DO NOT DO THIS TOUR OR RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE!!! It is not worth the time, money and effort to take this tour! If i could give it zero stars i would based on customer experience. From placing the order for there "SPECIAL" discounted deal and emailing Richard repeatedly to understand how i use this "gift card" that you receive no email confirmation, no instructions. He finally emailed me back and said i email with date and how many i want to use. GREAT! Seems easy enough except when I did that I continued to get NO RESPONSE to determine if my email was being received? Did that date get booked? DO i make plans around this? FINALLY.....more than 3 weeks later i get a response saying yes that i was booked for the tour i selected. Despite the painful process i was still looking forward to the wine tour in Fredericksburg. We get to the pickup location on day of tour and there are other groups there going on different tours. We start to here them calling folks to load up on buses and get ready to take off, BUT NOT OURS! Turns out Our bus is still not there, so we wait and wait and then after 2 hours of waiting, they tell us they have to cancel because our bus never made it and with so much time lost we wouldn't be able to keep to the tour schedule. UGH! I was so upset that this awful purchase continued to be a roller coaster ride. The day this happened we received an email from Richard with his apologies and stating that he would refund us by following Wednesday and couldn't apologize enough and offered Free tickets to another tour at another time. I was surprised to see his email since the response rate up to this point was horrible. But i thought YEAH A RAY OF HOPE, I will get my money back and finally be done with this nightmare. OH WAIT....NOPE! THREE weeks later, 4 emails with NO RESPONSES, countless Voicemail's with NO returned calls and certainly NO REFUND, i just wanted to give up at this point but i hated that I was out my money for this trip that i never got to take. So i disputed the charge against my credit card through my bank and i got my refund! Thank you BANK for taking care of me and protecting me from horrible business such as Texas winos! read more

The boat bash was so much fun! My group absolutely loved it. We're already planning another event. Highly recommend.

So glad for the transport to the Wine Trail, but was it worth it? Our group of friends wanted to spend some carefree time together drinking wine & sharing a meal, but I hoped for more comfort, information prior to the trip, and a better meal. Tour should be named "Tour to the Hill Country Wine Trail. Bring snacks and expect a fun time." We were promised 3 wineries and a Italian meal. Now, our tour guide and driver of the bus were great & we felt completely safe. However, a 50+ passenger bus was not what I expected (my fault) so the drive was not that comfortable. I pictured one of those 12 passenger, roomy small buses. Also, having to pick up a 2nd group in a different part of the city seemed like a waste of my time (and I had to sit in the small seats even longer). I wish I had known which wineries were in the plan, which I did email to ask, but they did not "reveal" the list until we got on the bus. One was really good, the 2nd was pretty good (maybe not my taste, but still great for others), and the 3rd was obviously just for entertainment, and not serious wine at all.. so I felt my money was wasted on this tasting too. LAST thing: I'm sorry to say the "Italian meal" was very sad. The Chicken Alfredo was soupy & watery, the Chicken Parm was not very "parm", and the Beef Lasagna was also "loose" and not very beefy. In the end, I wish this tour would have charged less, and not tried to promise what it could not deliver. My expectations would not have been so high, therefore I would not have been disappointed. read more

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. I would give this zero stars if I could. We waited around the meeting spot (a bar/restaurant) for TWO HOURS before the tour guide told us our bus was broke down and not coming. My first email to Richard in hopes of getting my money back for the inconvenience and terrible day received what seemed like a sincere, genuine response. He owned up to the inconvenience, offered a free tour in the future (no expiration, my choice of date) and said my refund would be credited to my account 2 days later. It has now been 3 weeks and I have yet to receive my refund. I have emailed, called and left voicemails several times with no response. I would never recommend this service to a friend/family. read more

My fiancé and I did the Austin to New Braunfels brewery tour with Brian and it was fantastic! We toured 3 breweries, one being the Faust Hotel. We had a delicious lunch (all inclusive with alcohol) and then spent time at 2 other craft breweries: Guadalupe Brewing Company and New Braunfels Brewing Company. Guadalupe had delicious and unique beers! Brian was fun and played great music on the bus. The bus driver, Nick, was fantastic too. We had pints at every stop we made, much more bang for your buck than the winery tours. I 100% recommend! read more

Texas Winos - Texas Winos Brewery Tour - Party & Event Planning Near Me

We are new to Austin so thought the "Empty Nesters" tour would be fun. Chris was our tour guide and did an awesome job. He was funny, witty and kept the group's spirits very high and upbeat the whole day. Great tunes on the bus, trivia and other small things that made the day fly by. Wine tours/tasting was fun and learned some things and the Italian meal was great. Great way to spend a Sunday. read more

A beautiful Sunday afternoon Hill Country wine tour with many in our neighborhood. It was great fun! Our guide, Chris, was knowledgeable about wine and wine country. He was very entertaining (bad jokes that you have to laugh at) and gave us plenty of time at each stop to browse the shops or sit in the sun with a glass of wine. Thank you Texas Winos for memorable day! read more

