Perfect Pairing Tours

ON TAP TOURS — OR WHAT NOT TO DO IN WINE COUNTRY!
Eight of us went to Temecula on Friday, 10÷2÷2015 — the weather was lovely — the tour was NOT — we paid $ 70.00 per couple (supposedly a discounted rate) which was totally worthless.
Ian, one of the owners of the company, met us 15 minutes late at a Winery Tasting Room, where the manager had no idea we were coming, but did a good job of making us feel welcome and we enjoyed some tastings. There was no food to accompany the tastings (which was not what we were told).
The itinerary was totally unplanned, shops didn’t know we were coming in most cases and most were not thrilled that we expected samples (again, something we were told). We returned to the original tasting room where there were some appetizers available, but we were finished with them when Ian showed up with the required coupons for wine, all of which we had already tasted earlier. We were left there for well over an hour waiting for our lunch plan, which turns out didn’t exist, Ian was negotiating a price and seating just minutes before I found him on the street and said we want lunch NOW! The restaurant, which luckily was good, had never worked with this company before even though Ian touted how great they are here, etc., etc. Without our knowledge or consent Ian told us what he had ordered for us, which was our last straw — we ate what we selected, and then we went on our own way. To get a straight, or even the same story from Ian was impossible, he truly has no clue how to run a business or please a customer.
First, you don’t need a tour to go to Old Town Temecula, it is a compact town with tasting rooms that you can wander in and out of, paying their tasting fees, or better yet, go through town and take in some of the specialty shops then head to a winery or two and enjoy the countryside and the wine.

This is now called «On Tap Tours». All of the other one star reviews are spot on. The only thing that redeemed this tour was the STUDENT (NOT an official gourmet chef) from the culinary school. Althena brought much more food than our guide expected and it was delicious. Thank goodness she did since our scheduled last stop at a great restaurant was cancelled at the last minute. Ian had a dozen excuses. Instead we ended up at Lorimar with fabulous wine. However, the great pairing from a selected winery and top-​notch restaurant that we paid for as a part of the tour, ended up being a «you choose» your tastes and some store bought fruit you could dip in the chocolate Ian melted in the corner of the tasting room.

BUYER BEWARE!!! SAME AS TASTE OF TEMECULA!!! I agree with Ann, if I could give no stars I TOTALLY would! This clown Ian is a total scam artist. He stalked me for 4 days until I finally purchased 8 tickets to this so called gourmet wine tour. $ 125 & almost 2 weeks later… my promised «in the mail» tickets have NOT arrived. I’ve called this man & of course no answer or reply to my messages. I finally just called my bank to open up a fraud investigation. Thankfully my bank reimbursed me & now I’m on a mission to let others know that this business is a joke. If you want to go on a real wine tour check out Grapeline Wine Tours.
***I also submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau***

If I could give no stars, I would. The starting with the Olive Oil was wonderful, but once we left there, the tour became decidedly shady. We were scavenging for samples at the Sweet Shop, and Ian made frequent comments about how he would front the $ 5 for us at the Root Beer place (??? We paid for this???).
We should have gone to Costco — certainly would have got more food. My whole group was starting to wonder if we were really on a reality show, designed to see how much utter nonsense we would take. Half the group disappeared after the second stop. I left with my 2 friends after we decided the only thing we’d be eating that day was our money. :-(
Don’t do it!!!

Although I live in the area I’ll admit that most of my treks to Old Town are in the car to a specific location. I’ll also admit that I’ve seen the tour a few times and secretly wondered what is was about.
We began at Villa di Calabro for delectable flavored olive oils & balsamic vinegars. Again, I had intended on checking this place out every time I visited Public House. By the way, it’s yummy. Stop by and ask Mike if he’ll let you try the peach melba! Your tastebuds can thank me later for that experience!!!
Making our pass through Farmer’s Market we noshed on the best cashew brittle I’ve ever had.
Followed by a trip to Knucklehead’s, The Sweet Shop, Old Town Rootbeer, Spice Merchant and finishing it up with Lorimar.
What I enjoyed most was visiting places that I always wanted to and never made the time with new friends.
Having been a meetup organizer I know first hand how challenging it is to pull off an event like this, I applaud the effort of everyone involved. If you’re open to new experiences I suggest you check it out.

