About Us

“Wine Country’s horizon is continually changing and our company evolves with it. As we redefine luxury and experiential travel in Northern California, we invite you to see this region for its excitement, mystique, and alluring charm.” – Lin Durling, founder, Artisan Wine Tours.

Artisan Wine Tours is a luxury destination management and private tour company for the Napa Valley, Sonoma County, and the Anderson Valley of Mendocino.

Artisan Wine Tours is an extraordinary composite of talent from the food & wine industry, entertainment, travel, transportation, and event planning.

The company was founded by Lin Durling, a respected business entrepreneur with a long career in major market broadcast and integrated public relations.

For more than a decade, Durling owned and operated a niche aviation company and aired his daily reports on top-rated San Francisco radio station, KGO Newstalk AM810. He was also a founding manager of a premier un-wired broadcast network, Shadow Broadcast Services which reached a dominant share of radio listeners in the Los Angeles/Orange County market.

An avid wine collector and experienced facilitator with an entertainer’s flair, Durling has followed the food and wine horizon in San Francisco and the North Coast for more than 25 years. Turning his avocation into a professional enterprise is a realization of his own personal dream. Durling now focuses his expertise on creating private Napa wine tours, Sonoma custopmized wine tours and dream adventures for discerning travelers. “I’ve traded one fabulous ‘office with a view’ for another.”

“We take pride in our associates—wineries, restaurants, planning coordinators, transportation providers, and guides. We have the ability to connect guests with authentic behind-the scenes experiences. We are as much about connecting people to personalities and their stories in this wonderful area.”