City Wine Tours

This past Saturday during the snow storm for my mothers 40^th birthday, 7 of us when on the North end wine tour ! It was amazing ! We had 3 guys and 3 girls and we all equally loved it ! Wes was our guide! He was super knowledgable and so much fun! We also had a great group! We went to argosta, artu, and Boston bottles. The apps were awesome, especially the broccoli toast thing at artu. The wines were amazing ! My favorite were the two wines our last stop, Boston bottles ! The acting owner at the time was so sweet. I forgot her name, but I ended up purchasing each wine we tried ! It was overall amazing and well worth it ! I received a voucher through the gilt city app ($ 45 a ticket) then called into the wine tour customer service line and booked my tour! Very easy ! Loved it! Very awesome ! I think we are going to do another tour for my aunts birthday and my friends bachelorette party ! Wes you were the best ! Great time !

My friends and I went on a private tour for a bachelorette party and had a wonderful time! Our wine ambassador Vitali was the best and taught us so many new things about wine. We definitely got our money’s worth and more and had so much fun. Would definitely do this again and recommend this for any group activity.

Customer service is excellent — my gift certificate for two people only rung up as one online, and the information was fixed in 24 hours. A staff member even followed up after.
We went on the South End wine tour and had a nice time. I don’t think we learned a lot about wine, but we tried some new things, and visited some new restaurants. There were only 12 people in the group, so it is not crowded. A great way to spend an afternoon.

We haven’t been on the tour yet — doing the South End Wine Tour in September — but the customer service for City Wine Tours is absolutely the best. We were given gift certificates for the City Wine Tours at least a year ago, and they got buried. When we re-​discovered them, we figured they would have expired. But I thought I’d check anyway. I emailed City Wine Tours and received a very quick response, assuring me that the gift certificates are still good. The customer service rep stayed in regular email contact for over a week, till we chose a date and a specific tour. Very impressed and grateful.

I recently turned 30, which I think officially makes me a grown-​up. As an Official Grown-​Up, my dear friend took me on a Back Bay wine tour to celebrate. It was a blustery and snowy February afternoon, but we were determined to make the most of our tour.
The tour group was about 15 people ranging from age and wine experience. We were led by the amazing Joanne. She was an absolute delight and very knowledgeable.
We started our tour in a private room surrounded by hundreds of bottles of wine in one of Legal Seafood’s private wine cellars. There we tasted two really tasty wines, a Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot Noir — both exclusively bottled for Legal. At the first stop, Joanne went through the basics of how to taste wine. We swirled, we slurped, we sniffed. After two glasses, I was already feeling like a pro. The Legal staff was very friendly and accommodating. They brought out really tasty crab cakes to sample with our wines.
Next up, we trudged a few blocks to Post 390, where we were greeted with flatbread pizza and two of the tastiest wines on the tour. An Albarino (which I later found at Whole Foods for under $ 15! Wooo) and a Riserva Coperatino Negroamaro which was delightful. Here, Joanne gave us some inside info about screw top wines and why they get an undeserved bad rap. (Personally, I love a screw top wine. I’m all about accessibility.)
We finished the tour at L’Espalier, which was magical. We got a tour of the restaurant and kitchen (!!!). We were seated in the front room, lounging around in comfy chairs with the cheese cart close by. I didn’t want to leave. We finished the tour off with some tasty cheese and spreads and a Vernaccia di San Gimignano and a really tasty Port that was the perfect ending to the tour. The Vernaccia di San Gimignano was a last minute substitute as the wine we originally were supposed to try was corked. Joanne expertly handled the hiccup with the staff at L’Espalier without much fuss.
All in all, the tour was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon. I’d definitely do it again!

While the people we had in our group were amazing I would not do this again. The amount of wine and food you get isn’t worth the price. The presenter wasn’t giving you the name of wines so there was no way to figure out where to get the wines.

My friend and I wanted a fun way to see some of Boston since it was our first time visiting and what is better than getting to enjoy a sampling of wine and restaurants on the tour! The entire group met at the first restaurant for the South End Wine Tour and our tour guide kicked it off for the group of about 15. It was a mix of locals and tourists like ourselves. There was a bachelorette party in the group and I would say that it seemed like a great way to bring a group together for a fun afternoon.
Over the course of three stops we got to try two to three wines at each location and enjoy a couple of appetizer/​sampling items. From looking at all of the tours each option had really nice places and it was a great way to enjoy several nice places in one day without a huge hit to the wallet.
While we didn’t leave the tour with any new best friend, we had a nice afternoon with everyone and really enjoyed our tour guide. Would really recommend the South End tour, because I don’t think we would have found a reason to visit that section of the city otherwise.

