This company doesn't even deserve a 1 star. Â Do not waste your time with this company. They forgot to pick us up and after over an hour waiting, they tried to cover it up by lying stating they came and we weren't there. We demanded our $$ back and the owner whom was rude and had zero customer service skills flat out said no! Â She argued with us and instead of doing the right thing which would of been an apology and perhaps offer us a comp for a future coupon just gave us attitude and hung up on us. Â Never in all my years, experiencing tours have we ever been mistreated with
unprofessionalism. This company only cares about your $$ NOT THEIR CUSTOMERS.
I organized a bachelorette party for 9 ladies on Brewen's "Setting the Standard" wine tour last Saturday afternoon. Each girl bought a groupon ($59) and sent me her groupon code, then I organized from there. It worked well, if you're thinking about it.
The good:
With the groupon, the price was right and the service was good. I spent a lot of time emailing the people running the tour trying to get all of the details organized (who wants chicken/beef/veggie lunch, etc.) and they were nothing but helpful and understanding of my challenges. They even sent me an itinerary in advance when I requested it.
Everything seemed to run in a well-organized fashion. We had 2 pick up locations, then were off to the wineries. Our driver, Calvin, was committed to making sure we had fun. He blasted hip-hop at passenger request, he took photos at every stop, etc.
Six tastes at each stop was ample, and you can bring your own wine on the trolley, which some people did quite liberally (by 2pm it was mostly a party bus of 20-something women)
The bad (ish):
Lunch was not too impressive, a warm sandwich at the second winery. Mayonnaise in the sunshine is not a good idea. But, it was a free lunch...
We didn't really have enough time at the second winery (of 3) after lunch to get all of our tastings in. To be fair, this wasn't really Brewen's fault, it was Lorimar winery, who had one person pouring for 30 guests and their wine club members. But given this, I would have preferred 60 min at each location to 45 so we could get our tastes in.
The bottom line:
We had an awesome time and didn't break the bank. I'd do this again without a doubt for a special occasion with any sized group! What I would have liked to know:
1) Put wine in your purse for the trolley ride
2) Bring water, temecula is hot, the trolley is open air, you'll be drinking
3) Power through your tastings if you want to have time to do them all
ROLLIN' GOOD TIME!
Just wanted to let you all know that we had an AMAZING time last Saturday!
Brewery choices were great and the food at BullDog (bacon-wrapped-cheesy jalapenos baby!) was such a better option than the hotdogs we were expecting.
Espresso Stout at Aftershock Brewery=Dark Rain Drops of Heavenly Goodness! And Mystique at Refuge should come with a disclaimer_"for erections lasting more that four hours please see your Doctor or drink a Coors Light."
In the original tour description we were supposed to get a behind-the-scenes tour of one of the breweries but we didn't miss that at all. To tell you the truth, you'd probably need to tack on another hour to the tour and personally, I think we all were more into the deliciousness of consumption rather than the toil of production :)
Jim the trolley man, was cool and mild-mannered when wrangling us all together. He was personable, affable and lastly, Dadable. What do I mean by that? Soon we were referring to Jim as more than just a driver, he was like a father figure. (ie. "Ok, Dad, see you in an hour when you come back to pick us up!"). We all wished he could've been throwing a few back with the rest of us "tasters" as we all became instant friends.
Thanks again to you and the Brewen's gang for helping make a very memorable Father's Day outing for me and my wolfpack!
All the best,
Steve
(all endorsements have been unsolicited but you can pay me in growlers later)
Brewen's Brew Tour--This was a lackluster, disappointing tour.  It was very pricey for what you receive;  had we paid full price, I would have not only been disappointed, but angry.  When I first booked the tour, I was told that the pickup would be 10:30 AM, but when I received the email confirmation, the time had been changed to 2 PM--not a big deal, but too late if the tour is including lunch. Our first stop was the Hot Dog Shoppe in Temecula--the nastiest hot dog I have ever eaten (I didn't actually eat it--I had one bite and tossed it--dried out dog and hard bun).  Had we been allowed to order off the full menu, it may have been better, but it isn't the right venue for this tour, and it was at the other end of town from  the breweries.  Why not do lunch at a brewpub and include sample beers, but allow everyone to select and pay for their own lunch choices.  I don't think anyone on the tour enjoyed the  Hot Dog Shoppe.  The three breweries that we visited were good, but as we started at 2 PM, I would have preferred to have visited a fourth brewery rather than spend the time on a late (and unsavory) lunch.  Our driver was very good, accommodating and nice.
