Black Swan Tours — Local services in Preston Beach

We had been on a Swan Valley wine tour a couple of years ago and had a blast but this was with a different operator who unfortunately didn't have any available slots on our dates in December. So we went with Black Swan tours and the difference could not be more striking:

The wineries themselves were all a bit meh and the group rather big with a rusty old tour bus filled to the last seat. The tour guide did this just as a side gig and while he was friendly and all, this showed as he was certainly no wine connoisseur. His main concern seemed to be to stick to his timeline and at one more commercial winery, he got into endless discussions with the winery operator about payment which seemed to happen in cash. We've never seen this in any such tour ever and wondered why there is so little trust in the operator and if that's such an issue, why do we not visit any of the dozen or so other vineries instead? This issue took so long to be resolved that we first waited around for ages and then had to skull down the wines in a rush once we finally started the tasting. Very unprofessional.

Finally, the last stop was a typical tourist trap and a waste of time, some weird chocolate place peddling overpriced chocolate and chocolate liquors. If I want chocolate, I do a chocolate tour. We could have easily tasted more wine instead. All in all, I wouldn't recommend this operator. Seemed all a bit lifeless and the cash dealings were...

What an amazing afternoon - we were collected from our hotel on time, just my wife & I, as others on tour had people not fully vaxed & were unable to join us. We were about to journey on a half day Swan Valley Wine Tour celebrating our 43rd wedding anniversary. We had an absolutely wonderful afternoon. Our Captain & host Alan was wonderful. He was very professional, entertaining, knowledgeably & passionate. We visited 4 wineries, a brewery & a chocolate factory during our tour. We thought we also knew a few things about wine & music, but were challenged with a couple of Alan's questions, all in good fun. My wife won the wine challenge, & received a nice Swan Valley tourist book, my consolation was a mintie. With cold water and ice towels on a very hot day, we were very well looked after, returning safely to our hotel. During this covid pandemic, we need to support these local tourist operators, who are struggling with the lack of Eastern States & Overseas Tourists and would highly recommend Black Swan Tours to anyone. Please consider these small business operators who need our support. Thanks again Alan for a wonderful afternoon. Peter & Wendy...

I went on a Black Swan wine tour for my 25th birthday. After booking it, Alan (our fantastic host and guide) was there every step of the way to ensure I had the best day. We went to 4 wineries, a brewery, and a chocolate factory. The wineries ranged from small family-run to well-known wineries, to get a good range of wine. The service at all wineries were fantastic and we got a very good amount of wine. The lunch that was included was a lot bigger than we all expected, and was delicious. Alan also ensured that the coeliac person on my tour was always taken care of. On that note, it being a 41 degree, Alan gave us all cold towels to cook us down and always had the fridge on the van stocked with cold water! Everyone on the tour said it was the best wine tour they had been on, and for my first wine tour I will say it will be hard to beat/I would definitely just choose...