First, we did a four hour winery tour, which allowed us to visit two wineries. We were so pleased with the wineries themselves. The first winery was more commercial and had a “new/modern” feeling; the second winery was a family business established in 1600. The wineries produced very different tasting prosecco’s and presented two different atmospheres. The second one offered us local food to try with our prosecco (meats and cheeses). We were thrilled and would recommend either winery to anyone. If you can make the time, I recommend doing a six-hour tour–it was just so fun. We plan to go back one day and will stay longer in this area. Our driver was friendly and happy to chat with us about the region as he drove. We would use this tour booking process again. A word of caution: Make sure you have your driver’s name, picture, and phone number so you can easily contact them when you arrive (we arrived by train from Venice). We had small mix-up in which our driver picked up a couple from an earlier train (despite being given our train times; thankfully, the guide intended for that couple was still at the train station trying to find them and we ran into each other and figured out the mix-up after I showed her a picture of our driver (who she recognized as her co-worker). I would also recommend reiterating your departure time to your driver – our driver left us at the second winery and we waited about fifteen minutes for him to return. This would have been fine if we had known he did not plan to stay parked at the winery like he had at the first one (we would have contacted him just prior to the conclusion of our tour) or if our train schedule had been flexible. As it was, our train tickets had already been purchased and we had a connecting train to make (train back to Venice and then on to Florence) –I was very clear on all of this and the exact times of our trains when I booked our dates. To fix this problem, our driver drove very fast, so all was well, but I was very nervous!
Reply from Jo
Hi Kali, I’m so happy to hear you had a wonderful time. But I’m also sorry to hear that another customer ‘borrowed’ your driver for a short while. In the three years I’ve been working with local drivers, this is the first time this has happened and it has offered a learning experience, especially as we bring more and more readers to the region. I spoke with your driver and I understand he had a personal matter unexpectedly crop up. Your driver would usually stay with you while you’re at the winery/lunch/sightseeing. Both he and I would like to apologise if this added an element of stress to your trip. Personally, Italian driving can make me nervous (don’t tell the Italians!) but your driver reassured me he was driving safely at all times. I will also drop you a personal note by email and hope that we will welcome you back to the Prosecco region very soon.