Napa Valley Wine Train

An experience aboard the Napa Valley Wine Train is like taking a step into the past. It’s something you’ll want to plan plenty of time for, since the ride lasts at least three hours (depending on which package you choose—there are many options), beginning in downtown Napa and then going round-trip to St. Helena and back. Most of the train is made up of beautifully refurbished 1915-1917 Pullman cars, originating from the Denver ski train. There’s also a 1950s Vista Dome, with rounded, full-view overhead windows.

Passengers first meet at the depot, which has comfortable seating, a wine bar, a wine shop and a gift shop. There’s a presentation about the train and a tasting of a couple wines while passengers wait to board. The train itself has three kitchens, with menus designed by Executive Chef Kelly Macdonald. Its cars are plush, with beautifully polished wood, period furnishings and fixtures. It has lounge cars (where appetizers, drinks and desserts are served), dining cars and a car dedicated to wine tasting.

We opted for the “Gourmet Express Lunch,” which means staying on board the train for the entire journey. Other options include stops at wineries, themed dinners or special holiday choices. And because it travels at only 18 miles per hour, it’s easy to notice things you never would while driving (the friendly, informative servers are great about pointing out things of interest).

Once seated in a lounge car, we enjoyed a couple cocktails with our generously sized appetizer plates of two poached, fresh, large prawns over seaweed salad, stuffed olives, grapes, pepperoncinis, pork tenderloin with a red onion marmalade and crostini with a slice of creamy chive cheddar cheese from Napa Valley-based Skyhill Farms (Macdonald focuses mainly on local, sustainable, seasonal food items).  

We moved to a dining car for the rest of our meal, where there were white linens, real silverware, fresh orchids on each table, Sinatra playing on the sound system—we felt like we were in a movie. The first course was a baby lettuce salad with candied walnuts, smoked goat cheese and sweet, honey cider vinaigrette. We also had roasted cauliflower soup with smoked Serrano ham, topped with thin-sliced, toasted almonds and chopped chives. Our entrées were a very moist, pan-seared New Zealand steelhead (a lot like wild salmon in both look and flavor) with ginger buerre blanc, grilled eggplant, sautéed spinach and an octopus salad garnish; the vegetarian choice included grilled zucchini, goat cheese, sweet pea raviolis and yam-stuffed gypsy peppers. Dessert was chocolate tiramisu (very unique), which had a hard chocolate shell and a creamy, light custard interior; crème brulée with fresh blueberries; and some decadent Kahlua truffles.