Private Insider Wine & Gastronomy Experiences
Hosted by Chef Marcus & Jamie Guiliano
Five Countries · 400+ Producer Relationships
Chef-led wine and gastronomy journeys built through two decades of trusted producer relationships, private access, and genuine hospitality.
Through relationships, not agencies.
Campania, Italy
Now Booking
A chef-led wine and gastronomy journey through Irpinia, the Amalfi Coast, Cilento, and the island of Ischia.
Experience
Wine, food, culture, and family-run producers
Best For
Hosted, non-touristy Italy experiences
2026—2027
9 JOURNEYS + PRIVATE EXPERIENCES
VIP Winery Vacations is built around access you cannot buy from a booking engine.
These journeys are personal, relationship-led, and hosted by people who know the producers behind every bottle. You are not passed from vendor to vendor. You are welcomed into the rooms, cellars, vineyards, distilleries, and tables where real hospitality happens.
The result feels less like a tour and more like being introduced by trusted friends.
Experiences built away from the mass-market trail.
Private tastings, family-run estates, and producer-led moments.
Small groups designed for conversation, comfort, and connection.
Meals, tastings, stays, transfers, and gratuities handled upfront.
VIP Winery Vacations was never designed for volume. Every departure is intentionally small — eight to twelve invited guests who share a table with the producers themselves.
This is the result of two decades spent building relationships, not itineraries. From Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville, New York, to estate kitchens across five countries, Marcus and Jamie Guiliano have earned the kind of trust that opens doors no travel agency can access.
Every winery vacation package is personally shaped. No booking engines. No group tours repackaged under a luxury label. Just producer relationships that took years to build and a team that manages every detail from consultation to return.
These are not destinations selected from a catalog. Each region is chosen through direct relationships with producers, estates, chefs, and families.
We didn’t choose Italy from a map. We chose it from a dining table — at estates like G.D. Vajra and Vietti in Piedmont, where the families pour from barrels they’ll never sell to distributors. From Puglia to Sicily, our wine and food tours in Italy are built on years of direct relationships with the families who make what you drink.
Featured regions:
Campania · Apulia · Emilia-Romagna & Veneto · Piedmont · Sicily · Tuscany & Central Italy · Sardinia
Burgundy and Champagne are not destinations we rotate through. They are places we return to, year after year, because the domaines expect us back. Marcus has returned to these estates season after season, building the kind of trust that opens private dining rooms to small groups and cellar visits most travelers will never see.
Featured regions:
Rhône & the Riviera – Cote d’Azur · Champagne & Burgundy
Catalonia is emerging. Penedès and Priorat are producing wines that rival their French neighbors — paired with Michelin-level dining and deep regional context curated by Chef Marcus. Spain rewards the curious, and this departure was designed for travelers who want substance over spectacle.
Featured regions:
Catalonia
From boutique producers along the Finger Lakes to the estate vineyards of Santa Barbara and the farm-to-table corridor of the Hudson Valley, our journeys across the US carry the same insider access as our international departures. The relationships are not seasonal — they are part of everyday life.
Featured regions:
Finger Lakes · Long Island
Marcus Guiliano’s authority in agave spirits is not borrowed. It was built across years of sourcing alongside trusted producers and import partners. Every Mexico journey begins with a relationship, not a booking engine, giving guests a deeper and more personal way into the country’s agave and wine culture.
Featured regions:
Oaxaca · Jalisco · Valle de Guadalupe
Chef Marcus Guiliano and Jamie Guiliano are restaurateurs, wine educators, and agave-industry authorities based in the Hudson Valley.
As founders of VIP Winery Vacations and owners of Aroma Thyme Bistro, they have spent more than two decades cultivating direct relationships with winemakers, estate owners, and agave producers across Europe, Mexico, and the United States.
These are not business contacts. They are trusted relationships.
Tastings, transfers, accommodation, meals, and gratuities. One price, nothing added later.
Eight to twelve guests per departure, designed for real conversation and comfortable access.
Marcus and Jamie are present on every journey, from first morning to final evening.
Market visits, artisan workshops, and regional experiences shaped by relationships.
Visits with winemakers, cellar masters, distillers, and families behind the label.
No scripts, no crowds, no staged mass-market itinerary pretending to be private.
Wine Tour Operator of the Year by the Global Prestige Awards, three consecutive years. Sustainability and hospitality honors from LUX Life, Corporate Vision, and additional international bodies. Trusted by producers in eight countries.
★★★★★
“My wife and I have had the pleasure of attending a wine tour in Italy and the Finger Lakes. The professionalism and organization is outstanding. I have not drank alcohol in over 30 years and I can honestly say I had an outstanding experience and will do it again, and again. Thank you Marcus and Jamie.”
★★★★★
“After driving groups around week after week for years, I can honestly say that VIP Winery Vacations offers some of the best, most authentic wine experiences in Mexico. They meet with owners and winemakers personally, never as part of a big group tour.”
★★★★★
“Traveled first class all over France enjoying great wine, hotels and dining while getting amazing access to the winemaking experience. Can’t wait to book another trip.”
★★★★★
“Great connections, amazing trips, and great food and drink. If you are looking for a vacation that connects you to the roots of a country while enjoying gastronomy that most never see, check these awesome people out.”
★★★★★
“Whether through hospitality, food, wine, or curated travel experiences, he brings knowledge, personality, and a genuine desire to create something memorable for the people he serves.”
This is the difference between being booked into a destination and being personally welcomed into it.
Tell us where you would like to go and how you prefer to travel. We will contact you personally to discuss the journey that best fits you.
We will only use your details to contact you about your consultation.
