Absolute Charm Wine Tours | Fredericksburg Wine Tours — Attraction in Fredericksburg

I booked the PRIVATE WINE TOUR - PRIVATE TOUR DOES NOT MEAN PRIVATE, as the vehicle/driver they booked us with from 12-5 was double booked with another group for the same time. This was not disclosed when booking, nor did anyone update us prior to our tour. I even tried reaching the office multiple times prior to our tour to discuss the scheduled event. No one returned my calls. When the driver arrived for pickup (all parties ready & waiting), I asked how much time we had to load as I needed to properly buckle my child's carseat and load her cooler of snacks/drinks. This is when the driver informed us we needed to leave quickly bc he was running another group simultaneously as our privately scheduled tour. RIGHT HERE - I WOULD HAVE NEVER BOOKED HAD I KNOWN THIS. Brooke's Bubble Bus openly advertises this on their site but, the web advertisement for ACWT had no disclosure of limited vehicle use or double bookings for the same vehicle/driver under PRIVATE TOUR. This would mean the driver would move all personal items around on the bus btwn groups, my child's car seat to be unlatched/relatched for each stop (or lugged around the vineyards) & the cooler/vehicle would not be accessible while at the wineries if needed for any reason. I informed the driver that this was not what I booked per the web, that it would not work for our group & that I would need a refund. He disregarded my concerns and tried to push the tour. Finally he called the office manager. Multiple attempts made. NO ANSWER. He then left to pick up the group that was double booked, as they continued their tour. When the office manager finally called, she said that we were late (our entire group was waiting in the drive so this was false), that a private tour was fully provided to us & that we refused the tour. She stated the wine tastings had been prepaid by their company & that a refund was not possible. We visited one winery later that day & asked about the prepaid tastings - no prepayment/payment that day was made by ACWT for our group. The other 2 wineries confirmed this also (flat lie from the office manager or from 3 separate wineries?) MORESO, the original website at time of booking was further updated within 24hrs after speaking with me on Saturday & hearing my concerns to disclose limited access & use of vehicle during your tour. Pictures shown (typo included).

NEW Statement: “*We are on a time schedule with wineries and reservations and cannot be late. Additionally, the vehicle will not available for sleeping or resting in between vineyards”.

The update is still misleading & does not disclose that your personal items will be moved around by the driver and/or other party, & it does not disclose that the bus will be jumping btwn groups.

On Monday, after calling the office, I reached out to the owner directly. She pushed my call straight to voicemail & communicated only via text even though I asked her to please call me at her earliest convenience. Her office manager then called & offered a gift card to use within 1 year or to refund 50% of my almost $900 bill. I shared this was unacceptable given the misleading information on the web describing the tour, false statements provided by her team & lack of response when I tried reaching out prior to our tour - my request for a full refund was not unreasonable (additionally, we are hours away and not able to easily rebook a weekend getaway). The owner then stated this was the busiest time of yr & that our tour spot would have been booked by another had we not booked the slot, she accused me of bullying and bombarding her as I tried to share & discuss our experience & stated that I “agreed to the cancellation policy.” I did agree BASED ON the tour described on the website that I was booking. BUT advertising misleading & fraudulent info & delivering a completely different quality of service refutes it. Further, no profit was lost - the other tour continued and wineries confirmed no payment...

I tried to post this review on the Absolute Charm review site but something went wrong when doing the review on the phone so I had to wait till I got to my laptop so some of this may be duplicated but here is the overall review.

In general, this was a nice place and we (my wife and I, our son and daughter in law, and two grandkids) enjoyed staying here while some of us were at Garrison Brother's for a bottling event. The farmhouse is old and is showing it's age. I think that the desired aesthetic is shabby chic but some of the interior is leaning more shabby. There is a lot of peeling paint, enough that I got the impression they haven't put much work into the place. Seeing a notice inside the house that the doors have lead based paint (which was peeling) did not leave a good impression given two pre-school age children. Fortunately, they don't generally go around licking doors so it was okay but lead based paint seems to be a maintenance and upkeep issue to me. It made me wonder about the rest of the house.

The kitchen has cookware and flatware but oddly no kitchen towels or dish cloths to use if you do cook there. I think the facility would be well served by having someone from the management team spend the night there and "visit" as a guest to fine tune some of the amenities. There are coffee pods and regular ground coffee available but we did not find the regular coffee pot that was tucked to the back of a hard to reach cabinet space for a couple of days. We did get by after a run to Walmart for paper towels and such so it was all good.

Being able to sit and watch the deer in the field with my granddaughter three of the four mornings was really really fun. Both kids loved being able to play a game going from the living area through a bedroom and into the kitchen that the adults in stitches. Be careful if you walk around outside barefoot. There are an awful lot of bull nettle on the property which we realized after our granddaughter got popped when we were chasing each other around and she fell. There are scorpions too but it is the hill country so that should be expected.

The living room sofa and chair & 1/2 were comfortable but the side chairs were a little disconcerting when you sit in them. Once your down just don't wiggle.... The wifi worked well for us. The sheets used to cover the sofa and chair need a good wash and bleaching.

The Jacuzzi tub worked well but it does take a long time to fill. I was a little afraid there would be scale build up so we made sure to test it before our little girl took a bath. It worked great and she had an absolute blast of a time. Her little brother, not so much, but then again he really only likes water when there is not soap around. Just note, the Jacuzzi tub is in the bathroom and is NOT a two person tub which is how it is described on...

The highlight of the tour was Airis Ele. We were treated exceptionally well, the wine was high quality, and the tasting experience was generous. We were able to select five different wines of our choice with no restrictions. We were also served a beautiful charcuterie board and received thoughtful education on wine types, glassware, and proper tasting etiquette. It felt personal, elevated, and well-curated.

Unfortunately, the experience declined at the next two stops.

At Bingham Winery, the atmosphere was off-putting. The visual centerpiece featuring a white family standing in a cotton field was uncomfortable and culturally insensitive. There were no snacks, no seating offered, and we had to request water. The space felt more like a dark warehouse than a welcoming winery. The wine was not good at all and lacked depth or balance.

TWC Winery felt commercial and overcrowded. It was not a true winery but a retail space selling bottles from other vineyards. There was no history or craftsmanship behind the experience—just a store with tasting stations. The wine here was also poor in quality and disappointing for what was supposed to be a curated tour stop.

To make matters worse, both Bingham and TWC had very limited tasting options. We were forced to choose from either all sweet wines, all whites, or all dry reds with no ability to mix selections. This restriction took away from the enjoyment and variety that a wine tasting experience...