Long Island Vineyard Tours: Providing a Gateway to the Wonders of the East End for 20 Years and Counting
BY CHRIS BOYLE PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 25 2024
There’s no better way to experience everything that Long Island has to offer than by visiting the award winning vineyards with Long Island Vineyard Tours aka LI Vineyard Tours.®
Whether you’re into partaking of delicious vintages of expertly-crafted wine, or just want to partake of the beautiful countryside they are cultivated in, there’s no better way to experience everything that Long Island has to offer than by visiting the East End’s award-winning vineyards. And when it comes to traveling to those vineyards in style, safety, and comfort, no one does it better than Long Island Vineyard Tours aka LI Vineyard Tours® of Freeport, NY.
“What we offer is an eight-hour day or two vineyards, whichever comes first, and the vineyards are very specific,” said Long Island Vineyard Tours aka LI Vineyard Tours® President. “The pricing includes all of your samplings at each of the vineyards, and we do work with the top vineyards out east.”
The company notes that the identity of the actual two vineyards on the tour are not publicly disclosed because of his exclusive relationship with them, but stresses that they are world-renowned and very highly rated, with his company’s track record of complete customer trust and satisfaction attesting to that fact.
Of course, being ushered around to sample the many fine wines they offer can work up an appetite, and there are two distinct options for his guests to refuel before engaging in more tastings.
“Normally, when you get to the second vineyard, that’s the best time to sit down and do lunch if you would like, and for that there are two options,” he said. “Option A, you can certainly bring your own food if you wish, and option B is a lunch menu that is provided for you. We work with an outside vendor that is a caterer, and what they charge per person is exactly what we charge our customers…we don’t make any money on it, we offer it as a courtesy for taking the tour with us.”
If the customer opts to go with Long Island Vineyard Tours aka LI Vineyard Tours® catered service, they need to fill out and return the lunch menu included in their paperwork to the company’s office within five to six days prior to their scheduled tour date.
All vehicles provided are based on how many people will be going on the tour, but pricing per guest is capped once you have reached seven passengers.
“The price is $160.50 a person, whether you have seven people or 50 people in your group. It’s all the same pricing at that point.” The only thing that price doesn’t include is the driver’s gratuity, which is at the guest’s own personal discretion at the end of the service. And if the guest opts to go with our catered lunch, that’s an additional $17.50 a person, on top of the tour fee.”
Wine Tours are specific to the groups reserving them, so guests don’t have to worry about being paired up with strangers who are going out the same day; this ensures that if you’re having a family outing or an intimate day trip with friends, you won’t have to worry about any interlopers getting in the way of your enjoyment.
Long Island Vineyard Tours aka LI Vineyard Tours® offers a plethora of vehicles ranging from limousines to party buses; there are no minimum or maximum group sizes, and Mike assures his customers that no matter the size of their party, his company can easily accommodate them in both comfort and style.
Long Island Vineyard Tours aka LI Vineyard Tours® first opened its doors for business 20 years ago as of May 2024, and while tours of the East End’s grape country are fairly commonplace these days, what may surprise you is that this company is actually the trailblazer responsible for starting that trend.
“We are the originators…everyone else is a copycat company,” they said. “Basically, at the time we had one limousine that we weren’t doing anything with, and we were involved with a marketing agency that promoted beer, wine, and spirits throughout the industry. A close friend said his sister was married to the Macari family, which has large vineyards out on the East End. He said since we had a limousine that wasn’t being used it would be a great idea to offer wine tours of all the great vineyards out there. At the time, not one limousine company was doing this, and that’s how it happened, that’s how it started.
Long Island Vineyard Tours : “The Creation“
We started offering wine tours with one limousine – which was a small six-passenger – and the initial response was so overwhelmingly positive that within three years the fleet of vehicles had swelled to a whopping 23.
“We were really surprised by how quickly the business grew.” When we first started it a friend of ours was shocked by how much demand he saw for this kind of thing and told us within no time we were going to have a huge fleet. He was absolutely right, and soon we had so many vehicles like; limousines, party buses, sprinter limos, shuttle buses, coach buses we had everything.
As for why the popularity of these Long Island Wine Tours skyrocketed so quickly, the company attributed it to the fact that before they came along, the East End’s vineyards were not as well-known as they are today.
“I don’t think anybody knew there were vineyards out on the East End, but now everybody knows and it’s saturated,” he said.
Of course, the company’s wide array of luxury vehicles isn’t just for vineyard tours; they also own Metro Limousine & Party Bus Service, which offers luxury vehicles for events such as wedding day transportation, birthday limo party’s, prom limo services, and any other eventful situations where someone would need a classy ride to their destination and back.
The East End’s vineyards are open year-round, so LI Vineyard Tours® doesn’t have an off-season; if you want to go on a tour in the middle of December, they will certainly hook you up. However, the company was quick to point out that the primary tour season runs from April 15th to November 15th.
“Anything after November 15th is a gift,” they said. “However, the last few winters have been incredibly mild, so it really depends upon the weather.”
If guests prefer to visit other vineyards – as opposed to the two exclusive ones that Long Island Vineyard Tours deals with – they are free to rent a vehicle and have a driver take them there, although an up-charge applies; the reason for this is that the two vineyards that LI Vineyard Tours® deals with offer them a reduced rate due to their 20-year relationship with them.
But ultimately, it’s whatever the guests want and that attention to detail and customer satisfaction has allowed LI Vineyard Tours® to carve out there popularity over the past 20 years and counting.
It’s a great feeling, having started this business and this wine tour concept from the ground up and now it’s become an entire industry. “However, Long Island Vineyard Tours aka LI Vineyard Tours® is still number one after all these years, and were very proud of that.”
To find out more information about there Wine Tour Packages, call (516)-WINE-TOURS or visit their website at LI Vineyard Tours®