and we could not be more pleased with our experience. We never visited Napa before and relied on Max's expert inputs and recommendations for the best local wineries to tour. We also received a few winery recommendations from friends ahead of time and Max was more than willing to accommodate. He took care of everything from planning out the day to recommendations for local lunch spots to booking each wine tour ahead of time. Each morning Max arrived at our hotel, always punctual, and drove us to and from each winery. Along the way he would entertain us with interesting facts and tidbits about wine and Napa. He is extremely knowledgeable about wines, wine culture, the history or wine making in Napa, details about weather patterns and how they affect the growth of the grapes, diffences in the soils at each AVA, etc. My wife and I loved every minute of our tour and cannot wait to book him again for our next visit! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! You will not be disappointed. read more

My husband and I recently took a private Napa Valley wine tour with Max and it was the best day ever! Our day started with a prompt pick up at our hotel in San Francisco and continued with a comfortable ride up to Napa. During our ride Max took us through the hills of San Francisco, pointing out famous homes (some of our favorite celebrities!), across the Golden Gate Bridge (and stopped to take a beautiful picture of my husband and I!), and provided an extensive amount of interesting information throughout the ride. When I had first booked our tour with Max, I provided him with the names of some wineries that we were interested in seeing. Additionally, he asked what our favorite wines are. Max did a wonderful job accommodating our requests and picked a couple other wineries based on our preferences. Next time I'll leave the choosing up to Max because his choices (Cuvaison and The Terraces) were phenomenal! Max also chose a wonderful place for lunch (Ca'Momi) within the city of Napa where we enjoyed some of the best Italian food we've ever had. Max kept track of time throughout the day, making sure that we had enough time to spend at each winery and towards the end of the tour, Max was flexible with the end time, allowing us to enjoy our last winery a little longer than we were supposed to. He even brought us to a shipping post so that we could ship our wine home. On the way home, Max thoroughly answered several questions we had and provided wine and champagne recommendations. Max truly showed us the beauty of Napa. Not only did we enjoy a wonderful day of wine tasting but we were given the best treatment everywhere we went and walked away from the experience having learned valuable information about San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma Valleys, and wine in general. My husband and I can't wait to take another tour with Max! read more

Max Napa Tours was simply amazing. My boyfriend and I were in SF for a long weekend and decided to take a trip to wine country. We wanted a knowledgeable tour guide and a social/fun experience, but we did not want a "snobby wine connoisseur" or a large "boozy tour bus" type of experience. Evan was our guide and was outstanding! He was personable, funny, and incredibly knowledgeable about the vineyards. He took us to places he thought our group would like (even changing courses based on our conversation in the car). Before choosing Max Napa Tours, I was nervous about the other guests who might be in the car with us (I didn't want it to be awkward). As it turned out, there were 2 women in SF on a business trip (+ one brought her mother). On the surface, we couldn't have been more different (we're in our late 20's and they are several years older), but we couldn't have had a better time! Evan made everything so familiar and comfortable from the moment we got into the car. By the end of the trip, we learned so much, discovered some great wines, exchanged emails with our new friends and more importantly CANNOT WAIT to take our next trip to wine country. Somehow they have made an experience that I would recommend to everyone regardless of age, sex, or familiarity with wine! read more

What an excellent trip and tour! I contacted Max to help me setup a special day for our best friends 20th anniversary. We wanted to do something a bit different as our group was made up of folks that were interested in wine, but, we also wanted to experience a bit of nature and some of the brewing arts (beer) the region is famous for. Max's expert knowledge of the area wove together the perfect trip of stunning natural light hike though a lesser known redwoods area that was absolutely stunning, a small nice winery or two, tour of the wine making process, and we even managed to catch an excellent brewery on the way back to San Francisco which introduced us all to a completely new style of Beer we've not had before. Max's great fun loving personality and awesome customer service didn't stop there. On the way to and from the place we were staying Max provided local insights and history, even took a slight detour to show us some sites we were interested in, and before the trip even began he gave insightful restaurant and other activity recommendations that were perfect for our group mix. Sure we could have hired a designated driver, but, we wouldn't have saved significantly and traveling with Max as your guide is like traveling with a long familiar friend who knows the area inside and out. When we go back, we'll definitely call Max for a perfect day in Sonoma or Napa, it's set the standard for all our trips going forward. Thank you so much for such a perfect day! read more

Great tour! He had extensive knowledge on the topic of wine and was able to customize the tour to our preferences of wine. Highly recommend!

