ARC’s Wine Plus

I wish I read the previous reviews before making this phone call.
Today I called the main number for information and spoke to Alicia (sp?) for information. Extremely rude and unprofessional. I thought we were disconnected, but when I called a second time, she said, «You called this number already. WHY ARE YOU CALLING?» ARC just lost business for 400 people. That’s why I was calling…

We had Alicia as our guide for a bachelorette party and had a wonderful time! In the planning stages she will work with you to set up a payment options for a group, that way none of us had to put down our card to cover for the whole group! We all agreed that we will definitely use this service in the future :)

My friends and I bought the ARC Hill Country Wine Tour from Living Social for about $ 30. Trying to schedule the tour was really confusing, because the system they have on their main website is not the same system/​website that you book with if you have a Living Social deal (it was a
site). My first recommendation is to include, somewhere on your website, a link to your
site for people who have Living Social/​Groupon deals. I also submitted multiple emails from the website’s «contact us» page without any response. When I did call Alicia to check if she received my emails, she claimed that she had not, but she had yet to even ask me my name… Weird. Anyway, this could have gone alot smoother.
The actual tour was okay. My friend read reviews about Alicia showing up late, and she did. We were all on the bus for the most part and she showed up maybe 4 – 5 minutes late. I completely agree that she, as the business owner and tour guide, should be the first person there with the driver. Second recommendation — show up early and take care of checking people in as they arrive, not 10 – 15 minutes after the tour was supposed to start.
Alicia talked to us the entire way telling us the history of wine making in the Texas Hill Country, and that was really nice. We were sitting in the very back, so it was hard to hear her. I would get a small microphone to help with that, because the stuff she was saying was very informative. We went to 3 different wineries. All were excellent, and we learned alot. My favorite was Singing Water.
After the 2^nd winery, Alicia put on this wine tasting dvd while we were on the bus, which was basically a «Master of Wine» talking about how much she knows about wine. It was insanely comical. We were all thinking «omg is this chic serious?» I do like that Alicia tried to give us a break from hearing her talk, and she probably needed it to, but there HAS to be some better material to show us. Please, get another dvd that is not so obnoxious. I did a quick youtube search on «Wine 101» and a handful of much better options popped up.
All in all, we had a fun time. I feel bad for giving only two stars, but the truth is, there is alot of room for improvement. Had I paid the full $ 100+ dollars for this wine tour I would be outraged. It was fine for $ 30 bucks though.

We were expecting an average tour but were pleasantly surprised by the tour guides knowledge and passion regarding the Texas Wine Region. The tastings were well above average and we actually learned little factoids about wine and the Hill Country. I would highly recommend this tour based on absolute value and fun.

We were on the tour on ⁰¹⁄₁₃. The bus was nice, Alicia was pleasant and knowledgeable. The tour is definitely worth it. She didn’t talk about tipping or making fun at others offensively at all. We went to 3 wineries in Federickberg. A lot of relaxing time. Lunch was satisfying. It was chicken salad sandwich with chip and cookies. The wine testing was great. I read the reviews in the past and I think Alicia has listened to all the critics and has improved the services. The only reason I gave 4 stars because before the tour took off, Alicia was late 7 min. while about 25 customers was waiting on the bus. The guide should be the first one there. Anyway, take the tour… it was fun and nice scenery.

I realized this would not be a professionally run operation when we got on the bus. The tour guide stood up, gave us all a big smile, and immediately said, «I’m not going to talk much to y’all this time because I’m tired and I don’t feel like it.»
It all went downhill from there. She then told us she was not a wine expert and explained her business at length, asking us to please tip her and telling us about her money issues. Despite her first statement, she never once paused for breath the entire ride to Fredericksburg, alternatively talking about her personal taste in wine, sharing a random, vague tidbits of information about wine and Texas, and telling us more about her personal thoughts about wine and how she treated her friends who didn’t appreciate it properly. She occasionally asked questions about the groups’ tastes in wine and was condescending to those who answered ‘wrong.‘
My seatmate and I were looking out the window during the bus ride and we occasionally whispered to each about the sites we saw on the way there since this was our first trip out to Fredericksburg. The tour guide heard our whispering and chided us like naughty schoolgirls. She then told us about another customer who asked her to stop talking so much and how she told him off as well. We were astonished.
I look younger than my age, which occasionally gets me treated in a very condescending manner, and this was one of these occasions. I was the only one she carded, which I could understand, but then she made non-​stop cracks about my relative youth and taste in wine. She asked who liked sweet wines, and since I was one of the ones who raised my hand, she repeatedly told me I would someday «grow into my big girl pants,» assuming I was completely ignorant of good wine, that familiar creature, due to my youthful appearance. She was also rude and/​or condescending to the rest of my party and some of our fellow wine tourists. I could see why she found it necessary to repeatedly remind all of us about tipping her.
Lunch was very small and disappointing: a small turkey sandwich on dry bread, a small bag of chips, and a cookie.
The wine tastings themselves were fabulous! We really, really enjoyed the wineries when the tour guide left us to ourselves and we were allowed to chat and taste. To quote Jefferson, «Wine brightens the life and thinking of anyone!» We also appreciated the bathroom breaks the bus made there and back. Though we will avoid ARC like the plague, we intend to attempt a proper wine tour in that area. There are many other similarly priced wine tour options in the area that I recommend trying before this company. For a few dollars more, you can actually do three wineries in a limo with Fredericksburg Wine and Limo. Fredericksburg is lovely and the wines are fabulous!

My husband and I did theTexas Hill Country Wine Tour. It was GREAT! Alicia was very nice and informative. Since we are pretty new to San Antonio, She told us about all of her favorite places in the Hill Country and more. I could not write them down fast enough. Can not wait to try some of her other tours. I highly recommend this tour!

Great tour and excellent value! Very funny guide.