Napa Valley: A Train runs through it.
When Vincent DeDomenico, inventor of Rice-A-Roni, retired he moved to Napa Valley with a dream.
He would run a vintage train from Napa to St. Helena, take tourists out of their cars, feed ‘em gourmet meals and drive them to the wineries in shuttles. It was a bold plan, green before it’s time and he was sure locals and vintners alike would love it.
He was wrong.
His dream soon turned into a nightmare.
Vintners didn’t see it as a better way to move tourists, but extortion. Track side property owners just saw train noise and thought they would be cut off by unguarded railroad crossings. The entire town of St. Helena greeted the Wine Train as if it was the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
That’s when the lawsuits started, 20 years ago. They are still fighting.
Things have changed. Mr. D and his wife are dead, but the Wine Train is STILL going. Only now with the economy in the tank, St. Helena choked with traffic and merchants starving, suddenly the Wine Train seems like a good idea.
http://www.naparegister.com/articles/2009/05/05/news/local/doc49ffbc3bcb630333889787.txt
And the original plan is working: You can board the train in Napa and have a lovely lunch, passing by vineyards on your way up valley. After lunch you depart the train and are whisked to private tastings at Raymond Vineyards and ZD Wines and return to the station in Napa.
While not cheap at $368, the experience is absolutely unique. Where else in America can you park your car, travel through paradise while eating gourmet fare in a 100 year old Pullman car and drink fabulous wine?
Only in Napa Valley.
The Beazley House has been sending guests on the Wine Train since it began. Lunches cost two people $188 for a three-course feast, including tax, tip and train ride. Dinners are just $198 for a four-course meal. And while it gets dark by the time you’re back in Napa, there’s nothing as romantic as a gently rolling restaurant bathed in golden light. We constantly hear super reports on the food, the service and the over all experience.
It is a shame that Mr. and Mrs. DiDomenico didn’t live to see it, but some ideas are just too good to die.
