Omg had a great tour with Gary! My husband scheduled the Carmel Valley Wine Trolley for my birthday. We spent the day and evening in Monterey and met Gary at a brewery. 4 stops- Bernardus winery Corral winery and last was the Barrel room for tasting with Plaza Linda for Mexican food for lunch. All of the wines were great and staff were friendly and welcoming . I think my favorite was Bernardus! The tour is wonderful and Gary is knowledgeable . We had a great day! read more

I scheduled me and my wife on the Carmel Valley Wine Trolley for my wife birthday. When I called to schedule the wine tour I spoke to Gary. Gary was the owner and the tour guide. Gary was very helpful and nice to schedule our wine tour. We drove up to Monterey and met Gary at Dust Bowl Brewery in Monterey. Gary is a vibrant tour guide. The drive up to Carmel Valley is breathtaking. Our first stop on the wine tour was bernardus winery. The second stop was corral winery and last was the barrel room. All three wineries were spectacular, great tasting wines and spectacular service. In between winery 2 and 3 we had lunch at plaza Linda Mexican restaurant. The wine tour was 5 hours of great wine, conversation and the atmosphere/vibe were great. Carmel valley is a place I will go back to try some more wineries. The tour is wonderful. If you have a chance to visit Monterey please put this on your list of places to visit. read more

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I had nothing short of a Sunday funday with the Wine Trolley Tour. I had yummy food, great selections of tasting rooms to choose from, and excellent company to spend with. I couldn't have asked for better weather during the tour too, because most of it was spent outdoors. I really appreciated how organized the Wine Trolley Tour was. The instructions and expectations about the tour were clear, and everything ran smoothly on the day of the tour. The meet up location at the beginning of the tour was in front of the Dust Bowl Brewing in Monterey. Gary, who was our awesome driver and guide, picked us up in a 1980s trolley from the parking lot and then drove us from Monterey and through Carmel Valley to the wine tasting destination in Carmel. Gary, his wife, daughter, and a new Wine Trolley employee served us 7 wine tastings, olive oil and balsamic vinegar tastings, and our complimentary lunch at the first stop of our tour. The wine tastings were great and all, but the samplings of fusion olive oils and balsamic vinegars were amazing! I got to try the roasted garlic, black truffle, and cilantro lime flavored olive oils, which were all very nice. The balsamic vinegar flavors, however, were the stars of the show for me. We sampled the raspberry, chocolate, and spicy mango balsamic vinegars. The chocolate balsamic vinegar was fantastic. When we got our dessert of a thick, rich homemade brownie, Gary's daughter drizzled the chocolate balsamic vinegar over it. The chocolate balsamic made the brownie even more delightful than it already was. We took the last bottle of chocolate balsamic vinegar home. The complimentary lunch was delicious as well. We got something like a Greek salad with a side of macaroni salad. I liked that I was able to choose my dietary preference. I'm not a pork eater, which I noted on my registration. They also catered to vegetarians and vegans. After lunch we had free range for almost 4 hours to check out the other tasting rooms up and down Carmel Valley Road. Although we were provided maps of each tasting room that participated in the tour, they were all in close vicinity with each other so you couldn't really get lost. We received drink tickets based on the number of tasting rooms we chose at registration. Since we chose 3, the first stop counted as 1 and then we had 2 extra tickets that could be redeemed at any other 2 tasting rooms listed on the map. I'm not much of a wine drinker, so it was a bonus for me that there was a beer tap room on the list! I highly recommend the Wine Trolley Tour. It's family friendly for ages 21+ and makes for a great event for any occasion. The guests on the tour varied from a couple on a date, two best friends, two parties celebrating birthdays (including us), and a large party of girl friends looking to get loose. There is something for everyone on the tour! read more

