Wine Lover's Tour of Peljesac Peninsula

Very good transport, guide and nice two wine tastings. :-) Bonus: very nice views!! Whole trip time about 5,5 hours.

Excellent small group tour! The Good: - Bo our guide and our driver picked us up on time at our hotel just outside of Old Town Dubrovnik. - There were only 6 of us on the tour so we got great attention from Bo as well as from the staff/owners at the two wineries we visited. - The 3:00 pm start time was perfect and allowed us to do some other activities in the morning and early afternoon. I'm very glad we chose this over an all-day tour. - We learned a lot about the grapes they grow on the Pelijesac Peninsula, the wine-making process including how it's changed since Croatia became independent, the different types of wine they produce, sell and export. Bo asked us each what our level of expertise was / our wine-drinking style at the start of the trip and tailored his explanations and information accordingly so it wasn't too high-level or too basic for us. - Bo had great verbal descriptions of the wines we tasted. One was wet stone' which sounds ridiculous but perfectly captured a characteristic of one of the wines. - I never felt unsafe in the van despite all the switchback, narrow roads and lack of guardrails. We had a great driver too. - The wine itself was good and different from what I'm used to. As more of a white-wine drinker I wasn't sure I'd like this tour since the Peljesac Peninsula mainly produces red wines, but I was pleasantly surprised. - We tried 3 - 4 different wines at each of the wineries, which was plenty. At the second winery they asked us each to choose our favorite and poured us a glass of that as well. - The snack at the second winery we visited not sure if it's always the same wineries or if they rotate among several in the region was definitely more than a snack and delicious. Crusty, fresh-baked bread, olives, cured meats, nuts, and cheeses were presented beautifully on a long board for us all to share. It was local and fresh. - Both wineries we stopped at produced organic wine. I noticed I didn't have a headache the next day from drinking red wine, like I normally would, which was a great bonus. You were right, Bo! - They didn't pressure you to buy something at each stop. It was definitely presented as an option but I never felt like they were putting the hard-sell on me. The two bottles we ended up purchasing were good choices for us and our budget. None of the wine was crazy-expensive either. - We stopped between the first and second wineries to see the vineyards on the side of the hills and actually tried the Plavac Mali means small blue grape ourselves. - Bottled water on the bus. - I thought seeing the town of Ston might be touristy or boring but it was neither. It wasn't a long stop but gave us enough time to see how they harvest the salt and hear more about the history of the area, including the stone walls around the city. Things to Know: - If you're wondering what to wear I'd suggest something nice but casual. Most of the women wore sundresses or something similar and the men had polo shirts and nice shorts or trousers on. Women should wear flats or wedges. Heels wouldn't be a good idea for the terrain but there isn't a lot of walking. - We received an email the day before our tour re-confirming our pickup time and location. Contact them if you don't get one by the morning of your tour. - This is not like a bar crawl, so if that's what you're looking for then this tour isn't for you. You might end up a little buzzed at the end of it, but that's about it. - This tour doesn't run every day of the week, so be strategic with your time in/near Dubrovnik so you can include it. - One of our bottles of wine got stolen out of our luggage on the way back to the U.S. but we didn't have any problem bringing the one we had left back into the country. I would highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in learning about wine, drinking wine, seeing some of the countryside around Dubrovnik, and enjoying a relaxing and fun afternoon/evening.

This was a really lovely truly local experience with great wines and great guides. Anna was extremely knowledgeable about wine and Croatian wines in particular, and both she and Bozidar were unbelievably friendly. It's great for a half day away from the city/beach!