Hey Richard. Sorry for the rating dude. You were totally cool and this tour had really great possibilities. If I had the opportunity to go back through time I don't think I would do this again. We went on the Valentines Day tour. But I went with 4 girls for my bachelorette party. The bus should have had different seating arrangements. Like facing toward each other to engage with other people. The bus ride began with really slow sappy romantic music that everyone fell asleep to. Common Richard! We were promised dancing in the aisles but instead everyone fell asleep in the 45 minute ride to the first winery. Apparently when Richard emails you about choices of music you might want to hear on the bus - you better respond, because apparently he burns CDs (?) for the bus ride instead of having a large play list. Common Richard! Invest in an iPod and let people suggest music on the ride. But also, gauge your audience - if people are falling asleep - let's change the playlist! After nap time, the first winery was a really good break from the bus. Open space but VERY small pours. The winery was nice and had good wines. The next 45 minute bus ride was a little more tolerable - but still pretty boring. Common Richard! Let's play some ice breaker games to pass the time! Trivia - or the name game - or rock paper scissors - ANYTHING! We basically sat in silence with more sappy songs playing. Nap time round 2. We got to the second winery where the wines weren't very good but there were dogs to pet. So it was cool by me. By this time some people on the bus should have been cut off. Richard said he would cut people off if needed- but apparently humping and making out in front of everyone on the bus was appropriate enough to let it happen? Common Richard! Totally inappropriate even if it was a Valentines day tour. We got some food in us. The food was good. I enjoyed the meal. I completely dreaded getting back on the bus again where the drunk couple continued to drink and hump each other for the 45 minutes ride home. Luckily they played Journey? But Journey is only good party music for drunk people... and we weren't really drunk. I was glad to get off the bus but the memory of the tour will last forever. Thanks Richard. I know you tried. read more

Texas Winos should re-label this as a "Party Bus" and let people know that during the drive home the tour guide will #1) be drunk (our tour guide started drinking about 5 minutes into the tour). I didn't think a drunk tour guide was allowed. #2) The tour guide will be dancing and grinding his body all over the available females on the bus (single or married). On our drive home our bus had a group of 9 ladies that were standing on the seats dancing, and female on females grinding their bodies on each other. The tour guide was too busy making out with the married lady at the back of the bus to care about what was actually going on. I appreciate that these ladies did the responsible thing and booked a bus so they could drink; however, this isn't a party bus. When I think "Wine Tour" this isn't what I had in mind. Who was I going to complain to? The tour guide who was worried about who he was going to hook up with at the end of the night? Nope. The wineries that we toured were ok. The Fat Ass Winery was my favorite one- very laid back and fun environment. read more

I found out about Texas winos through a groupon deal. Richard the owner was very helpful in answering some of my questions related to booking a tour prior to our trip. We received timely communications providing us with details related to the tour, and it was very clear prior to making a final payment and reservation that this was a large bus of individuals, that the music was louder, and a party like setting. Also, it was clear that we would not know until the day off what wineries we would be going too, just that it was in the 290 wine road area. At the beginning it was a bit confusing as there were 2 buses, and the signs were not yet up regarding which bus was for which tour. We figured out where we needed to go, but they never checked our ID's to confirm we had reserved a spot prior to boarding or giving us a bag with a glass in it. The music on the bus is loud, but we had set our expectations for that. Overall we got to experience 3 different wineries, and a meal. Just exactly what was promised to us. Richard is very friendly and attentive to ensure everyone is doing well. We had ample time to explore and enjoy each place, we didn't feel rushed. Richard also takes pictures throughout the event, that you can then download for free afterwards which is a nice plus. The atmosphere on the bus on the way back with so many people is a bit crazy and party like, the music a bit louder, everyone singing and having a good time overall. Which is exactly what Richard mentioned on his site prior to booking. We got back a bit after the time stated, but once again that expectation was also set upfront. Overall for a large group tour fun and got to check out some great new spots. You just need to be aware of the type of tour you are going on. This is not for someone looking to have a romantic informative quiet getaway. read more

We got some girls together and joined a wine tour to Fredericksburg. We were picked up downtown and bused together. It was so much fun in the bus just hanging out and listening to music. We get to Fredericksburg, ate a great lunch that was included, and toured 3 wineries. One was a castle -- so cute! The wines were really good, it was a fun experience and fun to hang out with and get to know a large group of people. On the drive back we were JAMMING. Marty was the best tour guide, so calm and cool and looking after (sometimes chasing after) everybody. Really awesome, Marty. Thanks for a great wine tour. 10/10 will do again. read more

First...I will say that this was tons of fun...and I think would be a great option for a bachelorette party, etc. They have lots of themed/costumed events that I think would be awesome. The tour started with an Italian lunch/buffet...which was smart considering people were about to consume a crap ton of wine...however, there wasn't a single item served that didn't have cheese and two people in our party have dairy allergies...Not the fault of the tour i guess...but definitely a draw back. There was confusion meeting up initially since there was no clear sign or marker saying "texas winos meet here for wine tour"...so was a little confusing to know exactly where to meet since just given an address that turned out to be Coal Vines. The tour was supposed to be a "Karaoke Wine Tour"...which would make you think people would be singing karaoke, right? Not so much. We figured out after the first 45 minutes that it's more of a sing-a-long...so I don't think should be called karaoke...a little misleading. We went to 3 wineries...but didn't stick to the schedule so well...which sucked since we anticipated being back at 8 and had dinner reservations that we had to modify. Not the end of the world...but would be nice to know. Overall...we had a great time...lots of laughs...and met some fun people...but I think i would have been more disappointed if I paid the full price (got through living social). There is a yelp deal i noticed...so if you are looking to do this...make sure to scoop it up. read more