Tours Monterey - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

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Really cool way to do a little wining and dining around Monterey and Carmel. The owner/driver Skipper picked us up directly from our hotel La Playa Carmel at 5:30 pm. The little red cable car on wheels is definitely cool. With 80s party music blasting, Skipper took us over to have a couple tastings at Joyce Vineyards and Chesebro Wines. After these private tastings, we were then navigated over to ROUX for a nice dinner. When we were finally done with our long meal, Skipper safely piloted us back on his party vessel right back to our hotel before the clock struck 12. If you've got a large group and you all want to enjoy the area without anyone needing to stress over being the designated driver...give good old Skipper a ring. read more

Tours Monterey - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

We decided to splurge and take a friend for her birthday on the Monterey wine trolley. The trolley was waiting for us and he even called my friend 10 minutes prior to make sure we were coming. They were only six of us on the trolley. Which was actually very nice, as we have each had room to sit on a bench by ourselves. The man driving the trolley was wearing a mask, and gave us wooden tokens that worked as tickets when we got to Carmel Valley. Each wood token was shaped like a trolley and was to be used for our tasting. He was an interesting character for sure. He said he was called Skippy, I think. I wasn't really listening. The entire drive he was talking and making jokes. We went along with it laughing. He explained the tokens and gave us each a little map of the area. He even drove around and pointed out all the different wineries and told us what they were known for. There was one winery that he flat out told us had horrible wine, and not to waste our time going there. Very unprofessional in my opinion, I'm not gonna name the winery as we did not go there, because it was not included on the wine tour meaning our special wood tokens would not be honored there, and we were there to drink wine. I thought it was very odd that he was so adamantly voicing an opinion against it. Almost like it was something personal. It was a beautiful day and we got off the trolley and were excited to start our tour. We had four tokens that were to we could use for wine flights, and he informed us not all the wineries there would honor the wine trolley tokens. At our first stop, he was like a stalker and startled us through the fence asking how we were doing. At lunch, he was there, apparently he has a wine tasting shops he's going to open, and he was very nice about offering to hold onto our items in the trolley so we did not have to carry them around. But he it was as if he was lurking, so odd. At the end of the day things got sketchy with Skippy. Before we knew it the time had slipped away and we were at the end of our tour. He was texting my friend at 3:50, that he was leaving in 8 minutes. My friend got all stressed out. I was like there's no way he's going to leave us! There's only six people on the trolley. He needs to chill out! But my friends were really worried that he was really gonna leave us, so we drank our last flight of wine really fast. Now, we had a token for a bottle of wine as well. He was not really clearly upfront about that. Because we went back to the first winery to use the token, and the lady in the place was very stern about telling us that NO, only the flight taster was honored not the token for a bottle of wine. He knew that's why we wanted to go to that winery, was to use the token for the bottle of wine. But he did not inform us of that as we all got off the trolley walked into the winery with our tokens and felt so stupid. He should have told us no you cannot use your token in there for a bottle of wine. Super irritated at that! I had used my token for a bottle of wine at Big Sur winery. But my friends were saving theirs to go back to this other spot. And he was just rushing us at the end of the day. Oh, and the woman also told me they don't like doing business with him, not sure what's up with that. Despite the logistics of the day, it was worth it. The drive out to Carmel Valley from Monterey is about 30-40 minutes. The trolley was cute. Just get ready to not be received too well when the winery sees you're part of the trolley tour. If you have the time to drive yourself, I'd recommend it though. It's a charming part of Carmel Valley and the wines are so good. No regrets and cheers!! read more

Tours Monterey - Fun times!! - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

