How does one experience Napa Valley’s wine scene, incorporating a variety of wineries and tasting rooms with the safety of not driving? It’s easier than you’d think, thanks to a multiple options from bus tours to hiring a private driver to the option we chose on a recent visit, the Napa Valley Wine Trolley.

Save this article to Pinterest to help you plan your Napa Valley Wine Trolley tour. Graphic by RealFoodTraveler.com.

We were staying in San Francisco for a long weekend and wanted to devote a day to revisiting Napa’s wine country which we’d previously done, by tour bus, several years ago. Lured by the idea of riding in a charming, open-air trolley that would take us to multiple wineries, we signed up for one of the tours the Napa Valley Wine Trolley offers.

There are two styles of Napa Valley Wine Trolley tours available:

The Classic Napa Valley tour visits four wineries and includes a picnic-style lunch catered by a local chef. It’s more of a casual day of winetasting and an introduction to different winery experiences from small, family-owned wineries to larger, commercialized ones.

The Up Valley tour visits three wineries, one of which is in a castle, and includes a sit-down lunch at an area restaurant. This is the option we chose.

Both tours last about 6.5 hours and take guests around in a trolley, with a driver who provides a balance of narration about the area, teasers about each of the upcoming wineries, and reading of the group to encourage sociability, even picking certain songs to bring out some group singing. It’s an interesting bit of psychology the drivers have to do to enable people to let loose and have fun while still maintaining some sense of decorum as the tastings go on. It was interesting to see how each grouping in our tour kept to ourselves initially and, by the end, were hugging goodbye!

The Trolley is a fun and charming way to get to know Napa’s wineries.

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Pre-Tour Suggestion: Get there early and explore

My husband and I chose to get to Yountville in the Napa Valley really early, in advance of the 10am Trolley tour, to have an opportunity to explore a little bit. We had arranged ahead of time for a private driver to pick us up in San Francisco, take us over the Golden Gate Bridge, through meandering and stunning countryside to Yountville and then pick us up later in the evening after dinner, for the return ride home. It cost around $250 to do this which wasn’t much more than what we’d priced using Uber or Lyft. And, with a private driver, we could ensure we had someone available to take us back in the evening.

At our request, our driver dropped us off in front of Bouchon Bakery which is owned by the celebrated Chef Thomas Keller. Bouchon Bistro and the small bakery are separated by a cozy open courtyard. Our driver had forewarned us that he often sees people lined up down the street on weekend mornings for the bakery so we were prepared. But, as it happened, when we pulled up at around 8:30am, there were only two sets of people ahead of us, one of whom was buying a bunch of pastries for a family gathering. By the time that order was complete, we turned around and saw that a line had already built up – we’d gotten there just in time!

Choosing among the many gorgeous pastries was tough but somebody had to do it and we were certainly up to the task, ordering my dream pastry of a chocolate croissant topped with almond paste and toasted almonds (best of both worlds), a quiche and fruit tart. To say the least- they were delicious.

Fit a visit to Bouchon Bakery into your plans when taking the Napa Valley Wine Trolley. Go early, before the Trolley arrives.

We continued walking around, taking in the vibe of compact and charming downtown Yountville until it was time for the Trolley to arrive. (Including paying homage to one of America’s culinary landmarks – The French Laundry.) On our wine trolley were three labor and delivery room nurses on a weekend getaway, a group of five old friends from college, and several couples. We all kept to ourselves, talking only to the ones we came with, when not listening to our jovial guide who provided interesting facts as we drove along. One of those interesting facts is that Napa vineyards often use goats and sheep to help clear weeds in the wineries. But they have to be careful about when they use the goats because they tend to also eat the grapes on the vines!

Here’s an overview of how the whole Napa Wine Trolley experience works:

• Guests pay for the Trolley ride which includes narration, lunch and transportation to and from each winery and the lunch stop. Depending on the tour, the cost is $145/person. That does not include a tip for the driver which is not required but is certainly appreciated.
• On top of the Trolley ride, guests pay for each tasting experience plus tip. The last time we were in Napa, tastings were free to about $25/person. Due to rising costs everywhere and the struggles the wine industry is having these days, the price for tastings has risen considerably. The three wineries we visited charged between $45-$65 per person for tastings, plus tip. It adds up. Castello di Amorosa’s was the most expensive and the tasting serving size was the smallest. The most generous, ironically, was at the least expensive tasting room. More on that below. The tasting fee at each stop is mandatory – no sitting out a tasting.
• One of the options for the expense at each tasting room is to purchase a bottle or bottles that cover or exceed the cost of the tasting fee. Or, to sign up for the winery’s wine club membership. Some in our group chose to purchase wine and take it with them or have it shipped home. Others just paid the tasting room fee. All of the wineries we visited created a real experience for us Trolley riders and each was very different. It was more than just bellying up to a bar to have a typical tasting.

