Wine Breaks & Holidays for Individuals

Stay in a Margaux Chateau

Barrels in bordeaux

Tuscan gardens

Cognac

Special offers for Independent Wine Holidays, Early Bookings

Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours Independent Wine Holidays give you total flexibility with your date of departure. The accommodation options that we offer include stays at winery hotels and private wine chateaux or other small hotels that we have either personally stayed in or have used with huge success for clients already.

On all these Independent Wine Holidays (featuring cellar tours) there is a day out with our local guide with a car or "people-carrier" exclusively for you and your own party, so that no-one has to worry about navigating or discussing whose turn it is to drive and not enjoy the tastings. (Permitted drink-drive limits are very low in Europe and penalties are severe).

The private escorted day out includes a series of wine tastings with top local wine producers. Some of the trips also include a lunch with wines. You will always have our guides' restaurant recommendations and if no meal is pre-arranged you can choose and pay on the spot for your choice of menu based on your personal taste and appetite.

If you choose the exact itinerary as shown here, and essentially confirm with your deposit by no later than 14 weeks before departure, these special offers are available to you.

Tailor-Made Tours
Should you wish to make any changes to our special offer packages, book within 14 weeks of departure, stay longer, change accommodation, add extra tastings etc we will be very pleased to provide a verbal quote (please provide your phone number) for a personalised itinerary for you. However, please bear in mind that the price for a 'tailor-made' tour will be very much higher than the special offers that we have prepared for you here in exactly the same way that a tailor-made Saville Row suit costs more than an "off the peg" special offer one.

All changes to the special offer prices here, or late bookings will have a VERY significant impact on the price.

Bespoke Tailor made arrangements

A&C really can arrange very special tours for individuals and perhaps even better tours for small private groups. We can arrange tailor make wine trips to almost anywhere in the world. This comes at a price though and obviously tour tailor made to exactly suit all your personal requirements are very much more expensive than our scheduled tours or the special offers on 'Independent Wine Holidays' so do consider these first if you do not have a larger budget.

We have sent individual clients to Chile & Argentina, South Africa, Australia and all over Europe. In France: to Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy the Rhone and Provence. In Italy: Tuscany is a specialty, where you can stay at Chianti Classico castles. Piedmont also has superb winery hotels and accommodation with the possibility of great visits and tastings. In Spain or Portugal we can arrange something special, as we can even in Greece, where there is now some superb accommodation at the leading wine estates in stunning settings.

The limitations of Individual Wine Travel

Although there are many benefits to our innovative programme of Independent Wine Holidays there are some limitations due to the small party size: Firstly it is rarely possible to meet the owner of the chateau or the winemaker when you are travelling alone or in a small group. If you are on a top level wine tour led by an eminent members of the UK wine trade, doors can be opened and we guarantee serious tastings and private invitations at the world's most prestigious wine estates.

Secondly, unless the winery or chateau has a commercial restaurant or is actually a winery hotel, it is not possible to have private meals with them if you are just a small number of people. Sometimes a wine chateau will extend invitations to larger parties of wine lovers, but such chateaux are not open on a daily basis for individuals.

If you are looking for really high end visits and gourmet meals as private guests of the wine chateau, the opportunity to visit the First Growths and the most prestigious houses, or even stay at a great chateau, you should definitely be considering our fully escorted Classic or Reserve Collection tours.

As with all A&C tours we offer you 100% financial protection - which booking your own hotel then your travel arrangements on-line does not offer. Please give us a call, Arblaster & Clarke Wine Tours offers 22 years of wine touring experience – there is simply no more experienced wine tours team anywhere in the world.

Tours

Aÿ Champagne Festival: Self-Drive

2 - 5 July 2010

The Grand Cru village of Aÿ, the greatest of all the champagne villages, is holding its bi-annual champagne festival in 2010. Aÿ is home to many of the most famous houses such as Bollinger, Deutz & Gelderman, Gosset and Ayala...