Napa Valley Wine Train Quattro Vino Tour!

Merry Christmas!  And for a special Christmas post, I've decided to share a wonderful wine experience I had a couple weeks ago.  Now, of course I like wine, but I also like trains, so combining them together is the best of both world.  Now last year I took my first trip on the Napa Valley Wine Train (see this post) on the "Ambassador Wine Tour" and since I was headed to San Francisco on business it seemed like a good idea to revisit the train (it's a perfect day trip from San Francisco as they arrange transportation to and from the Ferry Terminal).  When I called to make my reservation, I spoke to a wonderful lady who informed me of a new service, the "Quattro Vino" tour, where you go on a private car to visit four different wineries, with a small bites menu between each stop.  So here you are, live vicariously through my photos!

To start, this is a completely separate train than the traditional Napa Valley Wine Train, which goes from downtown Napa to Saint Helena.  Although this train follows much the same route, it is a separate private car, a restored early 20th Century heavyweight car, pulled by a GP-9 diesel locomotive.

The car is beautifully restored on the inside and there is a kitchen and chef to prepare the wonderful small bite menu (more on that in a little bit!).  The train then goes to four different wineries, hence "quattro vino."

The train departed right around 10:00 am.  On the way to our first stop, we were treated to a glass of sparkling wine and then the "breakfast" menu which consisted of a Greek yogurt and berry parfait with granola, brulee steel cut oatmeal and ciabatta topped with shaved pork, arugula pesto, carmelized onions, egg and manchego cheese.  Everything was delicious!

Soon we arrived at our first stop, the Robert Mondavi winery:

Within the tour, we saw some of the vineyard as well as Beniamino Bufano's "The Muse" which is arguably one of the most photographed sculptures in the valley.

Then we were treated to a tasting of a white and red wine in the grand cellar, so many barrels!  We had the chance to taste some of the 2012 Vintage of the Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon that I reviewed a few weeks earlier.

Soon it was time to leave and head for our "lunch" course of small bites on the way to our next winery stop.  The lunch menu consisted of asparagus veloute with white truffle oil and a bibb lettuce salad with bleu cheese, fennel and apple crisp.  Again everything was delicious!

Then we found ourselves at Robert's brother Peter's winery, Charles Krug, the oldest operating winery in Napa Valley, founded in 1861.

We started with a taste of their Sauvignon Blanc, which I really liked, despite it not being a red wine!

We had some additional tastes of some very fine red wines in the upstairs tasting room this time.

Then we were back on the train for more bites and the next winery on the tour.

We enjoyed our main course, a choice of duck sausage with potato puree, grilled onions and sauternes apples, or what I chose, the seared halibut with fava, lentil and white bean ragout with saffron.

The next stop was Maryvale Winery, which was beautifully decorated for Christmas (this was the added bonus I didn't have last year as I went in October).

The wines were very nice, particularly their cabernet, but alas they, like every other winery so far, would not ship to Indiana, so I was out of luck getting any of these wines home!

Back on the train, for a quick ride over to our fourth and final winery stop, V. Sattui, which was also nicely decked out for Christmas.

We had a wonderful tasting with a young man who had a lot of knowledge.  They had some specialties in GSM blends, and they had one that I really liked (more on that in a future post as they would ship to Indiana!).

The tasting room was also very nice as they put us in a private room that really was nice.  Then it was back on the train to Napa, but not before we had dessert!

The dessert bites were wonderful, a cinnamon crusted tarte au citron, a flourless chocolate cake and apple almond cannoli!  And that was it, a wonderful afternoon spent in Napa with some great wine and food!  Here's wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

2012 Raymond Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

What a fantastic day trip through Napa Valley I had last weekend.  The lovely food and wine on the Napa Valley Wine Train was fantastic, and the opportunity to visit two wineries along the Silverado Trail as awesome as well.  So tonight I've opened a bottle of 2012 Raymond Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvigon, a wine from the second vineyard we visited, one which has some definite character involved! 

It was certainly a fun visit, mannequins and all!  Of course the wine was quite nice as well, from the 2013 Frenchie Napoleon Cabernet Sauvignon to the 2012 District Collection St. Helena Cabernet, the wines were all quite nice.  This particular wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (96%) and Petit Verdot (4%).  Now they talked a lot about their organic and biodynamic techniques, but when they got to the part about burying cow horns with compost on the winter solstice they really just lost me completely.

Back to the wine, it's actually a very nice, classic Napa Cabernet, with deep inky black color with ruby along the edges.  The nose presents aromas of ripe black fruit, blackberry, plum and cherry with hints of rose and leather.  The taste is classic Cabernet, with rich ripe fruit that transitions effortlessly to some flavors of tobacco and dusty limestone midpalate.  The tannins are nicely structured, offering a great foundation for the long, smooth and very dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's a very nice wine and a good value at $45.  Tonight I am just sipping this wine with a bit of dark chocolate after dinner.   This wine would certainly pair well with a classic big steak, or a hearty pasta dish.  Cheers!

My day trip to Napa Valley

So last week I had to be in San Francisco for a day of meetings for work, and since I was going to be taking such a long flight, I thought why not go a day early and spend the weekend in the Bay area?  Better yet, why don't I spend a day in Napa Valley!  A few google searches later and I had tickets for the Napa Valley Wine Train, combining two of my favorite things, wine and trains!

The interior of the dome car where I enjoyed lunch with a view!

I opted for the wine ambassador tour, so I was able to have lunch in the dome car, cooked to order along with some wonderful wines,  I have to admit, having taken the Acela express between New York and Boston, I was not expecting the food to be this good!  I had an appetizer of grilled shrimp, an green and red apple salad, and the rack of lamb, all cooked on board.  A wonderful opportunity to get your foodie and wine fix all at once.  It's also such a social experience, since I was by myself, I sat at a small table across from two lovely couples celebrating a birthday, and we explored the train while they were kind enough to share some of the wine they brought on board (did I mention you could bring your favorite wine for a $15 corkage?).

My place setting and menu along with a glass of Napa sparkling wine to start the meal.

Of course, riding through Napa Valley to St. Helena, you see some marvelous scenery, and with some new friends we enjoyed the views from the dome as well as from the observation car at the end of the train, which featured and open platform to enjoy all of the sight, smells and fresh air of the valley.

You just couldn't beat the scenery on the train!

After lunch, we arrived in St. Helena, and the train would soon head back to the town of Napa Valley, but I was on a different route, boarding a charter bus to tour and taste at two very interesting wineries in Napa, Charles Krug, which traces its roots back to the gold rush days and its founding in 1861, and Raymond Vineyards, which is a leader in sustainable vineyard practices and a few other odd things.  More on these two visits on my next post!

Another option for next time is a stop for a tasting at Grgich Hills, a wonderful winery.  Maybe next time!