Continuing on my theme of travel past and present, I’m sharing my experience on the Napa Valley Wine Train from my trip to Downtown Napa. The wine train is considered vintage, with most of it’s cars dating back to 1915. Before becoming Napa Valley Wine Train it was owned by Southern Pacific Railroad. With the rise of automobiles the railway was almost lost until Vincent DeDomenico, inventor of Rice-A-Roni and former owner of Ghirardelli Chocolate and Golden Grain Pasta, purchased majority share of the company and transformed it into the luxury railway that it is today. On September 16, 1989, the Napa Valley Wine Train took its inaugural passenger trip and has been steadily running through the valley ever since.
I got to join in on a Wine Train Ambassador Tour which appropriately welcomed us with a taste of wine. During our hour and a half railway journey, we enjoyed a multiple course gourmet lunch before moving to the dessert car to finish our trip. When our time on the train was done, we went on exclusive tours and tasting at Charles Krug Winery and Raymond Vineyards before heading back to the station. Before boarding the train experience seemed like it could be a little touristy, but the impeccable service, food, and entire experience proved itself to be a very enjoyable one.
This experience was part of a trip sponsored by Downtown Napa. All opinions, text, and images are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that make life here at Team Wiking a little sweeter.
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