**FYI: This business is the same as the «Taste of Temecula» business***
My bridesmaids had arranged with this «business», what they thought was going to be a fabulous tour of Old Town Temecula, for part of my Bachelorette festivities.
We had to make the best of our time during the tour, because it turned out to be a complete rip off. My girls had put so much time and money into planning out this «tour», and it turned out to be a scam. The concept of the «tour» is fantastic — it really is. However, the execution is absolutely terrible. Disastrous, even. All 5 of us left before the «tour» was even over, because it was a complete waste of time. We ended up heading out to a couple of the nearby wineries, and had a GREAT time. We had certainly left Old Town with a bad taste in our mouths.
The «Directors of Fun», as they call themselves, had the large group (there were about 25 people who started the «tour») trekking up and down the main street in Old Town on a hot day. We had hardly any food and wine samples, so everyone was getting hot, tired, hungry, and thirsty. Only a few of the businesses we visited were even expecting our group to come by. The lack of organization was obvious.
Please do not waste your time and money. I do NOT recommend whatsoever.

UnilocalERS BEWARE– this is the same as «Taste of Temecula»…same operator… same lack of professionalism and organzations… same BS.
FIRST– do not waste your money, whether you think you got a great deal thru Groupon or Living Social. It’s just not worth it!!!
I planned this event for my BFF (the bride to be) soirée. In the beginning, Ian was responsive and had great ideas for the event. Then I made the mistake of putting a“deposit” in, in which he charged ($ 250 X 4)… when I tried to reached out to him, he had so many different excuses. The communication from him became less frequent to non-​existent. He also charged us more per person ($ 49pp) because there would be a «special gift» for the bride at each venue and the itinerary he provided us included additional wine and food tasting…
I quickly became frustrated of being overcharged that I had one of other members in the bridal party reach out to him to follow-​up on the plans for the event… the day before the event, we get two different itineraries with different meeting points. We didn’t know which one to go to… finally we call him and it was the one that he sent to me (to meet at some Mexican Restaurant) on Front St. It seem very promising and he provided us with VIP badge… except the VIP badge was meaningless…
Our bridal party was a part of a groupon/​living social group outing
There was no «special gift» for the bride at each stop…
We were told to «pace» ourselves, but all we had to eat was mediocre mexican food… and at the Lorimar Winery… unmelted «fondue» with supersized marshmallows, slimy strawberries and bananas and huge brusied apples… he didn’t even have the decency to put it normal serving plates, it was a styrofoam 99 cent plates.
Obviously, at this point we were so annoyed by the lack of organization and the awkward tour guide (he called himself the Director of Fun). I asked Ian, what was going to be next venue. He had the audacity to be sarcastic and say «don’t you know, I sent you the itin?» I asked him to be specific and he said there was 2 more stops (including another winery)…but apparently from the review below it was BS.
At that time, I was over the bullsh*t and we left. FYI– «Taste of Temecula» is also «A Pefect Pairing Tour» on Unilocal (they have also received negative Unilocal Reviews, due to the lack of organization and false promises…
Unilocalers– Do NOT waste your money, you can do your own self-​guided tour in Old Town Temecula and use that money to treat yourself to something much more better!

Awful. Got this through Living Social so I’m glad I didn’t get ripped off for the full price for this tour.
1^st stop at the balsamic/​oil tasting? Awesome!
2^nd stop was the Tesoro wine shop. It was ok, but we got some pumpkin mousse and vanilla wafers as «gourmet food». That is not gourmet food.
3^rd stop was the local cheese shop where the power apparently was out and the fondue we were promised did not melt. It looked like shoestrings in dirty water and tasted like it too. Awful.
4^th stop was The Spice Merchant. A fun stop but had zero «gourmet food» and zero wine.
After 3.5 hours, with NO food in our stomach’s, we were looking forward to the stop at The Old Town Cantina, where we were told we were going to get so much food and wine we should «pace ourselves». We got beer and sangria but only enough food (tacos, taquitos) for half our group. We did not get ANY FOOD. We got chips and salsa but that is hardly «gourmet food».
After the last stop, we were starved and bailed out to get food.
This was a total rip off. Don’t do it.

