"Do I have to know anything about wine?"
"What should I wear?"
"How much walking is there?"
"What if my husband doesn't drink wine?"
"Is it weird if I come by myself?"
Those are all real questions people ask me before they book a vineyard tour.
And honestly? I love getting them.
Because it tells me something important.
For a lot of people, taking a vineyard tour is something they've wanted to do for a long time... they just weren't quite sure what to expect.
So let me answer the questions I hear most often and hopefully make planning your day just a little easier.

You do NOT need to know anything about wine. Seriously. (What to Expect at a CT Wine Tour)
Nobody is going to quiz you.
Nobody expects you to swirl your glass like a sommelier or describe aromas of blackberry with "a hint of leather."
If you know what you like, great.
If all you know is "I like the sweet one," that's great too.
The people pouring your wine genuinely want you to find something you'll enjoy, and they're happy to answer questions without making anyone feel intimidated.

If you had told me five years ago that I would quit my job and start a vineyard tour company, I probably would have laughed, mostly because I don't even like wine that much. Sure, I'll enjoy a glass now and then, but wine was never really the point. The point was always the experience.

My husband Mike and I travel whenever we can, and one of our favorite things to do is book local excursions. We've done history pub crawls, ghost tours, wine tours, food tours, and sightseeing tours everywhere from Savannah and Key West to Montreal, Denver, Charleston, Galveston, Salem, and Napa Valley. We love meeting people, hearing stories, and seeing a destination through the eyes of someone who knows and loves it.

For years, we joked that when we retired we'd move somewhere like Savannah or Key West and I'd become a tour guide. I love people. I love stories. I love making people laugh. It seemed like the perfect retirement job.

Then one evening after spending yet another day at Stonington Vineyards, I asked Mike a simple question:
"Why are we waiting until we retire?"

A few weeks ago, I was on a cruise and chatting with another couple when I mentioned that I own a vineyard tour business in Connecticut. The wife looked at me and said, "Connecticut has vineyards?"
I laughed. They were from California, so I'll give them a pass.

But then, just a few weeks later, I was attending a Small Business Summit right here in Connecticut. I mentioned my vineyard tour business to the person sitting next to me and she said "Connecticut has vineyards?"
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And that, my friends, is not acceptable.

I have a friend who LOVES Negronis.
Now, if you’ve never had a Negroni before, imagine somebody took orange peel, bitterness, sadness and rubbing alcohol and stirred it together over ice. Apparently this is sophisticated. She’s Italian, drinks espresso like water, and I’m pretty sure they permanently damaged her taste buds as a child.
One day on a cruise, she convinced me to try one. The second it touched my tongue, I looked at her in horror while she stared at me waiting for my reaction and I said: “It tastes like my mouth will never be happy again.”

She was genuinely confused. “What? What is wrong?” THAT was the moment I started realizing people’s taste buds are wildly different and what one person considers “smooth with herbal complexity,” another person considers “burning tire fire with notes of regret.”

Which got me thinking…

 There’s a moment at the end of almost every tour where someone hugs me or says, “Thank you. That was SO much easier than trying to do this ourselves.”

And honestly? That’s kind of the whole point.

People imagine a DIY vineyard day being simple. You pick a few wineries, throw together some snacks, maybe rent a limo, and spend the day sipping wine with your friends. Easy, right?

Except… after working in the vineyard tour world, I can tell you that there are about 500 tiny details people don’t think about until they’re already in the middle of them. One of the biggest surprises is simply knowing whether vineyards are actually open. A lot of people assume wineries are just open every day for whoever wants to stop by, but that’s not always how it works. Each vineyard in Southeastern CT has different hours and different days off. (open at 11 on Thursday but 2 on Friday? Open every day, or only open weekends? I know all these schedules) Some have private events. Others have opening weekend celebrations where you need tickets just to get in. Some vineyards close early for weddings and some don't open at all if there is a wedding. One local vineyard, for example, is closed almost every Saturday in May because of weddings, and there are special June and September events coming up where people are going to be very disappointed if they show up without tickets.

That’s the kind of thing that can completely derail a carefully planned day.

You spend all this time coordinating people, mapping routes, packing food, figuring out timing… and suddenly one or two of your planned stops aren’t even an option anymore.

That’s one of the biggest advantages of a guided vineyard tour: we already know what’s happening. We’re constantly keeping up with closures, events, availability, and changes so our guests don’t have to spend hours researching and double-checking every stop.