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After a quick breakfast at the Monterey Fisherman's Wharf Market Place Deli & Cafe, the Mona Lisa trolley picked us up right outside in the parking lot at Wharf Market Place - 209 Figueroa St., Monterey. Following a brief intro, we set off down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH or Hwy 1) to Carmel Valley, looking out at the inspiring views and hearing our charming guide, Gary, talk about local history as we go. When you order your Carmel Valley Village experience online, you can tailor your experience to how many tasting rooms you'd like to visit. Prices include the scenic trolley ride, a lovely lunch at one of the restaurants in the village, and visits to the winery tasting rooms. You also receive a free bottle of wine and can even open and drink it in the way back to the wharf after the tasting day is through. Carmel Valley Village has quite a few tasting rooms such as: Cima Collina, Coastview Vineyards, Marilyn Remark, Jouillian, Joyce Vineyards, Chesebro Wines, Parsonage Vineyards, Bernardus Winery, Boekenoogen Winery, Rombi Estate Wines, Idle Hour, Chock Rock Vineyards, Twisted Roots, Cow Girl Winery, Talbott Vineyards, Myka Cellars/Bunter Springs Winery and Heller Estate Organic Vineyards! Our favorites were Parsonage (oh the reds!!), Jouillian (love many of their whites and some reds), Joyce Vineyards (chateau Christina Cabernet Sauvignon), Talbott (pinot noir), and Chesebro (very interesting whites that went great with tapas back at our hotel). We liked the wine so much that we signed up for the wine clubs At Jouillian and Parsonage! Wine is liquid art and sometimes the winemaker/artist is visiting the tasting room. Hearing the winemakers' passion for their art and all the subtle elements that come together in the glass just makes each sip more complex and delicious. Most were very friendly and eager to share about their terroir, varietals, even the names of their vintages! Don't worry if you get palate fatigue and can't use all your wine tasting coupons--just drive back the next day (or week) and cash them in!! (If you've joined any of the wine clubs who pour in the Carmel Valley Village, you can return and taste for free any day.) we bought tickets for 4 tasting rooms but had one left over to use the next day. At the end of the day, Gary returned us to the Wharf and we Ubered to our hotel happy, tipsy, and full, with great memories of a fun day. Monterey Wine Trolley was money well spent and I highly recommend the experience. read more

Tours Monterey - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

Oooooookay, at first, i was skeptical about this wine trolley and how it worked... you buy your tickets online and pick How many wineries you wanna hit up, SO got 4 wineries which included lunch and a free bottle of wine. Perks!!! We check in the trolley and sit and wait, the driver takes off and there's a guide talking and sometimes music would play and maybe some trivial questions. Then we get there and it's from 11 to 4. We can go anywhere as long as we are back by the trolley at 330, and they will take us back to our cars. We got up the wineries on the map and the back of the coasters, it was a cute town with wineries and food. Going there was mellow, it's the going back to the parking lot was a different story.... The stranger guys and girls were tipsy and did stuff that should stay in the trolley...... one chick flashed her boobs 3 or 4 times... lots of dancing and twerking. It was fun all in all! read more

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Two years ago we did the wine trolley after getting engaged. Today we came back for our first wedding anniversary! This is an incredible way to celebrate any special occasion. Would highly recommend to anyone who wants good wine and great experiences. read more

Tours Monterey - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

My husband and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary doing this tour. We had the best time! I highly recommend this tour. The owner goes above and beyond. It is so fun riding in the trolley to Carmel valley! read more

Definitely a good way to enjoy the Carmel Valley wineries if you are visiting Monterey. It's quite a drive along a long winding road. Wouldn't want to do that after 5 wineries. The driver gives lots of fun facts and info about Monterey and Carmel on the drive over. Then you are let loose in the little town to use your free tasting passes at certain wineries. You are free to visit any of the wineries on your own also, you just have to make sure to be back at the bus on time when it leaves. I found many of the wines to be a bit fruit forward. Typical for the area, suppose, but there were a couple gems, I enjoyed. The included box lunch isn't really lunch. More like a snacks. Some cheeses and nuts and olives. If you ask for gluten free, they basically just leave out the bread, crackers, cookies and brownie with no substitutes. Thankfully I had a bag of gluten free crackers in my purse, because I was hungry. Eat a big breakfast, or bring your own extra food. The driver's dog Nugget is SOOOO cute! Loved that little furry friend. A great day to enjoy on the trolley tour, just make sure you use your time wisely to fit in as much wine as you can! read more

