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Review content:
As frequent visitors to the Santa Ynez and Los Olivos wine country, my friends and I have gone with CC Jeep Tours for the past four years. While we?ve had nothing but stellar reviews to offer during our past visits, our 2009 back country wine tour this July left us extremely disappointed. To begin with, one of the biggest draws to Cloud Climbers in the past has been the quality of the drivers/tour guides. For the past three trips we were lucky enough to have had Jeremy, whose experience, knowledge and personality always made the trip an enormous success. Unfortunately, when we booked our tour this year, we were told that he had left for another job (we later found out that CC Jeeps had inexplicably let him go), but that all of their drivers would provide the same level and high quality experience. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Our driver this year, who will remain unnamed, seemed to have very little, if any, background knowledge about the wineries and their tasting lists. Even worse, he took almost no effort to enhance our experience while were there, instead deciding to wait in the jeep while we tasted. On top of that, he seemed in a constant rush to move onto the next winery at each stop (he later told us he had an important evening tour to get to), which brings me to another important point. While CC Jeeps website describes the tour as having a duration of 6-6.5 hours, our driver informed us that this only applies if you?re being picked up from Santa Barbara. Apparently, for staying in Solvang, you get short-changed an hour. Oddly enough, during our past three wine-tasting tours with CC Jeeps, our driver always took us on a 6+ hour tour. After our fourth winery (about 4.5 hours), our driver asked us if we were ready to head back to the hotel. Since it seemed we had a little time left, we asked if he would mind taking us by an olive oil tasting in the countryside that we had visited during past tours. Instead, he took us into town to an overpriced ?organic? olive oil store, which charged a ridiculous $40 per bottle of olive oil. Luckily, our trip ended on a positive note when we stumbled across our old driver from CC Jeeps, Jeremy, who now works behind the bar at Los Olivos Caf?, which I highly recommend if you?re in the area. We reminisced over some excellent wine he recommended, also discussing how Cloud Climbers has gone downhill since his departure. Needless to say, we ended up staying there for dinner, ditching our regrettable CC Jeeps tour. Unfortunately, it seems that our streak of Cloud Climber Jeep Tours has reached an end. If your idea of enjoying wine is a glass of white zin mixed with 7-UP on the rocks, this may be the tour for you. If not, I strongly recommend taking your business elsewhere. CC Jeeps? backcountry tasting tour is like a fine wine gone sour?
Pros: Beautiful views and scenery
Cons: Quality of tour guide & overall experience
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