Frequently Asked Questions

Derived from the Greek word for wine, oinos, oenotated combines the prefix oeno, as in oenology and oenophile, with annotated, meaning explanatory notes, information, context, and insights added to a text. Oenotated Travel wine tours celebrate the role wine plays in culture and history around the world. Oenotated itineraries take travelers to the world’s great wine regions to explore the interconnection between winemaking, local gastronomy, and traditional artisan craft production. Together, these expressions of cultural heritage tell the story of people, regions, and countries. They offer travelers sensorial and hands-on experiences of what makes a place special.

It depends. Our wine tours are not one-size-fits-all. Our itineraries are designed to inspire and take you deeper into the food and wine culture of each destination. You can book any of our wine tours as-is, or customize them around your personal tastes, travel style, and budget. Pricing depends on the dates you travel (low season vs high season), how many people are traveling with you, and whatever customizations you choose to make. Contact us to discuss travel dates, customizations, and receive a free quotation.

Our tours are available for the travel dates that work for you. When you see an Oenotated Travel wine tour that you like, contact us to ask about dates. We will confirm the tour based on your preferred travel dates. If you are flexible to travel any time, we can tell you the best time of year based on the destination, or the best time to go if you want to get the lowest prices.

Our tours require a 25% non-refundable deposit to confirm, and a non-refundable final payment 60 days prior to your tour’s start date. When you book an Oenotated Travel tour, we and our local partners go to work to secure premium services in destinations where demand is high for quality drivers, guides, hotels, and experiences. Non-refundable deposits are required to guarantee these sought-after services many months in advance.

We know that our tours represent a significant financial commitment and emotional investment, and that no one ever expects to have to cancel their trip, but the unexpected does happen. Travel insurance with cancellation coverage will reimburse 100% of your non-refundable travel expenses if you must cancel your trip (for a covered reason). Travel insurance also limits your financial risk from unexpected post-departure events like delayed or cancelled flights, lost luggage, or medical emergencies during your trip. We offer travel insurance coverage through Allianz Global Assistance, one of the most reputable and reliable travel insurance providers in the industry. Policies are available to meet your specific needs. Contact us to learn more about why protecting your travel investment from the unexpected is so important.

Booking our tours is easy. Complete the Request a Quote form below the itinerary of the tour you want to book, or contact us by email or phone, and we will respond to you shortly to discuss your plans and prepare your free quotation. Once you are satisfied that all the details of our proposal are perfect, we will email you an invoice with a secure payment link to pay your non-refundable tour deposit by credit card or ACH bank transfer. And then you’re booked!

Oenotated Travel wine tours and custom itineraries are private for just you and however many people are coming with you. We operate our private tours for solo travelers, couples, groups of friends, and families.

On request, we can also offer small-group tour experiences for specific activities. For example, at historical sites like the Colosseum or the Vatican, at museums like the Louvre or the Uffizi, or for food tasting tours in cities like Venice or Paris or Lisbon, we can offer you small group experiences that help save money compared to private tours.

Absolutely. Our wine tours, culinary experiences, artisan workshops, and custom itineraries can be adapted or tailor-made for groups of up to 20 people. If you own a wine store, manage a wine club, own a restaurant, or work in the food & wine space, we offer white-labelled wine tours and foodie travel itineraries. Take your customers to the source for hands-on experiences and exclusive access to the terroirs and producers you love. Custom tours unique to your business add value to your customer relationship and set you apart from the competition. Our tours also make great team-building opportunities or performance incentives for your valuable employees.

Yes, all Oenotated Travel wine tours and custom itineraries are carbon neutral. We factor sustainability into our tour design from the get-go. Wherever possible, we limit emissions by prioritizing train travel for long distance land transfers and choose electric vehicles for local transfers where infrastructure allows. We prioritize wineries, farms, and food producers committed to sustainable practices in soil management, water conservation, organic farming, or biodynamic agriculture that restores local biodiversity of plants, insects, and animal species. Our hotel and restaurant partners are all committed to sourcing local, seasonal ingredients in the food they serve and making continual progress towards using renewable energy and conserving water.

But that’s not all. We ensure that all Oenotated Travel tours are both carbon neutral and actively advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals in communities impacted by tourism. We partner with Sustainable Travel International to include carbon offsets in all our tours, while also investing in wildlife conservation and community development through their Climate Impact Portfolio. When you book a trip with Oenotated Travel, carbon emissions from your flights, ground transportation, hotel stays, and activities are offset through verified carbon sequestration projects. To learn more about the methodology behind how we offset carbon emissions from our tours see the Carbon Offsets FAQ.

Your day-to-day tour itinerary and travel documents like train tickets, ferry tickets, and hotel vouchers are always accessible through our smartphone app, even when you don’t have an internet connection. Tour descriptions, transfer times, hotel addresses, local contact names and phone numbers – your detailed itinerary is at your fingertips 24/7. Flight delays or cancellations will update automatically to your itinerary, as well as any changes we must make to your tour in the unlikely event we need to reschedule an activity. When you have questions, send your Oenotated Travel tour coordinator a message directly through the app, call or email our office, or ask your local destination contact.

Our travel app also includes restaurant recommendations, shopping suggestions, public transportation info, and more helpful city guides as an on-the-go resource to help you navigate your free time.

In case of any problems during your tour, or in the event of an emergency, your first call should be to the local contacts indicated in your itinerary. You will have a dedicated local tour coordinator in your destination to answer questions and manage any issues that arise. You will also have a 24/7 local emergency phone number to call for urgent matters outside of normal business hours.

If you purchase travel insurance through our partners at Allianz Global Assistance, you will also have a 24/7 global concierge available to assist you in medical emergencies or disaster situations, as well as access to a network of local doctors through in-person appointments or virtual visits from the comfort and privacy of your hotel room. Locate doctors, schedule appointments, get travel alerts, and manage your claims all through the Allyz® travel insurance app.

Yes, our tours can accommodate most food allergies or dietary restrictions. Just let us know in advance so we can give our local partners sufficient notice. We can also customize wine tours to include vegan wines that don’t use fining or clarifying agents derived from animals like egg whites, casein protein, gelatin, and isinglass.