Tours Monterey - Boxed snacks gluten free. - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

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Amazing, accommodating, and kind service. 10/10 would return. Totally worth the ticket price. WINE TASTING OPTIONS: Plentiful and delicious. I felt like there was a great variety of options and each tasting room had lovely, knowledgeable people behind the bar! Everyone knows everyone in this business, so when we asked around for suggestions after telling bar staff what we enjoyed/what we were looking for, they offered great suggestions about where to taste next! THE INCLUDED LUNCH: Freaking delicious. After multiple hearty wine tastings, we were hungry! This lunch did not disappoint! Filling and tasty! OVERALL SERVICE: Super kind and approachable. We were celebrating a bachelorette party and as we all know, those can get silly and rowdy. The owner of the company was super friendly and was happy to make our day a memorable one! read more

The highlight of my birthday trip. Book this tour if you want good fun good food and lots of wine. Gary our tour guide was absolutely fabulous. High recommend this wine tour. read more

Great idea for a team offsite! Gary picked us up in the trolly and took us to a few wineries. We stopped had lunch (salad, bread, olive oil and brownies) next to Joullien's winery. Gary's wife was very sweet and they have a cute dog named Mister Nuggets. I'd recommend doing this tour if you're planning an offsite in Monterey. read more

Great wine tour in Monterey/Carmel ... Fun and informative and DEFINITELY a good money to entertainment/booze value... Highly recommended!!! I'm a lightweight so the 3 tasting was more than enough for me... Bigger drinkers may want to go for 4... Either way I loved it... read more

Tours Monterey - Slightly tipsy (but delicious) lunch... - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

Best experience ever. Gary the owner and tour guide is the best. His friend Pete is so friendly. Food and wine is the best! read more

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The wine trolley is a fun thing to do with family, friends, birthdays, celebrations, etc. Gary picks you up from Portola Plaza and while he takes you to different wineries, you also get a chance to learn a little bit about the history around the Monterey area. You can board with a small group and make friends or choose to take a big group with you (max 24). You have the chance to visit 5 different wineries and sample some of the finest varietals Carmel Valley has to offer. There are different packages to purchase other than just the wine tastings at different wineries. You have the option to get souvenir glasses, cheese boards and discounted bottles of wine from different locations. Gary is a fun guy that knows what wine tours are all about, so he allows you to stand up and dance on the trolley as well as drink wine in between stops on the tour. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys wine, nice weather and good entertainment. read more

CHEERS TO THAT! this was amazing! we were celebrating our 2.5 year anniversary with a weekend getaway to monterey and this was a definite highlight to the weekend. the tour was the responsible way to go! it took us to 5 different stops and the wine tasting fees were included in the price. so we smiled, listened and learned, replied with yes please, and let the wine flow. the tour was unexpectedly private- everyone else on our batch canceled- sad for the company- lucky for us- we had the whole trolley/van to ourselves for the day. the driver was very nice- informative and funny at parts. he called ahead to check which places were busy and made sure that they had bottles opened for us to try. We started at the award winning Ventana with ribbons and awards covering their walls and ended with a full tour of how wine is made at Chateau Julien. by the end of the tour we were both pleasant from the tastings and had a few bottles to take back with us for the rest of the weekend. until next time cheers! read more

Tours Monterey - Ended w/ a tour of Julien - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

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Gary was absolutely phenomenal in being informative, entertaining, and of course knew good wine. This tour was well worth our money and would do it again in heartbeat! His pup nugget who joined us was an added bonus read more