Max was able to accommodate my best friend and I on a group tour despite my last minute request. He also asked if there were any particular wineries I wanted to visit even though he had already planned the itinerary for the day. The day turned out perfectly. The tour felt intimate and personal, just as I had hoped. We visited four small wineries and even met the owner and winemakers at a two of the wineries. Max took care of making all of our appointments for the day and our lunch reservation. Max will definitely be my go-to for tours in the future. read more

Evan was the best! After picking us up from our hotel in San Francisco he provided a wonderful tour experience which included full of knowledge of the area. He also picked a wonderful restaurant to eat in between touring the vineyards. I would definitely do this again. read more

Evan was grate. Thank you for amazing tour. He picked all wineries and everyone was grate. Defiantly will come back. read more

Max Wine Tours - Wine Tours Near Me

We had the best day ever!!! So much fun! Made so many new friends and drank amazing wine. Our tour guide was the best ever, made our trip extra special!!! Love Love loved it!!! read more

Max Wine Tours - Wine Tours Near Me

Our tour was very well tailored to our preferences and the communication with Max ahead of time was great. He had preselected 4 wineries for us, and we ended up becoming members of 2 of them right off the bat they were so on par with what we were looking for. Special little gems, hidden from the beaten path and with great history, wines and scenery. A perfect day. Thank you Max! read more

Sept 29, 2017 - First and unforgettable visit to Napa/Sonoma. Thank you to Evan with Max Napa Tours. He planned the day with a wonderful variety of visits to beautiful vineyards. (Venge Vineyards, Tedeschi Vineyards, Chateau Montelena and Storybrook Mountain Vineyards.) A truly wonderful variety and unique experiences at each location. Lovely lunch in between tastings at Solbar in Calistoga. Unforgettable memories with dear friends.....Thanks again Max Napa Tours! read more

Max Wine Tours - Wine Tours Near Me

Awesome company. Evan was the absolute best !! if you're going to do a tour-book with Max wine tours!! Great experience and we will be returning soon! read more

The only way to see and enjoy all that Napa has to offer is via "Max Napa Tours" Max Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all your help with our trip, from the hassle free booking and planning of the trip to then the moment we got in the car to the end it was nothing but a pleasure and beyond memorable, our trip was 3 sisters 2 from Palm Springs and 1 from San Fran we had set the expectation bar high and Max's knowledge of Napa wineries, eateries and hot spots not only met our expectations but beyond exceeded them.. Max' Napa Tours is such an amazing benefit to anyone that wants to see and experience the best of the best that Napa Valley or Sonoma has to offer!! Max see you next year! This time let's go to Sonoma :) read more

We had an incredible time with our tour on Max last Saturday. Max made the entire experience truly memorable. From his comfortable car, knowledge of the area, and great winery choices, Max proved to be the perfect guide. He chose of an excellent place for lunch and showed us 4 unique wineries that all varied in size, but all were equallly charming. Even my parents, who are hard to please, absolutely loved Max. We are already planning our next tour back to Napa! read more

The experience with Max Napa is phenomenal, from booking through drop-off. My husband and I did a private full-day tour with Evan and it was one of the best vacation excursions we could have planned. Mostly, because we didn't have to plan anything but to choose the day! Max makes it super easy - basically just have to tell them your ideal date(s), your wine preferences, and if there's anywhere specific you'd like to visit. They take care of the rest - even lunch reservations. Evan was extremely pleasant throughout the entire day and had a ton of fun facts and tidbits about the area as we drove from San Fran to Napa. He took us to places we probably never would have picked out on a map ourselves. One of our best experiences together as a new husband and wife. We could not recommend this tour more! read more