Frankly, this was a bust. It was a 7 hour waste of time and money. The wine was sub-par, the lunch was god-awful, and the tour bus -- which was told would be relaxed and calm -- was ridiculous loud and obnoxious. I give it two stars because I didn't die on the trip or be kidnapped by supposed wine tasting guides. But there isn't much positive to say otherwise. The worst part was the loudness of the music. I'm a 25 y/o, hard of hearing gal who wears hearing aids and it was way too loud. My husband got a major headache from the trip and it wasn't from the crappy wine. read more

I would love to give this a better review, but sadly I cannot. We got tickets to go to this through a friend for her birthday. We were stoked to go and do something new, but the trip was a bit of a disaster. Transportation: To and from the wineries, the tour provided us a safe ride to and from each winery. This was no problem at all .. in the beginning. By the end of the afternoon, the bus was a hot mess. Trust me I don't mind a fucking crazy afternoon, but the last thing I wanna deal with is a bunch of absolutely shitfaced chicks dancing horribly in the aisles and shoving the not-hot asses in a bunch of people's faces. The music was so abysmal that it felt like the ride home after a 7th grade ski trip. Wine: Meh, the wine was okay. The tastings were interesting. We got to try some new stuff. Overall the wineries were best suited to people who were 70. I realise this might have been my expectations at play here -- but I wanted to drink wine all day, not sip wine. Moving on.. Food: The food they served us was horseshit. It was undersalted, bland food. Definitely not of the quality that I would assume a winery would be selling. Once again, catering to 70 year olds. So .. go on this trip if you want an overpriced wine tour, complete with shit show bus ride full of drunk assholes and bad food. read more

7 friends and I purchased the End of Year Sale tickets in plans to go for my Birthday. It's been two weeks, that's at lease 10 business days, and I have heard NOTHING from this company. Each one of my friends emailed Texas Winos requesting the tour we wanted to get on, and still no reply's. I have reached out in multiple ways myself, I sent emails to TWO different email addresses, left Voice Mail messages, left multiple Face Book messages, and now YELP is my last resort. We have decided as a group to not go, we just want our money back. I wish I would have read YELP reviews before I wasted my time and $ , plus that of all my friend's . read more

Our experience with Texas Winos was not fabulous....I know they're trying but in the end it really rates a 2-ish for me based on my expectations. In retrospect, I realize we could have paid about the same for a trip that resembled more of what we had in mind. So if you want a small, intimate tour, look elsewhere. The friend who referred me to the trip also said their day hard started with brunch at Crave followed by a trip to 3 wineries. Sounded awesome; and this was when I naively bought our tickets, dreaming of a quiet brunch and a small limo van. Our particular trip involved arriving at and immediately leaving from the convention center in a massive,loud, tour bus of 80+ people, most of whom were already drunk. We went on a wine tour that was identified as "relaxed" because my mom was with us. While everyone there was really nice and fun, and our host, Mike, was hilarious, friendly and amazing at wrangling drunks, it was definitely not a relaxed atmosphere. We thought things might improve. Nay, nay. Stop 1: cafeteria style italian food and wine pairings at Woodrose winery. The winery wine was awful. The food was almost as terrible. I wouldn't have eaten there if I weren't famished. Second stop was Hillmy cellars. Hillmy is a working pesticide-free farm complete with goats, sheep, chickens and great pyrs guard dogs. Definitely the only spot that made the trip worth it but we could have done it for MUCH less. Good wine and a most interesting host at the winery. The venue is beautiful and they are actually a working ranch, I'll be back to visit Hillmy. Unfortunately, our last stop was yet another letdown. Not even a winery, just a market in the middle of Hye named, uniquely,"Hye Market" where they bring in wines from another winery in Mason Texas. While it was a really cute little place with a kitchen that smelled like heaven (I'll come back here for sandwiches!) , we got exactly one wine tasting after which the owner of the venue proceeded to promote his off-site brewery, provide beer tastings, and have his staff actively upsell us on buying drinks and food. I'm sorry...I'm on a wine tasting. Wanting more than a tablespoon of wine at a winery and having to pay $13 for a glass instead feels kinda like rape. Anyway, I bought a bottle of honey pickled jalapenos for $9 (because, whats better than getting raped than asking for it) and two days later I got double charged for the stupid things on my credit card. Bastards. The ride back was crazy debauchery. Lots of yelling and singing and wine bottles being passed around. Eventually, you have to beat them or join them, so we all, including my mom, sang along with sounds of the seventies and eighties and drank from the bottles being passed around. I can see this being fun with a large group of friends or for a major birthday party where you're all wasted and don't care, but if you're wanting a quieter, more authentic wine-tasting experience- which is what I was going for- stick with one of the smaller tour companies. read more