Overall, this experience was lovely. We had a perfect day in Carmel Valley Village drinking wine in the sun. We booked a Friday tour, which we were so happy about because there were only 8 people on the bus and we had a lot of space. Skipper did tell us that the Saturday tour was completely booked with 40 people, so we were super happy we didn't book a Saturday tour because I doubt social distancing would be happening (the bus would've been completely full). We didn't get the Trolley, which was fine with us, but be aware that you may get a white passenger van instead of the cute Trolley bus. A suggestion - do not buy the 5 winery package - there isn't enough time allotted for 5 wineries. We are fast drinkers (get to business!) and eaters, and we felt completely rushed at the end. Skipper was honking at us from the bus to get going. I get it, he gave us an "extra" half-hour and needed to go, but my point is that if 5 wineries plus lunch are offered, make the whole thing longer so that one can actually enjoy the 5 wineries. Looking back, I'd have paid less for the 3 winery package (and then paid a-la-carte for extra tastings if there was time). We also wanted to patronize Skipper's sweet shop and buy some pastries and olive oil, but there was absolutely no time for it. Too bad, he'd have made more $$ from us if we'd had the time! Also a little strange - Skipper told us that we were to get our "free bottle" of wine from a winery called Joullian, but we couldn't find that winery. Turns out it is tucked a street behind Boekanoogen. When we asked him later where to get our bottle, he said to get the bottle from him. He gave us some wine out of the back of his van. Wish my phone had been working so I could've google mapped ourselves to Joullian, because I'm a little unsure about the wine he gave us (white merlot?). Summary: Absolutely go on this tour, but get the 3 winery package! If you want to wander and take your time, maybe this one isn't for you and you should just take an Uber or something. Cheers! read more

We took the tour in late April 2018. Skipper was one of the best tour guides I have experienced! Pointed out all cool spots on the way to the tasting rooms. Well educated about the area and genuinely seemed to enjoy the experience. Rather dedicated to our experience. But held true to rules and process to ensure all walked away with a great experience! Best tour! read more

10/10 Would do this again! My husband took me on this tour for my birthday and we loved it! I have done wine bus tours in Napa and Healdsburg and enjoyed this one the best. We did the package that included 4 tasting passes, lunch, and a bottle of wine. I easily spent 3x as much on the tour in Napa because we had to pay for our own tastings & lunch. The trolley picks you up by the wharf so we stayed at a hotel within walking distance. The way it works is they drive you to the area of Carmel that has all the tasting rooms, drop you off , and let you taste for the afternoon at your own pace, in whatever order you choose. You aren't stuck with the same group from the bus all day. Our drivers were entertaining and very helpful with recommendations. The trolley and a guy in a tractor are available to drive you around the immediate area though everything was within a very reasonable walking distance. Some of the tasting rooms let my husband and I split tastings meaning we only used one pass per winery. As a result we went to way more tasting rooms than originally thought. We went to about 3 before going to lunch at Roux. I loved that the lunch included the sangria (get the white!) and appetizers as well as the full entree. read more

Excellent tour! It was our first visit to the Carmel Valley and there were so many wineries to choose from but the tour guide told us all about each winery and helped us select tasting rooms with the sweeter wines. I highly recommended this tour. Gary the owner is awesome and lunch is fantastic! read more

We enjoyed the whole experience! The trip to Carmel Valley was great as Gary, our Driver, was very knowledgeable of the area and shared all with us. All the wineries were very appreciative of us visiting their wineries. They offered us to share our tastings which allowed us to visit double the wineries. Info about wine was shared at all wineries but the host at Chesebro, was outstanding and very informative. Lunch at Roux, was nice and we were treated very well. During the day, Gary offered trips up and down the valley for what ever our needs were. I would recommend this Trip to all and can't wait to return and Bring our whole Family. read more

Great wine tour to discover Carmel Valley Wines. I've lived in the area for awhile and didnt know about the areas and wineries they took us to. I live when I discover new wines! Gary was an awesome host too. Very generous pours too. read more

Tours Monterey - Black Friday Balls Out Wine Tastibg in Carnel Valley - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

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Cousin Johnny! We're popping bottles! With the I DO CREW Thanks for the great time Wine Trolley!! read more

I love this! Skipper is so funny! The lunch is awesome! Fabulous day! I will definitely do this again.

