Napa Wine Train!

I have an exciting post for everyone today. After a brief hiatus to deal with the plagues that have passed through my house, traveling, and Girl Scout cookie season, I am back. Yes, I did say Girl Scout Cookie Season. My house gets taken over by Girl Scout cookies for about 3 months every year, it is beyond crazy. Killer cookies aside, I have so much to say! As you may have guessed from the title, I recently had the chance to ride the Napa Wine Train. Let me just say that wine + food + train does in fact equal good times! Let me back up for a moment. I was in San Francisco with only 1 day to spare for wine country. I couldn't decide where to go. Napa? Sonoma? Monterey? Which vineyards should I visit? Should I rent a car? Should I book a tour with a company? Given the limited time available and the millions of options, I chose the Napa Wine Train. Despite people warning me that there might not be as much to see due to the fires, I wanted to see Napa. For the record, Napa looks great, there are plenty of beautiful vines to see, and the wineries are open and happy to welcome you. #SupportNapa. With the Wine Train, I could see three vineyards in a day, not worry about meals, and ride a train. I am not an obsessive train person. I don't have a basement full of models running on tracks with me squealing in delight and make choo choo noises. But still, being on a train is a fun!

I booked the Estate tour and planned on visiting Chandon (y'all know I love sparkline wine), Hall, and Inglenook. It is a 6 hour experience and includes a 4 course "Napa Style" meal (basically 4 small plate meals throughout the day) and a glass of sparkling wine at the beginning. The thing I loved the most about the day was the uniqueness of each winery we visited. Each tour was different, and each had a different focus. It allowed me to form a distinct impression of each winery and learn something new at each stop. Upon checking in at the station, you are given a golden ticket (Willy Wonka style) and a pin to wear for the day. The waiting area is comfortable and if you arrive early, you can entertain yourself in their store which has a large selection of wine and gifts. They announce each tour's boarding, and take a photo of you and your party. The train itself is very nice, it has comfortable seating around tables, sparkling brass fixtures, a bar, and great views of the vines. It definitely allows you to travel in style! You get a complementary glass of bubbles from Chandon, and a chance to order anything else. I'll admit to being skeptical about the food. I assumed it was going to look better than it tasted. Thankfully, I was wrong. I particularly liked our first course! I am not going to post a picture of everything I ate, I promise. Instead, I will include the menu at the bottom of the post. Unfortunately, I can't spare you from at least one gratuitous food picture. During this time, we traveled to Yountville and Chandon Winery. There is too much to say about each winery for one post, so I will just give you the highlights and give each winery the attention they deserve in separate posts. I included a Wine Train map at the bottom as well just for funsies.

I have been a fan of Chandon sparkling wines for a long time. I am a complete fan girl when it comes to their French founders in Champagne. I have been to Champagne and visited Moet and Chandon in Epernay, and it was an excellent tour. Because of this, going to Chandon has been on my list for a long time, so I was beyond excited for this tour. When the train pulled in to Yountville, we all jumped into a shuttle and made a short trip down the road to the winery. As I said earlier, I am not going to get into details about the wineries because there is too much to say (stay tuned for future posts on the wineries), but I will give you my overall impressions of each stop. Chandon is surrounded by beautiful landscaping. Unfortunately, the weather was lousy so I don't have many pictures of the plants and scenery, but take my word for it, it is a nice walk to the winery. This tour was very comprehensive, and perfect for people new to sparkling wine. We walked through the winery, asked questions, and tasted 3 different sparkling wines, each with its own unique style. Interestingly, we tried some champagne cocktails. Champagne with cucumber and basil is delicious! The tour ended with a trip to their gift shop. Shocking right?! But I do appreciate a gift shop that sells wine.

After jumping back on the train, we headed towards St. Helena and Hall Winery. On the way, we ate, looked at some more vines out the window, and drank more wine. I had a glass of Cherry Pie Pinot Noir, and it tastes like cherries. I was shocked! But seriously, it was good and we enjoyed it. When we arrived at our stop, it was the same deal as Chandon, we jumped into a shuttle bus and made a short trip up the road to the winery. Hall was a completely different experience. It had a much more modern feel to it and I had my first taste of wine on tap. YES! Wine-On-Tap! It was a fruity sauvignon blanc, and despite being dispensed from a tap, it was good. I can be a bit old school, so it took a moment for me to deal with the wine coming out of a tap. Seriously, it was a big deal. As I said, the experience at Hall was much more modern, and much of the discussion was focused around new technology used in their wine making. Our guide was friendly, and very knowledgeable. It was great to see his enthusiasm for Hall's process. We tried three additional wines while at Hall, a Pinot Noir, a Shiraz, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. I don't believe the tour ended in the gift shop this time, but it is possible I simply overlooked it because of all the wine!

We jumped back on the train, had more to eat and drink, looked and more lovely Napa vines, and headed back towards Inglenook, our final winery. Inglenook had a completely different feel to it than the previous two wineries. It felt like touring an old world winery. It had the look of an old chateau and came complete with caves and miles of barrels. The winery is an interesting blend of history and present day in the hands of director Francis Ford Coppola. The start of the tour feels like stepping back in time, but ends with a walk around a museum full of movie paraphernalia. Our tour guide (right photo) was fantastic and showed a real enthusiasm for the winery and its history. His dramatic telling of the winery's founding and events up until present day would have been right at home on the big screen. There was definitely more audience participation than at the previous wineries. Who knew 12 glasses of wine could make people so talkative! We tried several different wines, strolled through barrel-filled wine caves, walked through their museum and ended the tour at one of their tasting bars which is conveniently located within the gift shop. I have a lot more to say about Inglenook, but again, I will save it for another time.

After 50 million glasses of wine, we stumbled back on the train, enjoyed a delicious dessert, and looked at more beautiful vines on the way back to the wine train station. After stumbling off the train, I ended up, you guessed it, in the gift shop. Although, to be fair, they do make it possible for you to avoid the shop, so it was completely my own fault.

The Napa Wine Train was a really fun way to spend a day. The train was nice, the service friendly, and the wineries were all unique with interesting wine and tours. The only downside to the day was getting back and forth from San Franciso. There are a few options for getting to the train including a Ferry and shuttle, renting a car, car service, taxi/Uber/Lyft. None of these options are ideal. We opted for Uber. It would have been pretty expensive, but with several people to split the bill, it turned out to be reasonable. Aside from that, it was a really great day. I enjoyed how different each of the wineries and tours were, and learned something new at each stop. The different wineries and their tastings gave me a sense of the complexity of Napa and its uniqueness in the wine world. I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone who loves wine (and trains)!