Napa Valley Wine Train Experience
You can watch our vlog from our time in Napa Valley on my YouTube Channel here.
While we visited San Francisco over Labor Day weekend, we took a day trip to Napa Valley for a ride on the famous Wine Train. This has been on my bucket list for years now and I am so incredibly thankful Fred was able to make this dream come true! Not only was the staff fantastic, but the food and wine were outstanding as well! It was truly an unforgettable experience that I’m so excited to share with y’all.
We chose the Legacy Tour which was 6 hours long and included a welcome glass of champagne, a four course meal, a tasting aboard the train, and stops at two wineries for tours/tastings.
Our day began pretty early at about 8AM departing our hotel in Union Square. There are a few ways to get from San Francisco to Napa: renting a car, taking a ferry (to Vallejo), or taking an Uber/Lyft, which is what we opted for. It took us just over an hour even with morning rush hour traffic. We got to the train station and checked in then lounged in the waiting area before the train arrived.
Upon boarding the train, we were greeted by our waitress, Alicia, and maître d’, Jacob. Their customer service was par none and we can’t thank them enough for how memorable they made our first Napa experience. Alicia showed us to our table for the day and we enjoyed our welcome glass of Domaine Carneros 2017 Brut Rosé.
Our first course of the day which consisted of lemon mascarpone crepes with blueberry jam, roasted maple bacon topped with guajillo chili (Fred had a zucchini salad instead), and an oven basted egg with salmon roe & buttered croutons, was served on the way to our first stop — the Welcome to Napa Valley sign.
We were able to step off the train and had time to take photos with the sign before boarding the train and having our first wine tasting on the train’s open air cab. We savored glasses of Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot that are specially bottled for the wine train.
Once we finished the wine tasting we made our way back to our table and the second course was served. Fred had the cracked mustard-cider glazed salmon that was served atop an artichoke puree, asparagus & dried apricot, while I had the grilled tenderloin of beef accompanied by truffle potato salad, watercress & hollandaise. Both of the dishes really surpassed our expectations for the wine train cuisine.
The first winery we visited was Charles Krug — Napa Valley’s oldest winery estate . As we were given a quick tour of their winery, we tasted their 2017 limited release Malbec. On the nose, the wine shows vibrant notes of blueberry and cranberry, with hints of vanilla and black olive. They even picked some grapes directly off the vine and passed them around to let us sample them. Charles Krug also hosts exclusive events like the Napa Valley Film Festival, Tastings on the Lawn, concerts, and comedy nights — Miley Cyrus was even set to host an afterparty here following her performance at the Bottlerock Music Festival that evening.
At the start of our tour at Charles Krug, we overheard a couple mention they were from Nairobi (Kenya) so of course Fred went over to chat with them since he’s also from Kenya. What a rare coincidence to meet a couple from Fred’s hometown in Napa Valley on the same wine train tour as us! It was so lovely to meet Mahesh & Harpreet!
Our third course of the day was a whipped Marin county brie, local honey, country olives and ciabatta crisp. It was the perfect snack to enjoy between wineries.
The second winery we visited was V. Sattui. This was our favorite of the two that we visited because not only were the grounds stunning, but the wine was also delicious. Carlos was our tour guide and he was exceptional. Our tour here included a tasting in their Barrel Cellar where we tasted a 2020 Vintage Rosato di Pinot Nior (dry Rosé), a 2018 Zinfandel & also a Madeira Port (dessert wine). We enjoyed them so much that I even ordered a few bottles of each to have shipped back home. They also host all kinds of events here and were even setting up for a wedding for later that day during our tour.
They believe great winemaking starts in the vineyard, and use sustainable and organic vineyard practices. V. Sattui also has a famous deli that showcases over 200 cheeses and a beautiful shaded outdoor area with picnic tables if you want to enjoy a tasting of their wines while having a cheese pairing.
The fourth and final course of the day was dessert. Fred chose the chocolate mousse and I had my all time favorite — creme brûlée. We celebrated with our new friends by popping a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and toasted to the wonderful day we had.
This was truly such an unforgettable day filled with so many exciting experiences. I would certainly go back on the Wine Train again and can’t wait for our next trip to Napa Valley.
As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post and please share it with family & friends! Also if you didn’t already know Fred and I have started to Vlog our trips as well and have been uploading them on my YouTube Channel so make sure you’re subscribed to that as we will have our Vlog of this trip uploaded very soon.
Feel free to leave me any questions you might have about this trip in the comments below. Thanks!