My sister-in-law got our family tickets for the Monterey Wine Trolley last Christmas. This past weekend we took our tour and it was a wonderful day! We drove 2 hours to Monterey in time to get a quick bite to eat at the Wharf Marketplace before we boarded the trolley at 11. Our hosts, Cousin and Gary, we extremely friendly and funny on our 30-minute drive into Carmel Valley. They played fun songs along the way and did a raffle of some conductor hats for members of the group. They clearly explained what came with our tickets-3 tasting vouchers to participating wineries of our choice, 1 voucher for a tasting and lunch at Cima Collina, and 1 voucher for a free bottle of wine at participating wineries. They explained that they would drop off and pick us up accordingly at whichever wineries we wanted, giving us 45 minutes or so at each to enjoy our time. The stops on our tour were Boekenoogen, Cima Collina, Cowgirl and Bernardus. The staff at each winery were friendly and organized so our large group all got our tastings right away with little wait. Each place had a different vibe and was known for different types of wine, so I felt like I got a nice taste of the variety of wine and the Carmel Valley area itself. In between each winery, Cowboy Pete with his tractor and wagon drove us through the charming streets to the next stop. There was also a nice break in the rainy weather on this day so the fresh air made the ride all the more relaxing. At the end of the trip around 3:30, we boarded the trolley again and headed back to Monterey. I highly recommend this tour to anyone who is looking for a good time and some good wine. The service was great everywhere we went and everyone in our group felt that this was a great value for our money. I look forward to riding the trolley again sometime in the future! read more

Gary is a great host very entertaining host. Great little trip and takes you to the heart of Carmel Valley wine tasting.

We had so much fun with Gary on the Wine Trolley to Carmel Valley. Great history all the way to Carmel Valley then drove us around Carmel Valley tasting rooms before we were dropped off to enjoy the wineries then went back to have a great lunch at Chock Rock Trolley Stop. Great olive tasting with lunch too. Definitely a 10 if I could have given it. "Toy Story"Pete drives us around the town in a tractor and trailer. read more

I booked the Trolley Special which includes three wineries and lunch for my sisters bachelorette. There was eight of us girls. It's def a must if ever in Monterey County!! The location in Carmel Valley is amazing!! Skipper our tour guide is soo nice and funny!! The lunch they served us was so delicious!!! All the wineries were great as well!! If I could give 10 stars I would!!!!! read more

Tours Monterey - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

Awesome wine tour with great tour guide, Skipper!!! Saw Doris Day, Clint Eastwood, and Leon Panetta homes!!! Beautiful day for a 60th birthday celebration with 13 lovely ladies!!! Fun at wine trolley!!! read more

Tours Monterey - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

Gary and his wife were amazing hosts. They definitely made our team offsite so much fun!

This tour was top notch all the way and FUN! I brought my Mom for her birthday and Gary and his crew were so accommodating and hospitable! I will be back for another Tour! read more

Offers some of the best of Carmel valley wines and lunch is so good!! Highly recommend!

My friends and I absolutely love this wine trolly tour! By far the best I've had. Very nice, friendly, down to earth people. We had 4 wine tastings, a free bottle, and a tasty lunch for a very reasonable price. The lunch was full of goodies that paired well with the wine. The owner is great! We will definetly be coming back! read more

