Terms of Service

These Terms contain a binding arbitration provision and a class-action and jury-trial waiver (see “Dispute Resolution; Arbitration; Class-Action Waiver” below) that affect your legal rights. They also limit our liability and require you to indemnify us in certain situations.

About Winetraveler and What We Provide

Winetraveler is an editorial and travel-information platform that helps you discover wine regions, wineries, tours, and related experiences around the world. We publish articles, guides, directories, ratings, maps, and recommendations, and we provide links that let you book tours, experiences, accommodations, and other products from independent third-party providers.

Winetraveler is not a travel agency, tour operator, winery, hotel, or seller of travel. We do not own, operate, control, supervise, or provide any of the tours, experiences, accommodations, transportation, or other products or services offered by third parties that you may find or book through the Services. When you make a booking or purchase, your agreement is directly with the applicable third-party provider (such as Viator, GetYourGuide, a winery, or a tour operator), and that provider’s own terms, policies, pricing, and cancellation rules apply. We are not a party to that transaction and are not responsible for it. Because our Services provide a wide range of features, we may ask you to review and accept supplemental terms that apply to a specific product or feature; where those supplemental terms conflict with these Terms, the supplemental terms control for that product or feature to the extent of the conflict.

Affiliate Disclosure and Third-Party Bookings

Winetraveler is reader-supported and participates in affiliate and advertising programs. This means that when you click certain links on the Services and then book a tour, experience, or product, or take another qualifying action, Winetraveler may earn a commission or referral fee from the third-party provider (for example, through Viator, the TripAdvisor/Rakuten network, GetYourGuide, or similar programs), at no additional cost to you. We may also display paid advertising and sponsored content. These relationships help fund our work; they do not change the price you pay.

We aim to provide honest, useful information, but our editorial content, ratings, and recommendations are provided for general informational purposes and may be influenced by, or presented alongside, affiliate and advertising relationships. Prices, availability, ratings, hours, and other details shown on the Services are supplied by third parties or gathered from public sources, may change without notice, and may be inaccurate or out of date. You are responsible for verifying all details directly with the third-party provider before you book, travel, or rely on any information. We are not responsible for the acts, omissions, products, services, cancellations, refunds, or conduct of any third-party provider.

No Professional Advice; Assumption of Risk; Responsible Drinking

The Services are provided for general informational and entertainment purposes only and do not constitute professional advice of any kind, including legal, medical, health, financial, or travel-safety advice. You should not rely on the Services as a substitute for your own judgment or the advice of a qualified professional.

Travel, wine tasting, and related activities involve inherent risks. You voluntarily assume all risks associated with using the Services and with any travel, tour, tasting, or activity you plan or undertake based on the Services, and you are solely responsible for your own safety, health, decisions, and compliance with applicable laws (including entry requirements, local regulations, and legal drinking ages). Winetraveler promotes the responsible enjoyment of wine and alcohol. You must be of legal drinking age in your jurisdiction, and no part of the Services is intended for anyone under 21. Never drink and drive, and always consume alcohol responsibly.

Eligibility and Your Account

You must be at least 21 years old and able to form a binding contract to use the Services. By using the Services you represent that you meet these requirements. Some features require you to register for an account. When you register and maintain an account, you agree to the following:

• You will provide accurate, current, and complete information, and keep it up to date.
• You will not provide false information or create an account for anyone else without permission, and you will not create more than one personal account.
• You are responsible for safeguarding your password and for all activity that occurs under your account. You will not share your password or let anyone else access your account, and you will notify us promptly of any unauthorized use or security breach.
• You will not transfer your account to anyone without our prior written permission.
• If we disable or terminate your account, you will not create another one without our permission.
• We may remove or reclaim a username or display name if we believe it is appropriate (for example, when a trademark owner objects to a name that does not closely relate to your actual name).