Review Source:The company gets two starts because the lady I spoke to was very sweet and helpful when I booked my travelzoo voucher. Unfortunately, the day of my reservations I woke up with the stomach flu. My husband called & the gal there could not help w reservations at all. She said she would write our information down & they would call Monday. We never got a phone call. The voucher was marked used and I'm bummed that we never got to actually use our vouchers. Money wasted.
Review Source:Not happy about this at all. Went to redeem my voucher I bought on Travel Zoo. Â The woman on the phone says their only date available is THIS Thursday or Easter Sunday. Seriously??? If you knew you had over 1000 vouchers purchased, Brewens should've done the right thing in allowing you to reserve for the following weekend after Easter weekend. Â I work Monday through Friday in San Diego, how can they exepect people to take off work on a work night to go drinking in Temecula. Besides, the restrictions in the fine print said NO major holidays or holiday weekends...I guess I shouldn't assume Easter is a major holiday or weekend, yet they are booking on Easter Sunday? Â Then the lady proceeds to tell me that I can repurchase the voucher I already purchased at another $59 to extend the date at a later time. Why the hell would I do that??? I would NEVER visit them..guess my vouchers will go to waste.
Review Source:We bought a Travelzoo voucher for this experience so I will start off by saying this...for the $59 we spent, this was a good deal. Â We had a great time hanging out with the girls (13 of us) and "tasting" wine. Â To be honest though, that's the most redeeming feature of this whole experience. Â
Hotel pick up was awesome...and would be even better if it had been on time. Â Our pick up was for 10:45. Â Three trolleys came by the hotel and we were told by the first 2, you're not on this one. Â So by the time our trolley showed up, it was 11. Â I second what another reviewer said that it sucks then driving around picking up other tasters and waiting for no-shows. Â We had 1 more pickup after they got us and we waited 10 minutes for a bunch of people in their party that weren't there. Â That's annoying when you're already 15 minutes late. Â
Onto the wineries... our tour included Bel Vino (fantastic), Churon (lovely), Falkner (not a fan at all) and Lorimar (decent). Â At the first one, our trolley broke down. Â So we had to wait 15 minutes for another trolley to come get us and take us to Churon where we had lunch. Â We were supposed to be at Churon at 12:30 for lunch, we didn't get picked up till 12:30. Â When we got to Churon, our lunch wasn't even ready so we tasted first. Â Our lunch wasn't ready until 1:15! Â That's ridiculous. Â Our trolley was fixed quickly so when we left Churon, we were back on our original trolley but now at least 30 min behind schedule.
The communication from the driver was horrible. Â With the exception of telling us at 2 wineries how long we had to taste, there wasn't much he communicated. Â We walked into most of the wineries not knowing how to go about getting our tasting tickets and glasses. Â He did eventually show up to help out but there was more time wated. Â By the time we got to the last winery, our driver, William, informed us that because we were behind schedule "you have 30 minutes at this winery and then you need to be back on the bus. I guarantee you will not have enough time to finish your tastings here." Â This comment sent the whole trolley into an uproar wondering why we were being docked time because of the trolley breaking and lunch not being ready.
Our party ended up getting off at the first stop as they dropped people off and asked our rides to pick us up there because we were over the trolley experience. Â So, all in all, it was a good deal. Â I would definitely do another experience like this. Â But with so many tour companies in Temecula to choose from, I would neither recommend this company nor go back again. Â I would just find a better one.
Fun day of wine-tasting in Temecula, with some fits & starts.
Hotel pickup is great. Driving around for an hour picking up other tasters (with some waiting in parking lots for 'no-shows'), not so great.
Wineries selected were all of the "tour-bus dropoff" variety - no stunning standouts amongst the wineries featured, but of-course, I don't know enough about what's really great in the region & ultimately what people love is a personal choice that differs for us all.
Our driver was a lovely fellow, but not terribly knowledgable about the region, its wines, its history or what makes these wineries distinctive. I'd like to know a little more of that information, given how much time was spent driving around.