We recently did a wine tour of the North End as part of my sister’s bachelorette party. We had a private tour with Joanne, who was wonderful! It was such a great way to walk around and see the North End. Plus, Joanne taught us so much about wines, but also made it incredibly fun! Honestly, after the first stop we were already talking about when we can book another tour.

I did a wine tour in the North End with a friend and it was wonderful! The weather was beautiful so our guide, Roz, moved us outside for the first stop at Aragosta, and we then visited Gennaro’s and Bottles (a wine store). At the two restaurants we had the opportunity to taste 2 different wines — Roz made sure that each one was distinct — and snack on some charcuterie platters.
Roz answered all of our questions and it was clear that she’s so passionate and knowledgeable about wine. I now think about wine very differently and have already purchased my favorite wine from the tour!

We had a wonderful North End tour with Roz Angoff! We learned a ton about particular wines and how to enjoy wine in general. There were also delicious snacks to accompany the wine and it was very pleasant to walk around to the the different stops. My friend bought a special kind of wine recommended by our guide Roz, and it is divine! We are in our 20s and definitely recommend City Wine Tours for the young and old!

What a pleasant surprise this was!
I wanted to do something different with my boyfriend a few weekend’s ago when the weather was nice and happened upon the groupon deal for city wine tours, I figured we should give it a try. We chose back bay as it is one of our favorite areas of Boston. Our tour leader Judy was very knowledgeable and friendly. Our stops included Legal Seafood, Flemings, and L’Espelier. All were pretty great but the wine/​food at Flemings was definitely my favorite. We got to have a tour at L’Espelier which I thought was cool too and that restaurant is amazing!
Great idea for an all girls afternoon as I’m not sure my boyfriend was overly thrilled with the idea… but hey they served him wine and food so he couldn’t complain!

Had a great time. Our guide, John, was very knowledgeable and helpful. Really enjoyed the restaurants, especially Masa.

We did the South End wine tour.
Let me first say that before booking this excursion I spoke with someone by the name of Kerry over the phone and she deserves a 5+ star for her great customer service.
Our first meeting point was at the Gaslight brasserie. It’s a beautiful restaurant and the food pairings they offered was delicious! The server for the food pairings was also really nice and explained what was on our plate which was a deliciously sweet cherry tomato, bruchetta with fois gras and then crabmeat over a bed of tart like hollondaise sauce. We were first served with a sparkling white wine followed by a red.
Our second restaurant was a short walk to Cinquecento. I absolutely loved the ambiance of this place and we sat at the bar for our next tasting. The food pairing consisted of cheese, sauteed apricots and prosciutto. This was paired with again another glass of white then followed by red wine.
Our last and my most favorite stop was at Masa. It was a 5 minute walk from Cinquencento Restaurant but as we arrived we were greeted with quite possibly the best pairing of this tour. Again, 2 glasses of reds and whites were served which summed it up to 6 glasses of varietals altogether.
So why the 3 stars?
Firstly, it started off a bit boring. Albiet that our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and knew his stuff about wine, we were shown how to open wine bottles which isn’t quite interesting.
Secondly, I was under the impression that the South End wine tour consisted of all sparkling wine which is it wasn’t especially for the reds.
The white wines were absolutely delicious but the reds were forgettable. I didn’t like any of them.
The tasting consisted of very little wine in your glass. I was just so disappointed with how little they offered that it in no way added up to 2 – 4 glasses of wine as the websites FAQ section mentioned.
Last, as much as I loved the food pairings at Masa it was served as family style whereas the previous 2 pairings were given in our own individual plates. Luckily for me, I was in a group with 4 family members so we each got to take a bite of something then passed it onto the other person. If we were stuck with strangers we’d be forced to choose what we took which also meant not getting the chance to taste the pairings.
All in all, the experience was okay but not great – It would be so much more worth it if it was cheaper. I’d highly recommend this wine tour if they chopped the price down to $ 50 as opposed to $ 66

