Napa's Only Evening Winery Tour

 
By Kira Devitt, Napa Valley Wine Train Marketing
 

You arrive in a private motor coach at a completely deserted winery. The surrounding vineyard is very dimly lit, the grapevines barely glistening with raindrops from the night before. Domenic, your tour guide from Grgich Hills Estate, greets your group in the parking lot and leads you past a sign which clearly reads “closed.” He opens the main tasting room door and you enter a room which is usually jammed full of wine enthusiasts sipping the famous Grgich Hills wines. Right now, it is completely empty. You take a deep breath and fill your nose with that familiar sweet smell of fermenting grapes.
Once your small group has wandered inside, Domenic pours you a delicate, light-gold wine, the Grgich Hills Fume Blanc. The crisp fl avor of the Fume Blanc envelopes you. It pairs with the story of Mike Grgich, an immigrant from Croatia and the winemaker behind the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, the Chardonnay which won the 1976 blind tasting of Paris.
Your guide continues to walk you through the behind-the-scenes portions of the winery and explains the fermentation process. You are poured another delightful glass of white wine, the Grgich Hills Chardonnay, an especially wonderful wine created by “the King of Chardonnay.”
After exploring the entire winery, Domenic escorts you back into the main tasting room where you fi nish with a small cheese plate and a couple of the Grgich Hills red wines. You have a moment to mingle with the rest of your group, but are shortly called by the faint whistle of an approaching train. Your ride is arriving.
The Wine Train approaches with a soft rumble, the twinkle of her lights gently streaking past. It makes you feel like a movie star, standing in the twilight, waiting for the train to stop so that you can climb on board. Once on board, you are shown to your table and begin the quintessential 1920’s aristocratic experience. You order a meal, maybe a glass of wine and relax as the freshly prepared courses seem to appear in front of you. Attention to detail is the norm on board the Wine Train. The tables are covered with white linen table cloths and every table has its own small, vintage lamp. You are even served a palate cleanser sorbet before your main dish.
The on board experience is best described in one word, elegant. Riding the Wine Train transports you to a time when elegance, romance and attention to detail weren’t reserved only for special occasions; they were a part of everyday life. Before you know it, you’ve had coffee and dessert, and you are pulling back into the Wine Train station in Napa. The last two hours on board have flown by.
It is not every day when you get the opportunity to tour a winery at night and be picked up by a vintage, antique train for a multiple course gourmet meal. It is truly a VIP experience that anyone can participate in and it is an evening to be remembered. The tour is offered on Saturday nights and is only available to the Wine Train’s Evening Winery Tour guests. It is $165 per person and includes: winery tour, bus transportation, gourmet dinner, sales tax, and train fare. The tour starts at 5:45 pm and fi nishes at 9:30 pm. Advanced reservations are required. Passenger capacity is limited to 24 people. For more information or reservations visit: winetrain.com/ winery-tours/evening-winery-tour or call (800) 427-4124.