Platypus Wine Tours in Sonoma — Local services in Sonoma

We flew in from New Jersey for a weekend wedding in Placerville and decided to come in a day early to take in a taste of Sonoma. We hit the ball right out of the park when we decided to go with Platypus Tours. I had read all excellent reviews about this company but the reviews did not do justice on how awesome they really are. The day started with a phone call from our tour guide Mark who arrived 10 minutes earlier than the scheduled time to be sure to answer all questions or concerns we had prior to starting our day. We then made a quick detour to pick up three other ladies to join our group. Mark customized a tour that incorporated boutique wineries that aren't overly commercialized. We had a unique experience at each location and we greeted with reserved tables for tastings. Mark had a wonderful rapport with everyone at the wineries only to add another personal dimension to this tour. Our first stop was at Petroni Winery and we were the first visitors to taste in their newly completed cave. We then headed over to Little Vineyards where Mark told us we'd be having lunch. While we were enjoying an outdoor wine tasting, Mark was preparing us a wonderful lunch equipped with a variety of sandwiches, a quinoa salad and a refreshing dessert. As we headed over to our third stop, Mark always had cold water and a cheese and cracker platter readily available between wineries in the tour van. At the third vineyard at Deerfield Wineries, Mark joined us for the tour and even took pictures of anything we wanted. He was very patient with our group. Last stop was at Paradise Ridge Wineries which was the perfect way to end the tour. This winery had such a warm feel. We combined wine tasting with spices. Throughout is all, we experienced some of the best Sonoma has to offer and we thank Mark and Platypus Tours for that. We plan to return next fall to Napa and we will be sure to call Platypus Tours to provide another...

We did the Platypus tour in late October in Sonoma. It was great because it was nearing the end of tourist season so a lot of the vineyards were giving out almost glasses full of wine instead of just a tasting. Our tour guide was Chris who was super knowledgeable and took time at the very first vineyard to explain how to properly taste, hold, and de- tannin red wine. He took us to 4 vineyards which were Deerfield Ranch (this included a wine cave and the highest percent alcohol), La Rochelle where we had a delicious lunch of sandwiches that Chris had made, Loxton which was the best and included a tour of the actual vineyards and education on how the wine was made, and Little. The day was great and our group consisted of 12 couples. Chris picked us up in the bus right outside our hotel at 10:30 am. He had shipping containers for sell to hold any wine you bought during the tours; often, the vineyards would wave the tasting fee with purchase of 1 or 2 bottles of wine. It should be noted that you have to pay for each tasting fee- the platypus fee only includes the bus and lunch. I'm giving it 4 stars because the tour was suppose to end at 5 and we ended up staying at Little until 6 pm due to everyone having to pay Chris for the tour. Then it took about 30 minutes to get back to the hotel. I wish the company would just run our cards either in advance or the day of the tour, especially since you have to give a credit card to hold the reservation. After an exhausting day you just want to be back at your...

The tour guide was nice, but the wineries themselves were very underwhelming.

Roche had beautiful views, but the wine was not good (the whole group felt this way). It also seemed VERY busy, granted we were there on a Saturday, so this is to be expected. Roche just felt cookie cutter, nothing great but nothing horrible. Very mediocre.

The next winery was Homewood. A very small, makeshift winery. This place SMELLS. There were horses around in the pasture close by, but the feces smell came from the dirty/hot porta potties available for the guests. I'm not above using a porta potty in a pinch, but this just seems like something guests of a winery should not have to do. Especially guests who paid for a tour. The whole place was dirty and unkept. Most of the group ended up pouring out their wine servings. I feel for the struggling wineries, but don't think this was a good choice to take a group of paying customers to.

Buena Vista was an interesting winery with a lot of history (oldest in California). Felt like it was in the woods a bit. The buildings were very beautiful and old. This was definitely a more popular winery/touristy. Not quaint or charming, but the wine was good and the grounds were pretty.

All in all, my group was not impressed. I will say that 2 out of the 5 groups within our tour had been on a Platypus wine tour and said their previous experience was much different and was exceptional. All in all, this tour did not...