Texas Winos is a great tour company. Easy-going and casual. Its perfect for wine novice. Richard is an awesome host as well, as he knows quite-a-bit about wine and is very enthusiastic. On our particuar tour, we visited three wineries: one specializing in TX Grapes, the other offering an in-depth tour of the wine-making facilities and the last with a great outdoor setting and cool host (Hye Meadows). Plenty of tasting. The tour includes: brunch downtown, a comfortable bus ride to Fredericksburg/Johnson City and plenty of comradery along the way. I would definitely do this tour AGAIN. read more

Super disorganized! Would NOT recommend this! The restaurant didn't know we were coming for lunch, didn't have enough room for everyone and didn't have any food ready. The wineries were not prepared for our group and didn't seem to know we were coming. Tour guide gave no info, just drank at each stop - the prep email had multiple things that were promised but not delivered. I wrote to TX Winos after the tour and let them know the problems (email below) and never heard anything back. Here's the email I sent: Hi Richard, I went on the Wine Tasting Tour this past Saturday, May 28. I thought you might want to know a few things for future tours. Although I enjoyed the tour, it was a result of the people I went with, because the tour itself was poorly organized and chaotic. First, when we arrived at Coal Vines, they didn't know how many people were coming apparently, because we were all squished into a room that was way too small for the number of people on the tour. We weren't offered the promised $3 mimosas, and the staff seemed scattered. We were told they didn't know we were coming for lunch, which is why the food took so long and there wasn't enough. Our meetup group of 13 people were finally seated at a table where we all fit -- in another part of the restaurant - but the waitress only had enough time to fill the water glasses halfway through the meal and then left. Our guide wasn't Jayson, but Michael, who didn't make himself known until after everyone sorta' moved toward the bus and got on. Once we were on the bus, he introduced himself and gave a small talk, that was pretty much all we got from him for the rest of the trip. At each stop, he gave no indication of when we should be back on the bus, or what the stop was (at one stop - a gas station - after realizing it wasn't a stop for gas, we concluded the stop was for the bathroom/snacks and finally got off the bus). Then there were the wineries - at each one, they were not prepared for such a large number of guests. At each stop it would have been helpful if Michael had directed the group on where to go and to move in to make room for everyone, because the spaces were so tight for our group. At the 2nd and 3rd wineries, the staff was scrambling to get chairs for us, and we still had many standing. At no point were we directed to get back on the buses, we just moved in that direction after a while at each stop. Consequently, we arrived back at Coal Vines at 7:50pm. The valets were frustrated that we were so late, and made it known that they expected the group much earlier - in the end, the line was so long, we just asked them for our keys and went to our cars on our own, as they were so overworked. Finally, there was no pictures taken as promised, and no explanation from Michael, just a shrug of the shoulders on that point. The email listed that we should expect to return at 6:30pm and it implied that it allowed us a buffer of time. All in all, I was amazed at the disorganization, and that none of the places we visited seemed to be prepared for us, contrary to the prep email that stated "Your guide knows the people, we have our own setup areas, and get extra staff". In the future, you may want to change the preparation email that you send out, because if you can't deliver it, it's best not to promise it ahead of time. I think that would make your clients much happier overall. read more

If your scene is drunk strangers grinding on your bus seat, then this is the tour for you! I was so embarrassed for my friend from Japan. He thought this was normal behavior in America. Started out a bad experience from check in. I got there early, but there was no official place to get checked in. Our tour guide didn't have a name tag or anything to help identify him. So when it was time to go on the bus we loaded and the bus was completely Full. We tried to go the back but were informed by a bunch of loud drunks that all seats were full. So we had to disembark the bus and speak with the tour guide because there were no seats. There was also another couple that was trying to find a seat and the same group told them there was no room. The tour guide went on the back of the bus and made them all move over and move their coolers off the seat and then we had four open seats to sit between that couple and ours. There were other open seats on the bus but there were coolers sitting in them. I felt like that we were being punished by that group the whole time. They had giant oversized balloons that were hitting us in the head the whole time and loud screaming, and grinding up on everyone in the aisle. They stayed the entire trip in the aisles. Jumping, screaming waving around and being extremely rude. The bus driver and tour guide allowed people to select songs on the way back because on the way going in the group in the back dominated the music for everybody and it was like a party bus with loud music. The front of the bus started to complain after some of the songs were played and they were very inappropriate. No one could get to the restroom and if they tried there was an initiation to get back to the bathroom pass that group, like they would make some people takeoff their shirts and dance with them as they try to make their way to the bathroom. The tequila started from the very beginning, and I'm not sure if that was an extra package, but the tour guide was pouring it in their wino cups from the very beginning. After each winery stop, the drunks in the back would open their bottles and finish them off on the way to the next winery. The restaurant by the executive chef was subpar at the best. We all ate outside on these little tables and chairs, like wire bistro chairs, but they were in the dirt and not stable. The meat was very tough. We were trying to cut it up and the whole table would shake almost knocking off over drinks. The wine stops were cool but I will say the bus was not. And I will never go on another tour again. I have videos and pictures of our experience on the bus. At $170 a person I would think the caliber of people on the tour would be a little higher. These people were drunk and trashy. The next time I go on a tour I will be driving myself to the destinations or I will pick another tour group. I understand everybody wants to have a little fun on the weekend but we specifically selected the quiet tour and were told it would be relaxing. If this was the quiet tour, then I really would be angry at the normal tour. There was also food allowed and coolers that some people used on the seats, and so there was even less room because people had a seat saved for a cooler. The mix of all the food smells was disgusting. They were passing food over our heads to each other, completely ignorant at how rude that was. At one point they were even pouring tequila shots over our heads into each other's wine glasses. The worst part about it was that the tour guide did not try to control them or tell them that they were behaving badly and disrupting everyone else's time he seem to be ok with their behavior or know them because he kept coming back there and interacting with them. Except for the last 30 minutes because the song choices started to get really bad, and he came back to tell them I can't play the rest of your songs because the entire front part of the bus is complaining. He did not address their behavior. The music was so loud my friend and I couldn't hear each other, and my ears hurt when I got off. My advice to the tour company is better screening when people sign up for tours to make sure what the customer is placed with the right group. read more