For anyone who has never been to Boston and is trying to decide how to best plan their trip — may I recommend what we went with?! My friend and I visited Boston for the first time and decided to try City Wine Tours — so glad we did! We chose the South End tour, and I highly recommend this to anyone who’s trying to plan a first-​time trip to Boston. Most Boston natives might tell you to do the North End tour (and I’m sure that’s good), but if you are doing the walking tour of the Freedom Trail (which I highly recommend), you will do a good job of seeing most of this area already.
On our first day in Boston, my friend and I did the walking tour of the Freedom Trail and stopped for lunch at a little café in the North End and even hit up Mike’s Pasty, so we felt like we got a good tour of that whole area on our own. On the second day, we did our own tour of Harvard Square and that general area, so we really felt like Back Bay and the South End were the two areas that we hadn’t seen and felt the Wine Tour would be the best method to take in these areas on our final day in Boston (and it was!!). So between those two, we chose the South End because it’s supposed to be one of the up-​and-​coming areas of Boston with great new restaurants whereas the Back Bay is more of the older/​high-​end neighborhoods (and the restaurants on that tour were well-​known chains we’ve already been to). Being from Dallas, I would compare the Back Bay area to Highland Park and the South End to the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff if that helps at all (and on a personal and biased note, I really didn’t care for the Back Bay area that much — very crowded/​busy, whereas the South End was more laid back and had more character).
So as for the tour itself, I really enjoyed the three restaurants we went to: 1) Gaslight which is pretty well-​known in Boston and we had an amazing sampling of hors d’oeuvres there, as well as a nice greeting from their manager and staff who treated us very well; 2) Cinquecento — the appetizers here were a simple charcuterie and cheese duo. A basic but good pairing with our wine, but the best part of this was the ambiance here; such a cool/​open space and bar area; 3) Masa was our final stop and while we didn’t get our own hors d’oeuvres like the other two places, we actually got a bigger variety of options to share (amongst our group) along with our pairing; excellent food, and although the place was relatively empty (4:30pm on a Saturday afternoon), the group was much more lively and chatty by then, so we were all having a good time. Overall, our guide was great and I learned some new things about wine that I didn’t previously know from other tastings I’ve done.
In addition to the other reviews, I will say that our particular group only ended up being 9 people (I think the tour caps out at 12 + the guide = 13), and surprisingly, my friend and I were the only out-​of-​towners that day, so that was particularly nice to share some of our Boston experiences with locals!
And finally, to anyone planning a trip to Boston and would like to know how we structured our three days there (which worked out quite nicely):
Day One (Thursday) — Freedom Trail (includes many historic sites, Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, and the North End), Boston Public Garden then a quick walk through Beacon Hill area; Dinner by the harbor at Boston Sail Loft (amazing clam chowder)
Day Two (Friday) — Harvard Square, Harvard Museum of Natural History (they also had a vintage market and food trucks outside the Science Center that day); stopped by Fenway Park and had a drink at Remy’s; Boston Harbor Sunset Cruise that evening (awesome!), dinner at Marliave (a hidden gem as our Boston friends informed us, and oyster happy hour at 9pm!)
Day Three (Saturday) — walked through the Back Bay area; Brunch at Tremont 647 followed by City Wine Tour in the South End; dinner at Legal Seafood (get the stuffed lobster!!!)
Oh! I almost forgot — I bought a discount coupon through Unilocal for my City Wine Tour, but when I tried to redeem the code on their website, it didn’t work. However, their representative was so quick and helpful in getting the refund/​discount applied, so thank you to City Wine Tours for the great experience and customer support!!!

Had a great time on the North End Wine tour with friends! Sarah Cummings was an excellent tour guide.

Wine tour & restaurant tour all in one! It can’t get better than that! If you’ve always wanted to try a new or different restaurant in the city but wanna do it in an unconventional way, this is the way to go. For any girls out there thinking of an idea for a bachelorette party or birthday celebration, this is a fun way to spend the afternoon or evening!
In a nutshell we chose the Back Bay tour because of the 5-​Star French restaurant that was a part of the tour! It was the last stop and one of the most beautiful restaurants I ever stop foot in! (for a 10 course meal at this restaurant, i believe it was $ 200 a person). We didn’t get a 10-​course meal, however, we were able to enjoy great company, great wines and fine parings for each wine. Each stop was very similar: 2 glasses (Red /​White) paired with appetizers/​samplings.
There were about 10 – 12 people on the tour. Some were local and some have traveled from afar. When there is a room full of strangers and alcohol: it will surely spell fun and trouble. It was funny to see that at the beginning of the tour, everyone was shy and reserve HOWEVER by the 2^nd restaurant, everyone was giggling like a bunch of kids!
Advice — Wear comfortable shoes; take a T, Cab, Bus or Walk!
Looking forward to book another tour when family & friends visit!

