COVID19 Procedures & Protocols
How it Works in COVID Times
Thank you for choosing to “hop on” Wine Line! We hope you and yours are well, have not been, or are not being, too terribly adversely impacted by the COVID crisis. This is an ongoing and fluid situation with the “new normal,” and new COVID protocols and guidelines coming in regularly.
We continue to receive direction from all wineries as to their operations. Most wineries are requiring reservations and/or advance notice. If you have reviewed our loops and picked out wineries you’d like to visit (4 max. for your day), please include them when booking, or send them over (4 priority+2 backups) asap, or 10 days prior to your tour date (21 for Saturdays), in order to be more likely to be able to visit them. We will then create your itinerary and make the appointments for your party.
We are striving to maintain our mission of Freedom & Flexibility offered with our “hop on, hop off” service, but with all (or the vast majority) of the wineries now requiring reservations, we now have a modified version of that service, as follows, generally:
- We pick you up from your accommodations (others may be on board or to be picked up after you
- You “hop off” at your first winery appointment, we walk you up, introduce you to the staff who takes you from there for your pouring & tasting
- Tasting times have increased at each winery, so appointments are mostly scheduled an hour and 15mins apart (1 hour for tasting, 15mins for checkout and transit), with additional time for lunch, and/or longer tasting times at certain wineries
- We return approximately 15mins or so prior to your next appointment time, collect and store any purchases, you “hop on,” and we take you to your next scheduled winery
- And so on, throughout the day, until we return you to your accommodations
Please bear in mind that not all wineries on our website will necessarily be available, may no longer be part of the All-Inclusive Package (if you book it), and/or may have amended hours and fees. Please also understand that if you book a Semi-Private tour, it is just that, Semi-Private, NOT Private. While we do our best to accommodate your specific requests, we must book winery appointments in conjunction with our other customers’ requests for the day, associated logistics (times and locations), and we cannot confirm itineraries until we are closer to the date, or it has sold out. Please be further advised, only in a worst case scenario, we may need to choose the side you visit due to staffing or winery availability and time concerns and again apologize in advance for any disappointment. The only way to be the most sure to visit the wineries you’d like to visit (subject to their availability) is to book at Private Tour.
With the “new normal” in mind, The Wine Line is taking your, and our drivers’ and others’, health and well being very seriously, and have developed various protocols in keeping with the guidance from the Federal, State and Local recommendations and/or requirements.
Some protocols and/or protections we have implemented are:
- Plexiglass dividers between our bench row seats, including between the driver and the front bench.
- Wall mounted hand sanitizer units by the main passenger doors.
- Pre-trip thorough sanitizing throughout the vans.
- Additional bench row seat sanitizing in between customer winery stops.
- Masking required while in the van and until seated at each winery
Hopping On By the Numbers
The following are some best practices and considerations we submit to you, and request you follow, on your tour for everyone’s peace of mind:
If you, any member of your party, or a recently visited friend or family member are currently experiencing, or suspect, any flu or COVID-like symptoms, you may not participate in our tours.
Please wash or disinfect your hands thoroughly before and after each tasting room visit.
- Please wear face coverings at all times, as possible.
- Maintain social distancing of 6ft. in tasting rooms.
Please print and sign the liability waiver to help facilitate a quicker departure. You may either scan and return, or bring with you for pickup, otherwise, your driver will have one for you to sign.
We have an established policy regarding refusal of service to customers displaying symptoms consistent with COVID-19 (see the symptoms checklist on the waiver attached).
- To reiterate the above, please send your winery requests at your very earliest convenience for your own benefit.
- Once received, we will work on your itinerary, in consideration of our other customers’ requests and logistics, make your appointments, and take you to and from your scheduled appointment times throughout the day.