See all

The good news: - Aaron (the tour guide who inspired my original review) no longer works at Texas Winos. - Richard Nunez (the business owner) is a nice person who took this situation seriously and spent a lot of time and effort trying to figure out how best to address it. - Richard has expressed learning many important management lessons because of this incident, and I believe that he will work hard to improve his business practices as a result. The bad news: - Richard took a long time to resolve this issue, and it required ongoing pressure to get responsiveness from him in a timely manner. - Richard is still in the process of learning how to be an effective manager. I don't think I'll personally be going on another Texas Winos Tour, but at this point I wouldn't discourage anyone else from doing so. read more

Finally made it to the Texas Wino's wine tour. I had bought my Living Social deal back in November but due to life and kids, wasn't able to use it till this past weekend. After waiting for over 6 months to take this tour, I think it was worth the wait. Even my husband who doesn't drink wine had a great time. Full disclosure, if you're looking a nice, calm, relaxing wine tour, that's full of quiet time and nothing but deep wine talk, this isn't for you. It may start out that way, but the it gets pretty rowdy on the way back. Our guide Ben was super nice and really informative. He kept us up to date about our arrival times, and departure times. I think he did a fantastic job of keeping us on track and handled a bus issue in a timely fashion. He also took the time to stop and sit with each group and chat with us while at the wineries. All 3 wineries were nice, even though the second stop was pretty darn proud of their wine (no bottles were under $40). I would like to give them a 5 star review, but our AC went out and we were delayed at stop number 2 while they fixed it. Was thrilled they were able to get it fixed, because the last 5 minutes of the drive to stop 2 was REALLY uncomfortable. Overall, I would totally do another tour. Maybe next time I'll try the brewery tour :) read more

I am very disappointed with Texas Winos. I bought 3 vouchers from groupon last year for myself, mom and sister. I also purchased the additional and much more expensive add on for both. We were unable to make it before the deadline as I had an emergency surgery. I have called and left messages and emails as had my mother to try to get an extension and reschedule and never get any reply. Even though they azure us in their website and recorder that they will. Many attempts have been made. I have spent a lot of money and had no tour and no call back. read more

I booked about a month in advance for a kid friendly boat bash. They emailed us several times to keep us informed of things like the weather, possible overcrowding, and just to let us know everything was a go and how to come prepared. The day of the event, it was very cloudy and we had light rain off and on. Everyone was a little weary bc we knew the possibility of the day being cancelled, but our guide Chris reassured us that we'd still be taking off. So grateful we did. It ended up clearing up almost as soon as we boarded and took off. The weather was perfect and so was the water. Chris and the "captain" were a hoot! Chris was the dj for the bottom level and the cook as well, and it was fun watching him sing and rap along to the lyrics! Everyone was in such a great mood, and my kiddos had a blast! This is my second time using Texas Winos, and I have no reason to look elsewhere for the amount of fun that we have every time! So awesome that they included kid friendly events! Can't wait to book again! read more

See all

Took a Texas Winos tour Saturday. Met downtown at an Italian resturaunt. Food was descent. Had two menu choices. This was included in trip. Nobody there to greet/welcome you...you just kind of follow everyone with ice chests. Board the bus From there...nothing fancy just functional but comfortable. Richard our guide was personable and open to feedback. We were excited about our 3 winery stops: fat ass, hilmy and hye market. Fat ass was our first stop and it was great. Then we found out we were going to inwood instead of hilmy. We were disappointed. Inwood was not for us. Hye market was last... Historical and quaint place. Bus ride home was fun with dancing and good music. Overall good for a group outing. read more

Texas Winos is a great idea for just about anything! Birthday party, afternoon date, bachelorette, family afternoon getaway. You name it, it will be a good idea! My boyfriend and I have been wanting to go for a while but things kept coming up so we had to keep pushing back our trip. We finally went this past Saturday and loved it! We met at Coal Vines for brunch. Yes yes, we got the one mimosa and paid the $10 for the carafe. Don't complain people about the 1 mimosa. It's still a nice size glass they pour and if you are complaining about a $10 carafe, then maybe bring your own?! Everything was pretty good at Coal Vines :) The bus was 30 minutes late but no big deal. It was a nice day in Austin and I finally was able to enjoy the sun! They ended up passing around sangria on the bus to make up for it. :) Everyone was friendly and Richard was great! The first vineyard wasn't anything special but the 2nd and third made up for it. It was a nice day and trip. I wouldn't mind going again with friends! I recommend bringing snacks for the bus ride. You may need to eat in between the vineyards unless you're on a mission! Also, sit at the front of the bus! read more