What a fantastic tour! We covered 5 wineries over the day with a stop for lunch in a beautiful restaurant. I was so impressed with the choices of winery which all had contrasting styles and stories. Evan struck the perfect balance of knowledgeable and fun, and kept everyone involved and interested. He was thoughtful enough to offer bottles of water as the day started to get a little tipsy, and made sure that everything flowed smoothly when appointments overran. The size of the bus means that it's easy for a mixed group to get to know one another, you don't feel like you are being 'bussed in and bussed out'. I cannot recommend this trip highly enough, it was a wonderful introduction to Napa and wine tasting. read more

I'm surprised there aren't more reviews on this. I found Max online after doing extensive research on wine tours. This was my first trip to Napa and I wanted to get to the best wineries for reasonable prices. I hated most of the tours because they seemed very generic and cookie-cutter. I wanted more personalized without having to pay $800. Then I found Max. 2-6 person tours in an SUV to wineries of your choice. Each person in the group gets to pick a winery. I made a last minute call and he had just enough space for 1. He had already created an itinerary so I couldn't add my winery, but he still won me over after describing what he had planned for us. The theme of the tour was "wineries without signs". Max assured me I would appreciate these wineries over the bigger ones and he was right! I am more of a reds girl and it turned out that the rest of the group was the same, so the tour focused on places that produced mostly reds. We did try a few whites, but mostly focused on reds. We visited 4 small wineries with a lunch in between. He picked up everyone at their respective hotels and we began the tour up in the mountains of Napa. The wineries we visited were: Terraces, Neyers, Trespass, and Gamble. We went to Tra Vigne for lunch. Each winery was fantastic! None had signs. The group got personalized attention and tours of the properties. Max is very knowledgeable about wine and the various wineries in Napa and Sonoma. He's also got great little factoids about San Francisco and the surrounding area. For $150, I thought the tour was fantastic and well worth the money. No other tour in the area does it like Max. You won't regret booking a tour with him. He also does private tours. There are no hidden fees either - $150 includes everything (minus tasting fees and lunch). We didn't pay any tasting fees at the places we visited. At the end of the tour, Max will help you get your boxes of wine shipped if you want. The wineries also ship, but it can get expensive if you're only buying a couple bottles. Cant' wait to book another tour with him! read more

Max is the long lost wine tour guide best friend you never knew you had... Been on three previous generic wine tours in Napa/Sonoma - and Max's simply blows them out of the water. From the personal (and on time!) pick up at your hotel, through the wonderful and unique wineries you visit, to the delicious lunch at any one of Max's favorite restaurants, to the front door service when he brings you back home - there is simply no competition for Max Napa Tours. Knowledgeable and super friendly, a tour with Max is like having a best friend who lives in Napa and knows all the cool places to go - off the beaten path. And if you want to hit the usual suspects - Mondavi, BV, etc, he'll take you there as well!! A perfect day! read more

There is truly nothing more I can say than what has already been said! My daughter found Max through yelp, and believe me we were a bit nervous because it just sounded too good to be true. Well, he did not disappoint! This is the ONLY way to tour the wine country. Max has a personal relationship with hundreds of wineries in Napa and Sonoma. And because of this relationship, he is able to get into private wineries, that are not open to the general public. He made an appointment for us to visit A'Rafenelli, a winery in Dry Creek, Sonoma, that has been in business for 4 generations. An incredible place! We would never have known about it on our own. And as for his experience? He's a walking encyclopedia! You don't need to look further...at $150 per person, it is by far the best tour I have ever taken and look forward to doing it again in both Sonoma and Napa! read more

We used Max on one day and Evan on the next for our two days in Napa and Sonoma. Max worked in advance to set up the wineries we wanted to visit. We had two full days and enjoyed them both. Max and Evan know the area well; know the wineries; know where to grab a bite to eat and share their knowledge of growing and the wine-making process. Max and Evan are engaging, informative and focused on making your day great. We learned on an earlier trip to Napa using Max that the best way to enjoy the trip is with a driver and guide. We definitely recommend Max Wine Tours! read more