My wife and I have traveled all over the world and last Saturday the 8^th of September 2012, was one of the best entertaining, and culinary education experience days, we have ever enjoyed. This tour was FANTASTIC ! The Gene B, person who wrote their review on 9÷8÷12 was absolutely WRONG, INCORRECT OR LYING. First of all there was only one tour that day, and it was lead by Trudy, not Christine. Trudy was one of the nicest tour guides we have ever had on any of the hundreds of tours we have taken around the world. Trudy was beautiful, informative, and very organized, as she lead our group of 12 couples around Old Town Temecula to 3 wineries, 2 restaurants, a chocolate and candy store, a Spice merchant store, a historical Jail house, and an Olive oil store. We started at Villa Di Calabro Winery and Olive Oil Company, where we all sat outside in the patio area of the winery and store in beautiful setting under some trees were the sounds of peaceful running water could be heard from the large beautiful water fountains located on the property. Mike the owner was very nice and funny as he educated the group on Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars by mixing 12 different favors that the group could taste with pieces of bread. Make sure you try a glass of their Peach Sangria also, it was very good. Next we went to the Tesoro Winery, where we sampled many different wines and enjoyed Tapas, with Mango Salsa and a 3 bean dip, in was great ! We then went to the Old Town Spice Company which was a great educating experience. Hundreds of spices from all over the world, a very unique store where we were given a $ 5.00 off store coupon. We then went to the Old Town Cantina where we sat at a Mexican sports bar and enjoyed pitchers of delicious Sangria and tons of delicious food which included, Carnitas, Pollo Asado, and Carne Asada Tacos, Grilled Chili’s, Bean Tostadas, Carne Asada Nachos, Taquitos, Salsas and Guacamole. It was delicious ! We then stopped by the Old Town Sweet shop to taste different Chocolates and Fudge samples. Next we tasted several nice wines at the Lorimar Winery and then visited The Historical Old Town Temecula Jail House before we finished the tour at Sweet Lumpy’s Barbecue. There we tasted delicious food which included, fried zucchini, jalapenos, and corn fritters, which we finished off with a glass of their famous beer. The tour was supposed to last 4 hours, but because of Trudy and her willingness to give the group the most thorough tour possible, the tour actually lasted 5 full hours. A fantastic way to spend an enjoyable day meeting new friends, learning and being educated about the many different fields in the wine and food industry, and enjoying wonderful food and wine. A must do, for everyone ! I highly recommend this tour ! will be sending all my friends and family on the tour.

Not a perfect pairing at all. Where do I start? How about the owner who actually designed the tour, told us that the tour began at 2 and check in was at 1:30 and when we arrived at 1:20, the lady at the meeting place told us that we are really late and that the tour started at 12! We were shocked and caught by surprise. The sommelier asked us who told us 2? We said the tour owner, Ian. She then said, «well yes, of course» and she rolled her eyes. She was very kind to contact the tour guide and she made her way by the wine bar to pick us up and do a «half» of
the «gourmet» tasting and tour. If nachos, chicken wings, and quesadilla at the Bank Restaurant is considered «gourmet» then ok. But the Bank is not gourmet. Furthermore, we ended up going to Lumpy’s for more wings and fried pickles for more «gourmet foods». Again, I like The Bank and Lumpy’s but they are not gourmet. Our tour guide, Christine, whole-​heatedly apologized for the mix up and said something will be done for missing half of the tour and that we’d be offered something. While speaking to the two other couples, they told us that they were told that they weren’t even having a tour that day! Can you believe that?
They confirmed the tour, drove down to Temecula, arrive, and first thing they were told was that there was no tour. We were told there was a tour, but at a wrong time.
Later at the end of the tour, we asked Christine, our tour guide, about the «offer» she said she would handle. She said, oh yes” and called Ian, the owner. Christine told us that Ian would like to speak to us and started yelling at my girlfriend who arranged the whole anniversary surprise and Ian complained that we were trying to take advantage of him, blaming us, and even said, «what do you want? You got most of the tour… and the olive tasting is free in town anyway and you can do that whenever you want!». We said we didn’t ask for anything but that his tour guide was covering for all his errors and that she was trying her best to make our experience as pleasant as possible.
We chose not to talk to Ian anymore and left. Christine promised us that she or Ian will call by 10am the next day, Sunday morning. We didn’t get a call until 11:30 while we were checkin out. We were quite disappointed as we drove 2 hours to Temecula and spent over $ 100 for a room. Ian then tells us that Christine put him on the spot, she loses him money, and that he fired her. This is not what you tell a customer. Then he goes on to tell us that he was in a bad mood the day before and that his car broke down, and that Christie said that Ian «had to take care of the couple for what they went through». Obviously, not wanting to take responsibility for his mistakes, he preferred to lash out at her and us.
We had to call Amazon to get our money refunded and Ian didn’t offer a thing.
It is unfortunate that small business owners like him prey on unsuspecting customers through Amazon local deals, Groupon, and Living Social to build a business and then just become vicious when they drop the ball and you point it out.

