Avalon Wine Tours Guestbook

Number of entries: 30 Number of pages: 3
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Name: lou
From: USA
E-mail: Contact

Great site with informative write ups!

Added: June 27, 2010

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Name: Jana Garrett
From: CA

Dearest Peter,

Thank you so much for one of the best weeks of my life. Both Brett and I had
such a wonderful time and enjoyed each and every experience. It would not
have been the same wihtout your excellent suggestions and detailed
directions.

We did find the family chateau in St Eulalie and actually ran into the
present owner as she was leaving to do some shopping but was pleased to give
us a tour and show us photos, etc. It was amazing and the experience of a
lifetime for us both.

The food and wine were unbelievable. I have been to France many times but
this trip was magical and I know I will return. Thanks again for your
patience and for being there even as we found ourselves over there needing a
little help. Will pass your name to friends who are planning a trip there!

Talk to you again....soon I hope!

Sincerely,
Jana
March 10, 2009

Added: March 13, 2009

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Name: Chris Parker

Unfortunately I don't have time to give you a full recap right now because I am at work. But I wanted to write you a quick note and tell you that everything was great. Italy is AMAZING! We appreciate all of the hard work that you and Peter put into planning our trip. It was an overwhelming success. We can't wait to go back.

When I get more time I will give you further details about our adventure and try to send you some pictures of the highlights.

Thank you,
Chris and Yhoumey

Added: March 13, 2009

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Name: Sam Moore

Peter,
What a wonderful country! We loved our trip to Chile. Although it rained the entire time we were there, it hardly fazed us. Our tour guide, Heriberto, was great. He's a very knowledgeable and nice person. He kept us entertained while on the road with history and stories of the wine industry in Chile.
I think my favorite wineries were Estampa and Casa Silva. We got the best attention there and their wines are fantastic. We've already located a local shop that sells Casa Silva wines.
Oh, and our lunch with Pedro Grand was amazing. What an opportunity. Thank you for arranging that. He told us to say hello to you and Holly. After our lunch with him, Pedro took us over to his winery for a tour and a barrel sample.
Well, thank you again for providing us with a memorable tour. In a few years, we hope to go back and also tour Argentina. We'll give you a call!
Take care,
Sam Moore
June 13, 2008

Added: March 13, 2009

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Name: Bev Perry

Holly & Peter,
Well, we had a wonderful trip in the Southern Rhone and Mike was a fabulous guide! Our lunch at Le Grand Pre was the best meal I’ve ever had!! We ate at a couple of nice restaurants in Paris which I’ll share with you when I find my book under all the stuff we brought back!
Bev Perry
November 30, 2007

Added: March 13, 2009

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Name: Chris Goodhart

Hi Peter,
James and I would like to thank you and Lin for setting up a wonderful two weeks in France. We thoroughly enjoyed your guidance and company through Chablis and Burgundy, even though I was a bit of a light weight on wine tasting. You certainly have a wealth of knowledge about wine and strong contacts in the wine region. Mike was also an excellent guide and very knowledgeable as well.
All of the hotels were a great choice with beautiful locations and very luxurious accommodations and meals. We both agree that it was our best vacation to date (as you know we travel every year).
Best,
Chris Goodhart
September 27, 2007

Added: March 13, 2009

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Name: Susan Kerby

Dear Peter,
We just recently returned from our journey in Europe and I want to tell you how much we enjoyed our excursion through Avignon and the wine country. It was a wonderful day and Hans was a big part of that. He was highly professional and yet responded to all of our questions about life in France. We learned a great deal from him and he enhanced the experience of our travels. (We had never been to Europe before.)
We also want to tell you how special Beaucastel was for us. Fabrice was incredible as he explained the entire philosophy of the vine and what we come to call wine. We were engaged throughout his presentation.

We so appreciate the tour and service that you arranged for us.
Sincerely,
Susan Kerby and Family
August 7, 2007

Added: March 13, 2009

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Name: Paul J. Leibson

Peter,
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all of your efforts setting up our recent 2-day visit to the Priorat region. Cindy and I have just come back from our 2-week trip in Northeast Spain, and we are still feeling the glow. The two days we spent with Rachel as our guide in the Priorat region were the highlight of the trip.
Rachel is a bright, energetic individual who did a superb job setting up our visits and translating for us during our winery tours. She is very interested in the history of the area, and she is clearly networking with food and wine leaders in the area. We could clearly never have had this kind of trip without the language skills and connections of someone from this area. It was fantastic.

