Route du Vin - to drive ourselves or use a tour company

I can't speak to this particular tour, but I will put in a vote for a wine tour with an experienced guide. Last year we hired a guide for a private tour in Burgundy. It was quite expensive for our family of 4, but it was one of the highlights of our trip. We all learned so much about not only tasting, but the entire process of wine growing and making. If you have not done something like that before, I would encourage you to do it.

I agree - I paid to go with a guide one time in Burgundy and it really enhanced my trip.

If you want serious wine tasting, a tour sounds like a good idea. If you want to explore the extremely charming, colorful villages, take the car. I was concerned about combining tasting with driving, but there was so much to soak up during my 3 days, I didn't want to spend time visiting wineries.

Sara, there is more than one "Route des Vins" in France. By your mention of Colmar I assume you mean the La Route des Vins d'Alsace. Website here: http://www.alsace-wine-route.com/en

I would recommend a car (and alternate drivers) because a tour will be a whole bus load of people, and will take you to one or two large wineries, will stay there as long as they want to and you may feel pressurised to buy.
With a car you can stop off anytime you see a sign "Dégustation-Vente" by the side of the road. Some of these are small one-village "caves cooperative" where you can taste and choose in your own time, and move on when you want.
These small places let you choose the wine you want, if you prefer something drier/sweeter or whatever just say (French may be necessary).
A car also lets you stop in the villages and towns along the road, which are truly amazing.

Chris: you're right, it's La Route des Vins d'Alsace. I agree with you about large bus tours. Ophorus says they limit their tours to 8 people. and we'd be four of the eight. So that part I'm ok with.

I'm leaning towards a tour - my husband thinks we should drive ourselves. Do you think the wine tasting experience is enhanced with the tour guides and at the wineries when you are with a guide? Or, is the experience the same if you just pop in. My experience visiting wineries is very limited and only in the east coast of the US (New York, Virginia and random other places). And, as I read more about visiting wineries in France, it seems like a difference experience - maybe not so commercial?

We took the Ophorus "Pearls of Alsace" tour last October and it was a highlight of our trip. With that tour, we only did one wine tasting, as it was not a wine tour. Our guide was wonderful and stressed that we were under no pressure to buy any wine - we were at a wine co-op and no one there made us feel pressured either. One member of our group did buy quite a bit of wine. The rest of us didn't. The small group tour was not cheap, but it was an excellent value for money. The van was immaculate and still had the "new car" smell. I plan on using Ophorus when we go to Bordeaux.

Our group consisted of me and my husband, another American couple, and a lovely elderly gentleman from Japan. We all got along great and both of the American couples posted rave reviews on TripAdvisor.

In my opinion, Alsace is one of the best places in France to visit wineries on your own. Most wineries are pretty small, most of them welcome visitors w/o appointments, and distances are not great. In many cases you can go to a village, park and visit several wineries on foot.

I'd like to add that one member of our Ophorus group was interested in some wines that weren't offered with our tasting. He was presented with some additional wines to taste - I don't recall if they were offered to the rest of us, and we didn't care. The staff left the open bottles from the tasting on the counter and we were free to help ourselves to more wine while we waited a few extra minutes. I don't know if that happens on every tour.

I hope you will have time to enjoy the villages themselves, too.

BlockquoteI would recommend a car (and alternate drivers) because a tour will be a whole bus load of people, and will take you to one or two large wineries, will stay there as long as they want to and you may feel pressurised to buy.
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Not if you hire a private guide who will defer to your wishes. Our private tour was just our family of 4 and the guide in his van.

Sherrie: How did you connect with a private guide? That would be ideal.
Sara

I would go with a small or private tour. If you go on your own, plan ahead - make sure of the hours and that there will be tasting at the time you plan to arrive. As I recall, most of the wineries are not in the villages, so seeing villages is a separate day - or combine 2-3 villages with 1 winery each day. Maybe it's wrong to say, but most people can drive after the equivalent of 1 glass of wine (about what you'd expect at a tasting).

Sara, I just googled private wine tour Burgundy and started reading reviews. It took a bit of work, but we were extremely pleased with the fellow we hired. I think it was around 495 Euro for 4 of us, not counting lunch.