The Taste of Temecula was a very nice experience. The tour offers you great locations that you can easily land on an instant favorite. I would definitely being doing this tour again. I loved our guide, Trudy. She is refreshing and fun. Great experience!

Stay away from the far from «Perfect Pairing Tour»
We bought this deal on Amazon local with promises of gourmet food and wine tastings, professional chef led tour + $ 20 credit toward any of the shops you visit –HA! That’s what they would like you believe! For starters, their website wasn’t set up for booking online although it said it was. After calling them to book a tour,(20 mins. into the call) giving the owner helpful hints on how to make his website more user friendly and pointing out errors on the website like the 2 check in times that are posted for the same tour:
Check in at 11:30 am Tour Starts at 12:00 pm sharp.
Check in at 1:30 pm and Tour starts at 2:00 pm sharp.
I was told (by the owner) all tours start at 2:00 and check in is at 1:30 because they want the tour to end at the beginning of happy hour at Sweet Lumpy’s.
After inquiring about the 3 types of tours posted on their website, I was told they are all the same.
That should have been our first clue the to highly disorganized, sloppy, unprofessionalism we encountered… all starting with the owner of this business himself! YIKES! Unfortunately, he makes it an absolute mess for everyone involved.
We arrived for our tour at 1:30 pm for our tour (that is supposed to start at 2) as that it is the time the owner told us to arrive only to find out that the tour had already left because it started at noon! Well, the gracious lady at Villa di Calabro called the tour company for us.
Someone apologized to us for the confusion and asked who had told us to arrive when we did. When everyone figured out the owner is the one responsible for our late arrival, we were promised that they would make it up to us somehow because we had already missed half of the tour. We were told they would comp. dinner for us to make sure we were happy since we had booked a hotel room down the street to come in to town just for this event.
The tour guide came to pick us up and walk us over to join the tour, so that we could at least enjoy the last ½ of it. Turns out the others on the tour had been told there was no tour scheduled for that day when they arrived!
We felt bad for Kristine the tour guide. She had to pick up the slack for the obvious mess she did not create. All stops along the way were not surprised by the lack of organization. What a trooper Kristine was! She was fabulous!
Apparently, these tours are new and we were just tour #6. We were on the «happy hour tour» and those begin in 2 weeks, though the website doesn’t say so, and the owner says the tours are all the same.
All this to say, we had fun on the ½ tour we did manage to have. However, no promised gourmet food tasting, no professional chef led tour + $ 20 credit toward any of the shops you visit. We had a Mexican food appetizer platter to share, and deep fried happy hour fare, oh I guess the chocolate covered bacon is considered a «specialty» there.
So, this nightmare continues…
We were told a variety of things that they would do to make up for owner’s mistake: a comp. dinner, to a private tour, for the same night… which turned into the same promises for the next day since we had booked a hotel.
At the end of our tour, Kristine — offered to have us go to another wine tasting and participate in an «open mic». We were not in the mood to sing and were wondering when or who will handle the comp offer. I mentioned this to Kristine and she was a bit surprised about it. Our tour guide steps away to call the owner unbeknownst to us and then suddenly hands me the phone to speak directly with the owner, Ian. An angry Ian, gives me an earful about how we got «most of the tour» minus a couple of things like the olive oil tasting «which is free anyway and we can do that on our own anytime» and blasted off about how we were trying to «milk this for all we could.» Hearing Ian’s clearly agitated yelling at me, the customer, I returned the phone to Kristine without incident as there was no point in attempting to reason with someone who was determined to blame us again, his customers.
Well, ZERO, NADA, ZILTCH was made up for. We were told on the phone from whom I don’t know that we would be taken care of and a dinner or something would be offered. Our checkout time was at noon from the hotel. We got a call at 11:30 from Kristine that we would get a call in 20 mins and about meeting to pick up some gift certificates. An HOUR later, Ian calls and gives us another earful, this time with a ton of excuses from his car breaking down, he was so stressed and under pressure, etc. Ian also chose to bad mouth his tour guide and blamed everyone for his lack of professionalism. WHAT A MESS!
This tour is a nice idea if it were managed professionally.
Sadly, it is not.
My advice:
1. STAY AWAY!
2. If you have already purchased an online daily deal from Amazonlocal, Groupon, etc. ask for a refund immediately. This is not worth your time. Thanks Amazonlocal for your 30 day refund policy!