VIP Southern Tours, Sautee Nacoochee

I had previously booked a exceptional wine tour from their N Ga locations. Based on that experience I booked wine tour they now offer pick up from Canton/Woodstock area. Unfortunately it was not at all like my previous experience. The guides are a retired husband and wife pair. While they are very nice the way they run their tour felt to all of us like a grade school field trip and they were our teachers. I would say that they would be great tour guides for people their age. Our group ages varied from late 20’s to early 60’s. It’s not the type of tour we wanted or expected. Thankfully the wineries were superb and we all made the best of it.

I booked VIP Southern Tours for a private tour for my wife and myself for her birthday and it was amazing. We spent the day touring two wineries and went on a short hike to a beautiful waterfall. The entire day was so special and our guide could not have been better. Charles was entertaining he was patient and extremely helpful. I'd absolutely go on another tour with this group.

Overall an amazing experience!! Our driver, Scott, was AWESOME and very attentive. The lunch provided, especially the sandwiches, was delicious. The views at The Cottage we're absolutely breathtaking.

Our group had a blast tasting wines at three wineries. Our driver, Jim was very nice and accommodating. He kept a constant watch over our group and anticipated our needs by offering to take pictures, serve us water and/or snacks and playing great music on the bus. Overall, we loved the experience and we plan to do it again. That being said, the consensus our group was that our first winery was the classiest and provided the best experience. The subsequent wineries were progressively less enjoyable. We understood the crowds were an issue because of the holiday weekend so we made the best of those lesser appealing wineries. Take a group of 8 to 10 and you will not be disappointed!

The tour it self was okay as Rusty, our tour guide was such a kind gentleman and even went out of his way to capture some beautiful photos for us. My biggest reason for the 2 stars is because I made it very aware to the company when placing our lunch order ahead of time that a person in our group had a nut allergy and I was told that it would be handled and when we got our lunch on the tour she had macadamia nut cookies for her dessert. When we asked Rusty if he was aware he had no idea and had to call and to make sure the rest of her food was even safe to eat and I would imagine it made her feel very uncomfortable. Second thing, at two of the wineries we toured we were seated in overflow in the warehouse areas and missed out on all the gorgeous views and live music which is half of the experience. I could have saved 600 dollars and just went to the winery my self and enjoyed it more. Seemed awfully unplanned for a reservation I booked months in advance and payed good money for. All in all the wineries were fantastic with great customer service and we made the best of our trip,I will be returning to them. I was just really disappointed with the tour company. 💥UPDATE: The owner personally reached out to me and apologized about the whole situation and invited me to come back to give them another chance. I thought that was very generous of her and I appreciate them taking accountability and reaching out. No one is perfect and I understand people make mistakes. Their customer service has been great. Will update again in June after the tour.