I have done two events with Texas Winos, both of which were lots of fun and a good value! The first one was a winery tour near Fredericksburg that included three interesting wineries, lunch and transportation. The second one was a Wine Festival in north Austin. We were able to sample wines from eight wineries and tasty bites from a couple of food vendors, all in one location. Attendance was limited and, although it was lively with many people attending, we never had to wait more than a minute or two at each table before the wine rep (or wine maker) served us and chatted with us about the wines. I recommend Texas Wino events to anyone who enjoys wine, and it is especially fun to go with like-minded friends. read more

I went on a wine tour, and a couple months later a brewery tour. I had a good time both times... Yes, it was a little disorganized in the beginning, and it wasn't perfectly on schedule, and the bus driver did go to the wrong brewery first. But all of it was easily and quickly corrected, and guess what, we still got exactly what was promised. People need to relax and have a good time. If you are a stickler for schedules, and need everything to go exactly as planned, maybe another tour is for you. If you wanna sit back and let someone else handle stuff while you have a good time drinking beer with friends, you'll enjoy this! read more

Let me describe my experience with Texas Winos: A month before my best friend's bachelorette trip to Austin, I contacted Richard to inquire about these wine tours in Texas...who knew this would exist in Texas? (we are from Miami, so we had no clue) but in any case, Richard was beyond helpful and excited to help us plan a bachelorette outing we would never forget. We were given an itinerary which included a lunch at Salt Lick, a place I had already had on my "to go" list and wineries that sounded and looked amazing. To make the planning process even better, Texas Winos set up a website for my friends and fellow "bachloretties" to pay for the tour and see the exciting itinerary waiting for us in Texas Fast forward to our wine tour date - we started our trip to the first vineyard on a comfortable, huge bus with mimosas and music. Great way to get the day started, especially with a bunch of girls, ready to party! We had three stops - all with breathtaking views, delicious wine, fun pictures, and really nice people. Richard was very helpful and fun. He was making sure everyone was enjoying themselves and was very catering. Our ride back included music, everyone dancing, joking and the vibe was overall AWESOME! Plus our bachelorette was happy = HUGE SUCCESS! Overall great experience from start to finish - highly recommend! Thanks Richard and your two helpers ;) read more

I've done four of these tours in the past couple of years. They are always lots of fun and a great way to meet people, not to mention the good food and the opportunity to sample so many of the wonderful wines, beers and spirits Texas has to offer. I'm looking forward to doing the Austin breweries tour in the near future. read more

This was my first time going on a wine tour ever and I am happy to say it did not disappoint. The big charter bus picked us up downtown Austin and we headed to the wineries. I am not much of a wine person but after this tour, found out what wine I actually enjoy. Our tour guide was great and interactive with everyone on the tour and made sure we all enjoyed ourselves. Our bus driver was a pro driving those roads and I felt safe having him as my sober driver LOL. The BBQ lunch was pretty tasty and everything overall was great. I would definitely do it again. read more

This tour was a lot of fun! I went with a friend to get away from the city for the day and it was fantastic. Richard is such a fun group leader. The trip was very well organized and the ride to and from the wineries was just as fun as the tours of the wineries themselves. It's great that you don't have to worry about getting photos of it all, they take care of that for you at no extra cost! Highly recommended if you wanna take a fun day trip outside of Austin. read more

This review pertains to wine tasting in Fredericksburg. We met in downtown Austin and the bus was clean and comfortable. We had an excellent lunch at the first winery we stopped at. Many courses of italian food paired with the wines from the winery. The wine wasn't very good but it wasn't terrible. Next we went to Fat Ass Winery. I was totally unimpressed. We all agreed that the wine there tasted like Dimetapp Elixir. It was awful. By this point our tour guide was pretty drunk and starting to get obnoxious. He lost track of time and the bus driver took to honking he horn to get the guide back on time. By the way, we had way too much time at the first two wineries. We could have visited another winery easily or gone home earlier. The last stop had very nice wines. Mendelbaum winery specializes in wines imported from the Holy Land. The wine and olive oils were good. The tour guide continued to drink and was getting annoying with the camera and coming by to chat. The ride home the tunes were pumping and people were singing along. It got a bit ridiculous with the dancing with the guide and some of the ladies on the bus, but nothing too crazy. The people on our bus were pretty nice. I would actually use this company again for a pub crawl or something else, as I said before, the bus and food was good. I think Texas Wines aren't very good. read more

Horrible Experience will not Do Ever again. We were originally placed on a nice charter bus with phone chargers and TV's. We were then told that we were on a different list and that we needed to go to another bus. We were a group of 6. The bus that came to pick us up later was an old raggedy looking bus. Expired registration bus tags in the window. No air conditioning for the 1st 45 minutes of our 1hr and 30 min ride.. also no air on the ride in between... When we did have air conditioning it just blew freezing cold on high... We realized that we could only be accommodated with "No Air" or "Super Cold Air.". The seats were old uncomfortable worn.. and our tour guide "G-Money" kept the same LOUD horrible play list on the bus tour for 1 hour 1/2 going to the wineries and 1 hour 1/2 coming back home. Everyone on the bus was asking to have the music turned down or either turned off and the tour guide just kept turning it up louder. We were initially told we would get a better bus when we got to the winery. That didn't happen I think they just told us that so people wouldn't complain about the bus we were on. The 3 wineries we visited were good and the food was good. There wasn't enough wine drinking to even overcome the transportation issue and we were rushed through our wine tasting experience because the old bus we were placed on initially picked us up late starting our tour. We were trying to make the best of the situation because the wine drinking was suppose to be the best part but it was spoiled by that horrible bus ride and our tour guide not listening to the people on the bus. read more

