Driver experience

I have been to Napa/Sonoma Valley a number of times in the last four years. I love Napa.
This last trip, I decided to become a responsible adult and hire a car service. Sara Jo and I discussed it, at length, and I knew that Lindsay and Megan would be on board with hiring a car. Why limit the enjoyment factor because we were too cheap to hire a car? There was no reason to force someone to not enjoy wine while tasting. I was unwilling to sacrifice myself for the greater good. I didn't want to be the driver on Sunday.
Realistically, it made perfect sense and so Sara found us a car service. She called me before committing to a specific service. We had a few options. There was a limo service, a town car or a suburban.
Immediately, we rejected the idea of the limo. Too pretentious and cumbersome. Pulling into a winery seemed foolish in the limo since it shouted out our presence.
The town car was cheaper than the suburban, but smaller, too. Someone would have to sit with the driver and that wasn't part of the equation. And, the suburban service would be discounted due to our running the Healdsburg 1/2 Marathon. I told Sara to arrange the driver through them.
Our driver arrived on time. He was older, efficient and seemed willing to do whatever we wanted as long as it didn't go outside of the prearranged time limit. Driving to Sonoma took awhile and of course, we had the tram tour which further ate away at our 6 hour time limit. From Benziger, we asked the guy to drive to Imagery. Ironically, he had to look at the map to see which way to go. I had the comp pass with a map on it and so I handed it to him. First indication that he wasn't all that.
And, I noticed that he didn't have a wine opener with him. Why have a driver if you cannot drink in the car?
We walked up to Imagery and our driver accompanied us. For some reason, this was a service he provided. I didn't know I needed someone to hold my hand on the way to the individual wineries.
Imagery was fantastic. Jenna, our guide, was sweet and dressed in costume. We tried several additional wines and found Megan a port. From this point, Megan, had a new nickname---Sipper. They had port glasses with thin straws attached. When you sip port, you were forced to sip through the spot and the port touched your tongue's sweet area immediately. We christened Megan, Sipper, since she hearts Port. Ahhhhhhhhh, Sipper was born.
We asked Jenna where she enjoyed tasting. She said--St. Francis--done already, Chateau St. Jean--I had done that one on a previous visit and agreed that she had excellent taste or Ledson. Again, I had tasted at Ledson before.
Then, she said--Enkidu.
Intrigued, I looked at the Sonoma Tasting Magazine and decided that that should be our next stop. It was near Imagery and the wines were supposed to be fantastic! Why not head there?
And, Jenna knew one of the guides there since Maggie also worked at Imagery.
Returned to car and told driver of our next destination. He had purchased a wine opener, for us; yet, still had not glasses to taste from.
I told him that we wanted to conclude our tasting tour at Chandon. I like sparkling wines and know that the tasting room at Chandon is always lively and packed. A fun tasting for sure.
Our driver looked at his watch and expressed his concerns. Time would be an issue, but we could make it.
Enkidu was delightful. Small, intimate and had a wonderful story as to why it was named as such. Remember Gilgamesh? That's right. This is how Enkidu was named. I love details and historical accounts.
I purchased a wine and we decided food was our next stop. A market was around the corner and so sandwiches were chosen. I opened the wine from Enkidu and we toasted Halloween, friendship and wine tasting. I convinced the clerk at the store to give us four cups so we could drink wine.
I knew we were cutting it close on time, but felt we could squeeze one more winery in Sonoma before heading to Chandon. VJB was within walking distance of Enkidu and so our driver remained in his spot. We walked over to the winery.
VJB specializes in Italian varietals. I loved the Primitivo and Aglianico.
We returned to the car and I asked our driver, do we have time to make it to Chandon?
He turned around and said, no. However, if you want to go there, we can extend your time by 15 minute increments for this amount.
I asked him to return us to our home in Napa. Gratuity had been included in the prearranged rate. We were happy to pay that, but realistically, my friends are all service oriented and we would have tipped on top of it had be provided service. He didn't. Let's review.
No wine opener to start with.
No glasses to drink wine from.
I provided the direction to Imagery.
What did he provide?
A vehicle that drove us to three wineries.
He didn't drink and so his suggestions were limited to popular spots that others wanted to go too.
Unhappy with this service for the amount we paid.
However, it was the smart thing to do. If I choose to hire a driver, again, I will ask for recommendations from people that live in the area. I know there must be some hip driver that is knowledgeable about the area, enjoys wine and is willing to overlook some of the time constraints.
And, I would pay for it.