Acceptable Use and Prohibited Conduct

We do our best to keep the Services safe and functioning, but we need your help. You agree that you will not, and will not attempt to, do any of the following:

• Post unauthorized commercial communications (such as spam), or use the Services primarily for your own commercial gain without our permission.
• Collect, harvest, scrape, index, cache, or copy content, data, or information from the Services using any automated means (including bots, spiders, scrapers, or crawlers) or otherwise access the Services in bulk, without our prior written permission.
• Use the Services, or any content, data, or output from the Services, to develop, train, fine-tune, or improve any machine-learning or artificial-intelligence model or dataset, without our prior written permission.
• Upload or transmit viruses, malware, or any malicious or harmful code.
• Solicit login credentials from, or access an account belonging to, someone else.
• Bully, intimidate, harass, defame, or threaten any person, or post content that is hateful, obscene, pornographic, or that incites or depicts violence or graphic or gratuitous harm.
• Use the Services to do anything unlawful, misleading, fraudulent, malicious, or discriminatory, or that infringes or violates anyone’s rights.
• Interfere with, disable, overburden, or impair the proper working, security, or appearance of the Services (for example, through a denial-of-service attack), or circumvent any access controls, rate limits, or security measures.
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code of any part of the Services, except to the limited extent applicable law expressly permits.
• Facilitate or encourage any violation of these Terms or our policies.

We may investigate and take appropriate action against anyone who, in our sole discretion, violates these Terms, including removing content, suspending or terminating accounts, and reporting activity to law enforcement.

Your Content and the License You Grant Us

The Services may allow you to submit, post, or share content such as reviews, comments, ratings, photos, and other materials (“User Content”). You retain ownership of your User Content, but you grant Winetraveler a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display your User Content in connection with operating, promoting, and improving the Services, in any media. This license continues even if you stop using the Services, to the extent your User Content has been shared with others who have not deleted it or as needed for backups, legal compliance, or dispute resolution.

You represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary rights to your User Content and that it does not violate these Terms, any law, or the rights of any third party. You are solely responsible for your User Content. We are not obligated to monitor User Content, but we may review, remove, or disable access to any User Content at any time, for any reason, without notice.

Intellectual Property; Ownership; Limited License to You

The Services and all content on them — including text, articles, guides, photographs, images, graphics, illustrations, maps, data, ratings, compilations, software, design, and the “look and feel” — are owned by Winetraveler, LLC or its licensors and partners and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual-property laws. Winetraveler, through its own work and partnerships with reputable agencies and photographers, holds or licenses the rights to the photos and content displayed on the Services.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Services and to view and print content for your personal, non-commercial use. Except as expressly permitted, you may not copy, reproduce, republish, distribute, sell, license, modify, scrape, mirror, frame, or create derivative works from any part of the Services or its content without our prior written permission. Limited quotation with clear attribution and a link back to the source page is permitted. “Winetraveler” and our logos are trademarks of Winetraveler, LLC; you may not use them, or any confusingly similar marks, without our prior written permission. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of our content or images — and any extortion, fraud, or misappropriation involving them — is strictly prohibited. We take the protection of our and our partners’ intellectual property seriously and may pursue all available legal remedies, including injunctive relief and civil claims, and cooperate with law enforcement, against those who infringe those rights.

Protecting Other People’s Rights

We respect other people’s rights and expect you to do the same. You will not post content or take any action on the Services that infringes or violates anyone else’s rights or otherwise violates the law. If you collect information from other users, you must obtain their consent, make clear that you (and not Winetraveler) are collecting it, and post a privacy policy explaining how you use it. You will not tag users or send invitations to non-users without their consent. We may remove content and disable accounts, including the accounts of repeat infringers, when we believe it is appropriate.

Copyright Complaints & DMCA

We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). If you believe content on the Services infringes your copyright, please send a written notice to our designated agent that includes: (1) your physical or electronic signature; (2) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed; (3) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and its location (URL) on the Services; (4) your contact information; (5) a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (6) a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the owner’s behalf.

Send DMCA notices to our designated agent at legal@winetraveler.com (Attn: DMCA Agent, Winetraveler, LLC). If we remove content in response to a notice, we will make reasonable efforts to notify the person who posted it, who may submit a counter-notice. We will terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who are repeat infringers.

Third-Party Links, Content, and Services

The Services contain links to, and content from, third-party websites, products, advertisers, and services that we do not own or control. We provide these for your convenience and do not endorse and are not responsible for them, their content, their availability, or their privacy or business practices. Your dealings with, and reliance on, any third party are solely between you and that third party. We encourage you to review the terms and privacy policies of any third-party site or service you visit.

Disclaimers

WE TRY TO KEEP WINETRAVELER UP, ACCURATE, AND SAFE, BUT YOU USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SERVICES AND ALL CONTENT, INFORMATION, AND MATERIALS ON THEM ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES, OR THAT ANY CONTENT, RATING, PRICE, AVAILABILITY, OR OTHER INFORMATION IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, RELIABLE, OR CURRENT.