Like other yelpers have pointed out, don't expect much on wine education or tours of wineries, but do expect a very rowdy drive home. Tips: Pack plenty of water and snacks. It's a long day. Or pack some booze if that's what you prefer. You can take a cooler with you on the bus, but no alcohol is allowed off the bus. The wine tasting fee is separate, so if you get the groupon there will be more money to pay for the tasting. It is optional, but who goes on a wine tasting tour and not taste anything? It is probably a better time with a group of people instead of a couple. If your are wanting a little romantic outing, this is not for you. If you want a party bus type of fun, then this is for you. If you are looking for an actual tour of the winery, it's not happening. It was basically here's the wines, taste, next, taste, next....no real explanations of palate or pairings (with exception to the first winery; the owner did delve into that a little bit). The winos will give you a nice glass to get your tasting on. We also received a cute glass from Fat Ass Winery. Be prepared for a dance club on the way home. Literally. The music gets turned up and the ladies are in the narrow isles trying to bust some sweet moves while the bus is barreling down the highway hitting bumps and the brakes. Makes for some very hilarious moments! And makes for some unfortunate people getting drinks spilled on them, and having other people's nasty body parts in their faces. I was hoping the guide would tell the woman drunkenly spilling her drink everywhere, "Hey you're spilling your drink on these people who are trying to just get home in one piece." But he didn't do. A. Thing. Not cool. Here's how our day with the winos went: Our day started out with a light brunch at a wine bar, which was actually very good and plenty of food and one mimosa (extra charge for more, or for coffee). From there, boarded the bus and headed to the first winery in Johnson City. It's a long drive, and the guide chats up folks and gives everyone a wrist band, and music is playing. BTW, your guide will also be indulging in the drinks, too. I thought that was unprofessional, because he ended up being responsible for a whole bus load of drunk people. I can see him participating in the tastings, but openly drinking the whole time was a bit much. Hell of a nice job perk, though! And don't forget to tip the driver, bless his heart, putting up with all that! First winery was nice. The owner was a really nice man and gave us some history and little wine education, chemistry style. The tasting went pretty quick and then we had a lot of time to kill, with nothing much really to do. Well, besides drink. Second winery was a mess. Just a hurry up here's your taste...and crowding around trying to get to the wine. Although I must say that the ladies that work at this winery were very friendly and handled the huge crowd very well. It must be a way better experience if you go there privately. Again, lots of down time waiting for the next stop. The last stop was more organized. They obviously knew how to deal with the winos crowd, and has some light snacks for the group. The drive home was the best part for me. Watching the ladies trying to dance on the bus...So funny!! We managed to not get spilled on or nasty body parts shoved in our faces, courtesy of the drunk kid behind us because he had his Styrofoam cooler in the isle. Until the brakes got hit and a drunk girl literally fell on top of it and smashed it to hell. Then my husband and two other people literally caught this girl as she was falling when the brakes got hit, again. And then there was the creepy old guy feeling up on these young girls...with his equally creepy old wife...*shudder* Some folks will enjoy this kind of shenanigans, some won't. So keep that in mind when deciding on going with the winos. And we were there on a Sunday. And also keep in mind that all those people left and DROVE home. *shudder* I think that the winos could greatly improve on the experience in several ways. Instead of having so much down time, maybe take the group into Fredericksburg and allow us to walk around the town. It got pretty boring waiting and waiting for the next stop. Or, have a small tour of the wineries...actually I'm not sure how much there is to see, but there has got to be more than what we saw. Also, have your guide give some history about where we are going, some basic wine do's and don'ts, basic wine pairings...maybe even a little written info...engage the crowd in some fun stuff like trivia on the way, instead of just encouraging the endless drinking...perhaps have your guide not be drunk/drinking along with the crowd...I just saw plenty of missed opportunities. And lots of opportunities for law suits if something terrible were to happen. Bottom line, it was a decent time, but I don't think I will go again. If you do go, get the groupon. read more

I just wanted to let you know we had a fabulous time on our wine tour yesterday for Jenny's bachelorette party. Steve and Damon were an absolute delight to have as tour guides and they did a fabulous job keeping everyone under control and in good spirits. Just wanted to let you know how happy we were with our whole experience. Please ignore any negative feedback I promise you won't be dissatisfied especially if its a group party. Reminder to all you are getting on a charter bus full of people who will be drinking all day. It will be loud, music will be played and everyone should be enjoying themselves. PS: We love our shopping bags, koozies, wine souvenirs and t-shirts we purchased of course. =) read more