Italian restaurant lunch included was OK. Be prepared to pay for drinks.
Two "hiccups" from this experience:
First, apparrently the company runs 3 trolleys & the driver of one of them misplaced the keys to his, so our group was dropped at one winery for an extended stretch while our driver shuttled the "dead" trolley's passengers to another winery. Not a big deal, it was a pretty winery, but it put a bit of a drag on the day. Providing additional tasting vouchers to the stranded passengers would have helped.
Second, the driver of our trolley had a nasty habit of cranking the pop-station radio so his telephone calls to the office wouldn't be overheard or disruptive to the passengers. A nice idea, but each time he did it, he simply cranked up 10-minute stretches of mind-numbing radio commercials that sucked the fun out of our drive times. I don't think he meant any harm, he just didn't notice. A better alternative would be a commercial-free soundtrack that plays during drive times or perhaps a satellite radio player....
All in all, it was a fun day, where we met some really nice people and tasted some decent wines.
Best. Day. Ever!
I would without reservation recommend Brewen's to anyone looking for a splendid day winetasting in Temecula. I worked with Kristy and Kim to book my party, and they were super communicative and prompt getting back to my friends and me. They were also very accommodating when I had to change the date of the tour (we told them well enough in advance!). They asked us over the phone what varietals we liked, and they took that into consideration when choosing the wineries for the tour. My friends were all able to call and book their reservations on their own, which made it a lot easier for me to organize the party.
Our tour took us to four wineries. The driver was very friendly and knowledgeable. My friends and I didn't stay overnight, so he picked us up at the Civic Center in Old Town Temecula at 10:30. Since we went in December, we kept the trolley window covering on and were comfortable. (The temperature was in the mid-60s, which actually was perfect weather for an outing like this.)
We had lunch at an Italian restaurant after the first winery. We had a choice of chicken piccata, a salad with steak (I think), and ravioli. The food was good, the portion sizes were perfect -- not huge but just enough, and the waiters were very nice. My friends and I liked all the wineries -- four is plenty! -- and each winery was beautiful and picturesque.
It was a memorable day that I will not soon forget. I will definitely do this again! Thanks, Brewen's!
So much fun!
My fiancé and friends booked this for my 29th birthday. We stayed at Pala casino where the trolley picked us up. We visited 4 wineries, all we're really nice, the food that was provided was delicious! I got the tri tip sandwich. Our driver was super nice! The best thing was we didn't have to drive at all, which is always great when wine tasting.
I am definitely going to use Brewen's empire again.
Had such a wonderful time on our tour they picked us up from the hotel and took us to the four wineries that we had picked...(Debbie) was our driver and guide she was great she was our driver, guide, photographer, lol...oh ya DJ.....she was really professional and had a great personality...made our tour very pleasant and would absolutely take another tour with this company any time!
Review Source:Great service and we appreciate the knowledge of Richard, our trolley guide. Â I liked that we could all purchase our trolley tickets separately online for our group. Â We conveniently were picked up at our hotel. Â 4 wineries was more than enough. Â We enjoyed a tasty lunch overlooking Temecula wine country, and drove around on a cool open air trolley. Â You meet others while on the tour and get plenty of wine tastings!! Â It was great for our bachelorette party!
Review Source:A group of about 20 of us took the Valley Trolley tour for our girlfriend's 40th birthday. Â We had a GREAT time!! Â The tour picks you up at your hotel at 10:45, then takes you to four wineries. Â
After the third winery you get a really good lunch. Â I was surprised at how good this sandwich was. Â The bread was incredible. Â We ate at the Bella Vista winery where they have picnic tables overlooking the valley and a pond is right next to you. Â Beautiful!!
The trolley is open air. Â I would sit up front if you don't want to be windblown. Â They pull up the plastic covering and the entire back of the trolley becomes a wind tunnel. Â
Our tour guide was a nice older gentleman that had a wide knowledge of the wineries. Â
At the end of the tour we all grabbed our glasses and bottles of wine that we purchased and stumbled happily out of the trolley. Â I would totally take the Valley Trolley again!! Â It had good food, good drinks and you bring the good friends...perfect combination for a good 'ole time!
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