WINETRAVELER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS, CONTENT, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OR DATA OF ANY THIRD PARTY, INCLUDING ANY TOUR OPERATOR, WINERY, ADVERTISER, BOOKING PLATFORM, OR OTHER PROVIDER. YOU RELEASE US, AND OUR OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS, FROM ANY CLAIMS, DEMANDS, AND DAMAGES OF EVERY KIND, KNOWN AND UNKNOWN, ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH ANY DISPUTE YOU HAVE WITH ANY SUCH THIRD PARTY. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WINETRAVELER, LLC AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND PARTNERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SERVICES, ANY THIRD-PARTY BOOKING, TRAVEL, OR CONDUCT, OR THESE TERMS, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICES OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO WINETRAVELER IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE LIABILITY, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US$100). SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU; IN SUCH CASES OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Winetraveler, LLC and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and partners from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or connected with: (a) your use of the Services; (b) your User Content; (c) your violation of these Terms or any law or the rights of any third party; or (d) any transaction, booking, or dealing between you and a third-party provider. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of those claims.

Dispute Resolution; Arbitration; Class-Action Waiver

Please read this section carefully. It requires you and Winetraveler to resolve most disputes through binding individual arbitration rather than in court, and it waives your right to a jury trial and to participate in a class action.

Informal resolution first. Before starting an arbitration, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by sending a written notice describing it to legal@winetraveler.com. You and Winetraveler will attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute for 30 days after the notice is received.

Binding arbitration. If the dispute is not resolved, you and Winetraveler agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services will be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court, except as provided below. The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this section. The arbitration will be conducted in the State of Florida (or by video or telephone, or based on written submissions, where the rules allow), and the arbitrator’s decision may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Class-action and jury waiver. You and Winetraveler agree that each may bring claims against the other only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims or preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding. You and Winetraveler waive any right to a jury trial.

Exceptions. Either party may (1) bring an individual claim in a small-claims court for disputes within that court’s jurisdiction, and (2) seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to protect its intellectual-property or proprietary rights.

30-day right to opt out. You may opt out of this arbitration and class-waiver agreement within 30 days after you first accept these Terms by emailing legal@winetraveler.com with your name, the account or email you use, and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out will not affect any other part of these Terms. If any portion of this section is found unenforceable, the remainder will still apply, except that if the class-action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim will proceed in court.

Governing Law and Venue

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Services are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs the arbitration provision above. To the extent any dispute is not subject to arbitration, you and Winetraveler agree to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Florida, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.

Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to all or part of the Services at any time, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms or create risk or possible legal exposure for us, or for any other reason. You may stop using the Services and delete your account at any time. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination — including intellectual-property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, dispute-resolution, and governing-law provisions — will survive.

Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, such as by posting a notice on the Services or updating the date at the top of this page. Changes are effective when posted. Your continued use of the Services after changes take effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you must stop using the Services.

Users Outside the United States; Export

The Services are operated from the United States. If you use the Services from outside the United States, you consent to having your information transferred to and processed in the United States, where data-protection laws may differ from those in your country. You are responsible for complying with local laws to the extent they apply. You represent that you are not located in, and will not use the Services in violation of, any U.S. export controls or sanctions, and that you are not prohibited from receiving products or services originating from the United States.

Miscellaneous

• These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any supplemental terms, are the entire agreement between you and Winetraveler regarding the Services and supersede any prior agreements.
• If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.
• Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it. Any waiver or amendment must be in writing and signed by us.
• You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your rights under them without our consent; we may freely assign them, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• These Terms do not create any third-party beneficiary rights.
• Nothing in these Terms prevents us from complying with the law.
• We are not liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
• We may provide notices to you by email or by posting on the Services; you may contact us as described below.

Definitions

• “Winetraveler,” the “Services,” “we,” “us,” or “our” means the features and services we make available through www.winetraveler.com and any other Winetraveler-branded or co-branded websites (including sub-domains, international versions, widgets, and mobile versions), our applications, and other media, brands, products, software, devices, or networks now existing or later developed. We may designate that certain brands, products, or services are governed by separate terms.
• “Content” means anything you or other users post, provide, or share using the Services, and anything we or our partners make available on the Services.
• “User Content” means Content that you submit, post, or share.
• “Information” means facts and other information about you, including actions taken by users and others who interact with the Services.
• “Post” means post on the Services or otherwise make available using the Services.
• “Use” means use, run, copy, publicly perform or display, distribute, modify, translate, and create derivative works of.