Just took their winery tour last weekend and it was FANTASTIC. I have been wine tasting in the hill country a hundred times, but this was the best tour by far. The guide was really friendly and helpful, they take photos of you all day and post them on the site for free so you can just enjoy yourself. Getting picked up in downtown Austin and treated to a really fun and tasty lunch along with guided tours to a few wineries is the best day out I can imagine. I bought my tickets as part of an online deal promotion which they've been doing a lot of lately. In my experience when a company like this gets flooded with those it can go really poorly, but they've clearly upped their game and prepared for the big influx of visitors. It was organized and smooth. One important thing to mention - many reviewers here that give them lower ratings are really complaining about the wines and wineries, which is beyond the control of Texas Winos in my opinion. On a charter bus with 50 other people, you're not going to all like the same wines but trying them is part of the experience. There are some really good and some really bad wines in this area, what's nice about this tour is that they change it up and give you a variety - sounds like each tour they go to different ones too, I would definitely love to do one again! read more

Two of my girlfriends and I decided to have a little reunion in Austin recently. As we were making our plans for the weekend, we realized that Texas Winos was offering roundtrip transportation to Wurstfest on Saturday. As beer lovers and travelers to beer festivals across the country, we were excited by this opportunity and immediately bought vouchers for the bus ride. My eager friend also went so far as to buy drink tickets ahead of time. When we arrived in Austin, I received an email from Richard on Friday evening notifying me that there had been a mistake in the advertisement, and they were unable to bring us on Saturday. However, he offered to bring us on Sunday (free of charge). I was disappointed since we had made all of our weekend arrangements around this event on Saturday, but I understand that mistakes can happen. I responded that we appreciated his refund and would go on Sunday. Richard sent me a note at 3:45 AM Saturday morning asking where he should pick us up. Since I was on vacation and not checking my email constantly, I did not reply until around 10:45 AM, telling him where we would plan on meeting him. I never heard anything back from Richard at that point. No confirmation or notice that he was no longer coming...nothing. We assumed the best and readied ourselves on Sunday morning to be picked up at 12:00. By the time 12:45 rolled around, we decided it was time to give up. I didn't have a phone number for Richard, so I couldn't call him to find out where he was and whether he was still planning on bringing us. By no means did we let this ruin our weekend, but it had been a big part of our planned trip to Austin and we were all disappointed that it didn't work out! I emailed Richard on Monday asking if he had ever received my email notifying him of our location and to also let him know that I was disappointed in his service. I also asked for a refund of the drink tickets we had not been able to use. Richard said he had missed my note and decided to make other plans that weekend instead of bringing us. The response I received was rude and unprofessional. If Richard had not wanted to bring us that Sunday, all he had to do was let me know and we never would have gotten into this situation. Unfortunately, after the treatment I received from Richard, I can't recommend Texas Winos to anyone else.I certainly won't be using their services the next time I visit Austin. read more

This was my second time booking with Texas Winos. We took the Fredericksburg Wine tour from San Antonio with the Italian meal choice. As always we had a great time! Bus was clean and well maintained. The guide Jordan was a fabulous host! Highly recommend him. The wineries and meal was great too! We even had a bonus stop at Hye Cider! read more

Mike was an excellent tour guide. Very knowledgeable in all wine matters, very nice and fun too. The trip was awesome. The wineries were very good specially Fat Ass. Their wine and location are absolutely wonderful. I'm booking another tour very soon and I highly recommend it. We had a great time! I also loved to be able to bring our own snacks! read more

I unfortunately have been on a few Texas Winos Tours and hadn't had a horrible experience as I have with the most recent trip to San Antonio for the Dia De Los Muertos bus tour on October 29th. Being excited about my birthday and the fact that it falls on Dia DeLos Muertos, why the heck not? Right? Tickets purchased. Done. I reached out to Richard Wino to obtain details of the trip so that I could share with the party group. He responded a couple of times and eventually stopped. I was getting Facebook event notifications for similar Dia De Los Muertos displays and arts that were posted as "FREE" at the exact same places we were schedule to go to. I was like no way! After reading the Texas Wino event that I had just paid $156, they were in fact the same "Free exhibits," we would have to bring our own drink and food. So the question was, what is the $156 paying for? I was discussing this with my sisters over the phone and both said oh, it sounds like an expensive UBER! I was livid because it was true!! After trying to communicate and attempting to get further details after already booking the trip, it appeared it I was getting no where. The emails stopped from Richard Wino. I texted his cell that he gave me just in JUNE for a different tour to the Texas Rangers game in Arlington. I emailed and submitted online customer service requests for the tour so that we could plan accordingly. I was over it. Done!! I ultimately requested a refund. That was back on October 17th, and we're hitting November 15th. I provided more than a 72 hour notice. I've reached out to my credit card company who is currently doing their own investigation on this company because apparently it's a common name that they are having customers have issues with. So to say the least, the refund is processing. I've submitted all documentation of all attempts contact Texas Winos/Richard Wino to my credit card company. We ultimately split the $76 cost between (7) of us to pay for a rental van. Packed up mimosas and had a blast all over San Antonio. That left it to cost each person approximately $13 + only $ 5 each for gas since the van only consumed 1/4 of a tank of gas. All ends well with us party goers and ultimately my birthday celebration turned out freaking awesome, minus the Texas Winos. Moral of the story..Don't do it, never again. read more