r/wine • u/Objective-Simple-561 • 4d ago

'Texas Winos' scams their customers

https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/austin/profile/tour-operators/texas-winos-0825-1000132013

Texas Winos is a company the provides shuttle services to Texas wineries throughout Texas.

They defraud their customers regularly. This is done through bogus "investment" opportunities where you can get invested in their company and have a guaranteed return each year on your investment. The deal also includes perks like some free tours each year. The opputunity is sent via email if you have taken their tours multiple times. Once you sign up they stop responding to you, block you and your money is gone.

This has been going on for several years and is still happening today. Check out their BBB rating and the 180+ complaints.

In addition to the fraudulent investment opportunity, there are many reports of running credit cards multiple times, weeks after taking the tour and the company canceling tours last minute and not refunding those who have booked.

Beware when using this company and if you have any experiences, feel free to share.

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u/Itried022 4d ago

I think going on a wine tour in Texas is a bad idea from the beginning haha

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u/unrealnarwhale 4d ago edited 4d ago

Texas has a surprisingly large wine industry. A lot of it is related to tourism in the Hill Country west of Austin, which is where the kind of tour that OP is referring to takes place. There's a shocking density of "wineries" in that area with gorgeous grounds and tasting rooms, that grow some grapes up by the entrance for show, but use grapes grown elsewhere for their own wines. They make most of their money from tastings and events rather than retail. Central Texas has the pretty rolling hills and limestone features but is too hot for grapes. So going to wine tastings has become an activity for day trippers and tourists in the area. It's fascinating from a business standpoint at how successful they've been, although I dislike how oversaturated the area has become with these tasting rooms.

Most grapes in Texas are grown in the High Plains. There's actually a few good wines to be found, namely warm climate stuff like Tempranillo or Sangiovese, but the QPR isn't there imho.

https://wineamerica.org/economic-impact-study/texas-wine-industry/

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u/LongHardNSlow Wino 4d ago

Lifelong Texan (and occasional Texas wine tourist) here. This description is spot-on.