California's Wine Country, California, USA

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We actually hadn't even heard of this until we looked at the book but we're glad we did.
One problem with Napa is that it is a bit of a pain to get to if you're staying in downtown San Francisco.
Taking the fairly self-explanatory name of 'Wine Train' - we weren't that keen on hiring a car and driving there and we were also quite keen on Champagne Vista Dome upgrade which had to be booked through the Train company only and therefore we couldn't book on one of those third-party tours which pick you up at your hotel.
So we needed a combination of subways and buses to take us 2 and a half hours to Napa, but it was well worth it.
The Train takes you from Napa to St.Helena and back in three and a bit hours. You get a wine seminar before boarding the train which tells you what you should be smelling, seeing and tasting in a Californian red and white before boarding the train for a gourmet meal passing the vineyards as you go. There's also a wine tasting car where you can pick any four wines for $10 and again they'll tell you what your looking for and tasting. There's also opportunities to only go on part of the journey, getting off for a vineyard tour and then hopping back on for the return trip.

Arriving back at the station there's the opportunity to buy what you've just drunk or sampled before heading on your way (and incurring a massive excess baggage charge on your flight hom, but that's a different story)


995 still to see

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