The Monterey Wine Trolley was an interesting and fun experience. We got the $215 wine trolley package for 2, which included transportation on the trolley, 1 free bottle from Ventana Vineyards or Chateau Sinnet, 2 souvenir wine glasses, wine tasting fees waived at 5 wineries, and an assorted cheese/cracker/bread/fruit platter. It's a cool thing to try one time but is pricey for what you get. Gary is the all-in-one owner, tour guide, and driver. He's a wealth of information and knows historic facts about Monterey/Seaside County, its landmarks, and along the scenic view of the valley, even pointed out where vineyard owners live, told us their whole life story, etc. So I guess you could say it was an educational history tour as well. Also if you purchase wine or other alcohol along the way, Gary is cool with you enjoying your new goods on the trolley. We started at 11am and finished around 4pm. We were able to hit 6 wine tasting rooms - *Ventana Vineyards - Cute little outdoor patio surrounded by flowers. Generous pours. Nice set-up for group tasting. *Carmel Hills Winery - Chardonnays were good. But OMG, do yourself a favor and skip the cabernet (I think it was this one). He proudly described it tasting like leather, smoke, and other stuff. Really? WTH would I want to taste leather?? *Boekenoogen Vineyards - Okay wine. Pours were pretty small - 2 sips worth. We stopped here to have our lunch break and sat in their outdoor patio. *Chateau Sinnet - White merlot was good but the almond cuvee champagne was my favorite. Bought 2 bottles - 1 free with our package coupon. *Parsonage - Loved their merlot and syrah. Wine bottles are about $20 each and they have a cool gallery of quilted artwork. *Boete Tasting Room - small tasting room. Reds were good. read more

This was a super fun way to spend the day with girlfriends! The trolley takes you to a great tasting area in Carmel, the host of the trolley is loads of fun and he kept checking on our group throughout the day to make sure we were having a good time or if we needed anything. The lunch too was amazing at Roux! It was so worth the money. Highly recommend for any groups or a great day trip! Can't say enough great things about this trolley experience! read more

Tours Monterey - Beautiful stops at great tasting rooms! - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

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I love the Wine Trolley! Gary, the trolley driver is hilarious! We rented the entire trolly this summer for a friends bachlorette party, it was a blast. Gary let us pick the music and dance on the trolley! We got to go to 5 wineries and had a delicious lunch from Tarpys to boot! This was my 2nd time on the trolley and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves wine. The price is very reasonable for what you get. (5 wineries, a boxed lunch, a souvenir glass and wine opener, and a Designated Driver!) read more

Wine to die for. No driving. Any questions? If you're visiting the Monterey area and you love (or even like) wine, this is the tour. We actually started our trip a day early so that we could go. We didn't have the trolley; we had a very comfortable air conditioned van--which was good because Carmel Valley can get warm. Your tour guide, Gary, will give you a humorous take on the history and culture of the area, then the wine. Just let Gary know what kind of wine you like--red, white, fruity, big, etc., and he will point you to the must-see wineries. We had never tasted any of the Carmel Valley wines, and we were impressed enough to come home with 13 bottles. All this and lunch at Roux, a lovely French-influenced bistro. Just FYI, I married the pickiest girl west of the Mississippi, and she loved it. I recommend the Fore Play tour, a free bottle for every ticket holder! If we were in the area, we would definitely do it again. A great way to get introduced to wine, or broaden your palate if you already know wine. read more

Tours Monterey - Helping the local economy of Carmel Valley, one bottle at a time. - Wine Tours Near Me - Monterey, California

What a clever idea and convenient way to explore wine country on the Monterey Peninsula! Even better, the trolley runs on vegetable oil, has open seating and you're allowed to "pop" bottles while traveling between wineries (granted you promise to finish before the next stop). The driver, Gary, is entertaining, friendly and knowledgable in Monterey trivia, history and culture. Being a local, I even learned a thing or two about Monterey from Gary. The agenda for the day is nicely planned with the first stop being Ventana Vineyards and ending in the Carmel Valley village where trolley patrons can choose between several wineries within walking distance to create a customized wine tour. I also suggest looking into the box lunch and cheese platter specials that come with certain trolley packages. I would recommend the trolley to locals and visitors alike. It provides a safe, environmentally friendly and fun adventure in wine tasting. Im looking forward to going again! read more