Platypus Wine Tours, Napa CA

When you no longer travel, you appreciate the places you’ve once been. I’m taking some time tonight to write long overdue reviews. I live in the southeast and have spent time traveling weekly for work from the northeast to Midwest to west coast. I visited Napa in 2014 and 2019, and this stands out as one of the BEST experiences my husband and I had both times! Memorable enough to write a review years later. Out of anywhere in the world, I literally chose to do this for my big 3-0 birthday.
The wineries are a good mix, the picnic lunch included is perfect, the tour guides are knowledgeable and fun, and the bus is very comfortable! If you’re reading this, just know it’s one of the best value experiences we’ve had, across the world.

Highly recommend Platypus Tours for a bachelorette/Stag! We had a fun time. We filled out a small questionnaire which helped them create the perfect itinerary for us! James was a great tour guide/driver! The lunch was yummy and they catered to all dietary restrictions.

This was such a great experience! We’d never been to Napa before but felt like this couldn’t have been a better company for first timers. They picked us up and dropped us off where we were staying, drove us in between each winery with bottled water and cheese & crackers, gave us lunch in between the 2nd & 3rd wineries, and our driver Dave really knew his stuff and educated us and kept us laughing. Wine tasting fee was not covered by Platypus, but buying bottles of wine waives the fee (which we were going to do anyway). Hands down will do again if we go back to Napa.

Fantastic tour! Our guide, Andy, was stellar. He is so knowledgeable not just about wine, but also the many, many, many vineyards. He took us to a few off the beaten path, and we were welcomed warmly with spectacular discounted tastings and tours.
I was against booking a tour initially because I felt we'd rather go at our own pace and see the wineries of our choice. However I am SO happy that I booked a tour w Platypus (as a package w hot air balloon ride). It was an opportunity to experience some very special wineries with an "insider", and we learned so much - a terrific primer before going out on your own.
Andy provided us with some delicious cheeses, crackers, bottled water, and a picnic lunch of different sandwiches, salads, fruit, and dessert during or tour, and dropped us off at our hotel after. We had some great people from around the world in it for group, and it was a joy tasting with them.
I highly recommend Platypus, and very highly recommend Andy - we will certainly book these tours on our future trips.

We would highly recommend this tour to anyone who's looking to have fun and enjoy a relaxed tour. Rob, our tour guide was very friendly and very well rounded. He provided an amazing lunch; which he put time and effort into. We visited local midsize wineries, which gave us a more intimate and in depth experience. We would absolutely book again!

This was my second Platypus wine tour, and I will continue to book them when I go to Napa area! They take you to awesome wineries you may not have heard of otherwise, and you get either discounted tasting fees or the option to purchase wine and waive the fees. Their relationship with wineries means you get way more wine and behind the scenes tours. They’re extremely knowledgeable and well versed in the area. By far the best value for your money, and you’ll make friends for life with the other people on your tour!

6 of us went on tour with a group. Wineries on the tour were all very small independent and we had to pay our own tasting fees on top of the $110 per person. At the end we found that despite being part of a much larger group, we were subjected to a mandatory %20 tip because apparently despite being part of a larger group, 6 of us constituted some special treatment? Anyway, wines were mediocre and service was bad. Can’t recommend.

We had a fantastic experience with Platypus Wine Tours! We did a private wine tour, visiting 3 wineries in Sonoma. We gave Platypus our price range for tastings and they made the reservations. Our tour guide/driver, Joe was wonderful. He kept us on track timewise, brought a cooler with ice for the picnic lunch we packed, and set up the lunch table at a winery while we were tasting. There was a cheese and cracker platter and bottled water provided in the van.

Amazing tour company. Greg was our driver and host, and he sure took care of us. He was very knowledgeable and passionate.

We went to four wineries:
1. Provenance Vineyards
2. Fairwinds Estate Winery
3. David Fulton Winery
4. Auburn James Tasting Room

+ There were several photo opportunities in between.
+ I never felt rushed during the tastings!
+ Snacks were great
+ Sunscreen was offered
+ Lunch was DELICIOUS! For those who have been on the tour, you know I'm talking about that delicious balsamic sauce.

Our group had an awesome vibe. I would definitely recommend this tour!

Loved the tour! Our host Dave was really entertaining and knowledgable. 4 different vineyards in 6 hours, worth every penny

Rented a Polaris Slingshot in July. Owner was great to deal with and Vehicle was in perfect working condition. Highly Recommend for a ride down the Silverado Trail!

Just wrapped up my fourth Platypus Wine Tour, and absolutely loved it. Alison was our guide, this time, and she was fantastic. I've been on this tour once with family, and three times with friends, and it's such an enjoyable experience. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Napa Valley looking for a great tour that gives you the opportunity to try some of the best wines out there.

Our guide Greg was amazing. Having said that, if you're into really good wines, this is not the place for you. With the same amount of money you can purchase 2 bottles of the best wineries in the region.
In the other hand, if you don't know much about wine, this may be a good option.

From the beginning Platypus was wonderful, responsive, gracious and extremely helpful. Doug assisted me in planning the best wine tour trip and meeting all of our needs. He even assisted in providing advise for other things to do outside of our wine tour day. When our tour day arrived we were blown away, Rob was absolutely wonderful and extremely hospitable. He told us knowledge of the area, was very easy to talk to and he pulled multiple favors at the various wineries to make our experience the best ever. Would highly suggest Platypus to anyone!

Can't rate Platypus high enough, had a fabulous day touring the Napa Valley, Melissa was an absolute legend and a fantastic route guide. Highly recommended!

We join this tour on the recommendation of our Innkeeper / chef / tour guide Jim at the Inn on First. He spoke highly of Platypus and gave us a good preview.

Sherman our tour guide was great fun and professional at the same time.

4 unique wineries with 4 different experiences and wines all adding up to a great day

We did a full-day tour on September 23,2019. Our tour guide was Rich Brumley and he was amazing. Rich called us twice before our arrival to discuss what type of wines we liked, where we wanted to go, and he made some fabulous recommendations. He picked us up at our hotel in Napa the morning of our tour and was amazing all day. He made all of our appointments for tastings and also coordinated lunch - it was the perfect day. We could not have been happier with the tour, the guide, the process or anything else. We certainly recommend Platypus Tours.

We visited with Gary and I was fortunate enough to be sitting close to him so I could have some very interesting discussions as he drove us from vineyard to vineyard. We visited 4 distinct types of wineries from the very low volume selling their wine only on site to one that a little more on the large almost industrial size. They called us the night before to confirm the pickup time at our hotel and we spent a great day with a great group in a great and clean van! We tasted a lot of good wine, had a nice lunch that Gary prepared himself while we were visiting while, Jerri Manthey who starred in survivor by the way, talked to us about the Napa Valle and its great wine! Overall, what a great day and one of the highlight of our week in the San Francisco / Napa trip!

Great time with Platypus and our driver Mark! We had the party bus and it was awesome. Really enjoyed the Vineyards Mark took us to. Great people at each. Thanks for the great memories and good lunch by Mark too! We will be back.

Absolute wonderful day and tour with great value. Our tour guide Patty was exceptionally knowledgeable and took us to some fantastic off-the-beaten path wineries (avoiding the big tourist draws). Really quality wines with a great cheese tray, good lunch, and extremely helpful in facilitating transport of wine back home, etc.

Can't recommend this wine tour highly enough given the convenience and quality of everything!