I can’t express how grateful I am to City Wine Tours. Saturday for my friend’s bachelorette party I decided to start the day with the 3pm tour. I asked everyone to buy tickets for the back bay tour. Then, a complete failure on my part I brought everyone to the starting location for the south end tour. Our tour guide was absolutely amazing. He didn’t seem fazed at all to unexpectedly have six extra girls on the tour. He called his manager got everything straightened out and made sure there were enough settings for all of us on his now very full tour. Every location we went to was amazing and also had no problem accommodating the larger size group. Our tour guide didn’t even seem to mind that at some locations he now had to explain things twice so everyone could hear. Never at any point did I feel like I had messed up (which I clearly had). We had an amazing time and I give serious props to an organization that react to a situation were the customer was most definitely in the wrong but continues to treat them as if they weren’t.
I would definitely recommend City Wine Tours, there’s something for everyone! Thank you City Wine Tours!

I went on the South End city wine tour in October and it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. We started off at Gaslight, then went over to Stella and ended at Masa. At each location we tasted 2 different wines along with a sample of food from each restaurant. The tour guide was very knowledgable and I actually learned some new things about wine! I would highly recommend and look forward to trying the other tours.

Wine tour in the South End on a surprisingly warm spring New England Saturday? Plus over-​sized treats at each restaurant? So many wins in such a short amount of time.
My friend Melissa and I purchased a deal from
(now part of the gilt group). It’s great because you have the choice to use the voucher for four different Boston neighborhoods, each one representing a different aspect of the city. We chose the South End, the one neighborhood neither of us really knew well. At each stop you receive 2 different wines.
First stop– Gaslight. Once everyone arrive, our leader (forget his name but he was fantastic! I’ll call him Greg to make this review easier) asked us to give introductions and the types of wines we like. Greg began talking about the wine making process and the various components involved in each step. We were given a lovely rose to start and were able to sip as Greg talked. As all this was going on, food arrived and the owner/​manager came by to talk about the restaurant. After the rose we had a crisp chardonnay– normally I don’t like chardonnay but it was tasty.
Second stop– Noche. We were whisked away to the back room, which had large windows facing the street. We received the most food here at Noche. Lamb lollypops? Asparagus and other grilled goodness? Maybe not enough for dinner but it was very filling. The wine was ok, we had another chardonnay to compare with the one at Gaslight. The red wasn’t overly memorable, but it was good.
Final stop– Masa. This was my favorite for both wines and food. Super cool interior and friendly staff added to the awesomeness. We had tapas served with our wines, bubbly and a Spanish red. By this point, Melissa and I were became friends with other women in the group.
Such a fun and educational day!

I’ve been on two City Wine tours (bought on groupon– great deal!) so far, and both were delightful.
The first tour (Back Bay) was scheduled right during hurricaine Irene. I was also 3 days out of (minor) knee surgery. But, alas, wine is a priority so my friend and i trudged through the rain and wind (OK, so I was more limping than trudging) into Morton’s which was the first stop. From there we went to Maggianiano’s, and then to Bacco’s. The wine was DELICIOUS at all three stops, and the tour guide was super friendly and knew her stuff! I’d actually never heard of Bacco’s before, and will definitely make a point to check it out next time I’m in the Back Bay.
The second tour I’ve done was the North End, which starts at Aragosta, and then goes to Davide, and finally to the Wine Bottega. Again, the tour guide was great, and the wines were delicious. Plus, I have to thank City Wine Tours for intorducing me to the Wine Bottega– what a great shop!
I defintiely plan on trying the other two tours (Harvard Sq. and South End) in the future.
Also, I was going to suggest maybe branching out from the same places– but I see that the Back Bay tour now includes different places than it did less than a year ago, which is awesome. I hope more restaurants/​shops get on board with this tour, because it really is something different to do!