Press Releases

Press Releases

World's Top Wine Tours
A well-crafted wine tour can deliver Bordeaux’s best or a one-on-one with cult winemakers in Italy. But it’s all about choosing the right itinerary for your type.
From September 2010
By Bruce Schoenfeld
As a professional wine writer, I’ve always found the idea of my taking a wine tour to be the equivalent of a rock star playing air guitar or a PGA golfer competing at mini golf. After two decades of chronicling the most interesting places and personalities in the wine world, I figured I knew as much as any operator. And my credentials could get me to places that the big tour buses couldn’t.
But then I visited Paso Robles, between San Francisco and Santa Barbara. On a lark, I signed up for a half-day bus tour with Wine Wrangler (half-day itineraries for two from $104). Paso has more than 200 producers; had I shown up on my own, as usual, I would have stuck to those I already knew. I’d have missed out on J. Lohr (too big, I thought) and Silver Horse and Summerwood (perhaps too small). I’d never have discovered that Lone Madrone is part-owned by the winemaker at the respected Tablas Creek, nor experienced the black fruits and bass notes of Silver Horse’s Malbec.
As it was, I learned something at every stop while enjoying the company of an eclectic collection of enthusiasts. It was refreshing to not be responsible for finding my way between appointments, and I loved being able to actually drink wine at lunch without having to worry about a designated driver. Best of all, I came away with new wines to recommend from worthy producers, most of which I hadn’t known existed earlier that morning.
With a wine tour it’s possible to gain entrée to the world’s most renowned producers, eat memorable meals, travel in sumptuous luxury, immerse yourself in local culture, even to break a sweat on a bike or a hike—but not all on the same trip. That makes matching your level of interest with the proper itinerary a vital part of the planning process, lest you find yourself shuffling through museums when you want to be tramping through vineyards, or vice versa. Keeping that in mind, I’ve come up with my picks of wine-tour companies to match most every motivation.

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Wine Wrangler relocating to train depot Posted: Tuesday, Apr 15th, 2008 BY: Josh Petray 4-15-08 A Paso Robles wine tour company has outgrown its office space and will relocate near the Amtrak depot within the city’s Transit Center Facility located at 800 Pine St. Since it first opened business in August 2004, the Wine Wrangler — which conducts tours of the area encompassing the Paso Robles Wine Country, local agriculture, historical and museum tours, private tours, Hearst Castle tours and basic transportation services throughout the city and county — has seen tremendous success, according to owners Coy and Sarah Barnes. Now, years after its growth and prosperity hand-in-hand with the wine industry, the Paso Robles-based business is changing its office location to a space formerly utilized by the Chamber of Commerce/Visitor Conference Bureau. When husband-and-wife duo first started the business in their small office space, it was just the two of them and one vehicle. Now, the company has grown to include 14 employees — 11 drivers and three office staff. “It’s taken off quite a bit since 2004,” Sarah said, attributing the growth to the success of the growing wine industry and marketing to make the city a tourist destination. In fact, this February was their biggest February on record with a doubling of income, she said. Last year, the Wine Wranger hosted more than 20,000 tours. “We are continually growing, and we’re going to have more opportunity being in the public eye,” she said. Recently, the Paso Robles City Council unanimously voted to authorize the city manager to enter into a lease agreement with the Wine Wrangler for the use of a portion of 800 Pine St. in the train station for improvement and use as the business’s offices with a tourism informational display area. The council also unanimously agreed to enter into a Tourism Services Agreement with the Wine Wrangler to provide welcome and hospitality services designed to promote the unique character of Paso Robles and enhance the visitor experience. The Wine Wrangler will offer a free service geared to bring the tourism to the area in a positive manner, Sarah said. “We want to work with the wineries, the restaurants and the hotels to promote their businesses and the area as a whole and as a tourist destination,” she said. “Just to keep that down home feeling that we want Paso Robles to maintain, that friendliness and cohesiveness as a community, and just pass it on to people.” The Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce, located at 1225 Park St. in downtown Paso Robles, is still the only official visitor center as contracted with the city. City officials said the agreement with the Wine Wrangler will provide a mutually beneficial arrangement where overlapping business and promotional goals of each party can be met, enhancing the economic vitality of the community. The company acts as a concierge to the city and county by helping customers find lodging, restaurants and activities in the area to suit their personal interests, Sarah said. Tenant improvement cost estimates and the value of employee resources to staff the tourism information area and hospitality center is roughly equivalent to the value of market base rent for the building space on a monthly and annualized basis, according to city staff. The space —roughly 1,000 square-feet in the northern portion of the Train Station — has been vacant since July 2007. It’s the former location of the Chamber of Commerce/Visitor Conference Bureau’s Welcome Center, which offered a range of visitor and hospitality services under a service contract to the city. Tenant improvements will be made at the space, which will be used as its business office complete with a visitor counter and lobby area with packaged convenience foods, local retail items and a tourism information display area. The space will be renovated and converted into a “welcoming and active facility” with service counters, public seating and a possible future coffee and/or wine bar as a backdrop for tourism and hospitality services, according to city officials. The area will house an array of visitor materials made available to the public during normal business hours. For the Wine Wrangler, it will also offer the chance to grow and put a face to its company. “It will also put us face to face with the consumer and the customer, which is definitely where we wanted to be,” Sarah said. “We’re really customer driven, and we want to be able to help people find what suits their taste.” For more information on the Wine Wrangler, visit www.thewinewrangler.com or call 238-5700 or toll free at 866-238-6400.

Wine Wrangler rustles up a new wine service - 2006-01-07 10:38:12
Coy Barnes, owner of The Wine Wrangler wine country tour company in Paso Robles, has started yet another new venture connected to wine.

The Wine Wrangler Launches Exclusive Paso Robles Wine Club - 2005-07-29 08:15:56
Wine lovers will now have the opportunity to enjoy the Paso Robles winetasting experience in the privacy of their own homes, courtesy of The Wine Wrangler’s new wine club featuring exclusively Paso Robles wines. Consumers have three levels of membership from which to choose, and the option to receive a combination of red and white wines, or red wines only. Three shipments will be sent annually, with the first shipment slated for early December, 2005. Learn More...

Wrangling up a new wine tour - 2004-12-16 18:44:59
A new wine-tour company launched by friendly local residents specializes in unique,customized tours of local wineries.