We enjoyed all of our winery visits, but the most thrilling interactions were at Rotllan Torra (Jordi and Albert Rotllan Torra were both fascinating and clearly making outstanding wine), Cims de Porrera (wonderful barrel tastings with the winemaker), Scala Dei, and Rosa Bartholome. At Scala Dei we met an absolutely fascinating gentleman, Fernando Miro Rosello, who has been making wines in the Priorat region since the mid-70's. He is extraordinarily passionate about wine, and he related in an open, honest, and heartfelt manner his difficulties in producing the wines of his dreams (e.g. financial issues, current control by a large conglomerate, etc.). His first vintage was in 1974 and he related how that wine (100% old-vine Carinena) was initially very coarse and undrinkable, but is now singing beautifully. He indicated that he is holding onto the few bottles he has left even though offers of up to $1800 per bottle have been made to him. Yet at the end of our wonderful visit with him (approximately 3-hours of bottle and barrel tastings together with direct and revealing discussions), he kindly offered to share one of the 1974 bottles with us upon our next trip to Priorat. What an extraordinary visit !!!

At Rosa Bartolome's, we met with Antonio Rodriguez and his father-in-law Josep Bartholome. They took us out to their vineyards of old-vine Garnacha and Carinena, and then gave us a very personalized visit at their "garage" winery. The wine from the barrels and bottles tasted absolutely wonderful. There was some discussion that you might be bringing some of his Primitiu de Bellmunt to the U.S. market. If so, let me know since I would like to obtain some.

The food tastings were also extremely memorable, with the highlight being at El Cairat, where Juli Mestre prepared us an absolutely spectacular lunch together with very good paired wines from the region. Juli is a kind and creative individual that Cindy and I tremendously enjoyed.

Peter, through your efforts, we were able to have one of life's most amazing experiences, up close and personal. We can't thank you enough. Thanx, thanx, thanx.....
Paul J. Leibson, M.D., Ph.D.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Added: March 13, 2009

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Name: Eric et Hillary Fleurs

Dearest Peter, we are taking our first opportunity (just returned last night) to write and tell you our Bordeaux wine tour was AMAZING!!!!!!!
It was truly special and Pierre was a delightful accompaniment! He was helpful, thoughtful, wonderfully entertaining, and quite knowledgeable, too. Everyone was welcoming and gracious, the tours were informative, and each one educational and distinctive in their own. And as you had suspected, our last tour with Remi of Domain Chevalier was a highlight, as was Chateau du Tertre, where the accommodations were enchanting, the grounds were immaculate, and we left with four bottles of their wine, two from each class, and our very own drinking glasses. =)

Thank you a hundred times over, Peter! We can assure you we will share a glowing report of our travels with any and all and highly recommend your services. Furthermore, we are already eager to incorporate another wine tour for ourselves, just as soon as we pick the destination (Italy perhaps?).
THANK YOU, for everything, Peter.

Will be in touch soon.
Appreciatively,
Eric et Hillary Fleurs
April 18, 2006

Added: March 13, 2009

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Name: Beryl Asp
From: Bridgewater, NJ

Dear Peter,
I'd just like to let you know that the trip you arranged for us was really great. We really enjoyed the mixture of small boutique wineries and larger ones The people we met at all of the vineyards were extremely nice and really knowledgeable nearly all of them dealt with Sweden so we should be able to easily find their wines. We of course bought wine when we could so we at least can make a start.
The hotels were great especially Casa Real which was superb,food and service were excellent and the garden is magnificent. The museum was also interesting but by no means as fascinating as the one in Santa Cruz We were in the new part of the hotel which is built together with the museum and has an open view of a mammoth in the museum from the second floor of the hotel! We also got to see Lapostolle new facility which was really not open to the public yet. It is an architectural master it is so beautiful and peaceful, we also had a taste of their premier wine which will be made there and agreed that it really is a fine wine.

Last but no least our driver Juan was excellent his English is great and his knowledge of history made the whole trip even better.

Thanks again for arranging the trip and we will certainly let all our friends know about your capacity for arranging a wonderful trip
Beryl Asp
February 12, 2006

Added: March 13, 2009

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