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Details of the Napa Valley Wine Trolley’s Up Valley Tour

The first stop on our Up Valley Tour is always part of this tour (the other two are subject to change). Driving up the road to Costello di Amorosa elicited amazed gasps from our group (and surely every group coming upon it for the first time). Meaning “The Castle of Love” in Italian, Castello di Amorosa is a 30+ year-long labor of love by Dario Sattui, representing the culmination of his life’s dream to build an authentic Tuscan castle in Napa Valley. Not content to just build something that evoked a castle feel, Sattui sourced hand-made materials using the same methods and materials used 700-800 years ago. He brought more than 200 containers from Europe filled with old materials and furnishings, 8,000 tons of local stone hand-chiseled and nearly one million antique, hand-made bricks from Europe.

There are eight levels (four are underground), 107 rooms and it all covers 121,000 square feet or three acres-worth of rooms, surrounded by 171 acres of land, 30 of which host grapes. There’s a drawbridge, moat, loggias, a well, church, stables, towers, prison and torture chamber. Oh, and vaulted wine cellars. It’s really spectacular. The Castello wines are not sold in restaurants or available in stores. You can only buy them at the Castle or order them to be shipped directly to customers’ homes or businesses. The whole experience was very unique with a tasting guide assigned to each table for personalized service, including education and guidance. It also includes the opportunity to explore much of the castle on a self-guided tour although guided tours are available which explore some of the more interesting areas like the prison and torture chamber (if you’re into that kind of thing.)

Costello di Amorosa is the most celebrated stop on the Napa Valley Wine Trolley.

Our second stop was to Raymond Vineyards, about as polar opposite an experience as possible from the Castillo – except that they were both eccentric. The giant eyeball sculpture, modeled to precise detail after the actual eyeball of the owner, is the first clue that this stop will be something different. Inside, owner, Jean-Charles Boisset has created something I’d describe as a cross between Alice In Wonderland and Studio 54. One room features apothecaries of the different kinds of dirt that can be found in the Napa area to illustrate the wide variety of conditions and terroir wine growers face. That room was interesting and educational. Then it started to get a little more whimsical.

A hallway of sculpted hands hold atomizers for guests to squeeze to get a subtle blast of some of the essences one might experience when sipping various wine. It was a clever way to demonstrate it. Then we were off to the lounge area and room where the tanks are that hold the wine. The lounge was glitzy with mirrors, chandeliers and red fur blankets draped over chairs. What a place to have a wine tasting! In the tank area, there were mannequins dressed in avant guard costumes, large-scale framed artwork hanging on the tanks and mirrors just waiting for the next fabulous party to be held there. The artwork in particular made me ponder why other wineries don’t take advantage of all of that blank tank space to hang some imagery. The place was one fantastical scene after another.

Raymond Vineyards is an over-the-top visit while on the Trolley tour.

The last stop on our tour was Bougetz Cellars which was yet another kind of experience altogether. If Castello di Amorosa channeled Cinderella and Raymond Vineyards harnessed Andy Warhol, Bougetz brought us all home to our friend’s backyard patio! Casual and comfortable, we settled down at tables in the tasting room and were guided with great humor and useful education by Sales Manager Tim Ennis who also provided the most generous pours of our tasting tour. By now, our group was a bit tipsy and, well, loose, shall we say. Tim didn’t miss a beat, playing along with some guest’s saucy comments. It was all in good fun and a relaxing way to end our day. It was on Bougetz’ neighboring property that we got to see sheep in action, munching away on weeds in the vineyard. Fluffy, noisy and amusing, they were kept in line by a shaggy sheepdog.

Left, sheep graze on the vineyard next door. Right, Bougetz Cellars wine tasting.

It wasn’t all drinking. We had lunch at some point – frankly, I can’t remember whether it was between stops one and two or two and three, at Tra Vigne Pizzeria. Two large tables were set for our group and, I’m sure all of the other diners there wondered who we all were, descending on the restaurant. Pre-arranged appetizers, salads and various pizzas were brought out in courses, all served family style. Options of gelato flavors capped off our meal. If guests wanted an alcoholic beverage, that was extra but otherwise, the ample and delicious lunch was included in our Napa Valley Wine Trolley fee.

Tra Vigne Pizzeria provides a varied lunch for San Francisco Wine Trolley attendees.

The Trolley tour was fun, informative, provided a good variety of styles of wines and wineries and wine tasting experiences. It is an expensive day though between the tour/transportation, wine tasting fees and tips. While there may be less expensive options out there, the biggest advantage is keeping inebriated people off the road as drivers!

Even though we had a driver, and weren’t terribly tipsy ourselves, we still wanted to experience Napa in the evening and had, therefore, planned for our driver to pick us up at 8pm, giving us time for a leisurely dinner. While more places require reservations, we were very fortunate to happen upon Bistro Jeanty, along the same side of the street as Bouchon Bakery, just a few blocks from where the Trolley dropped us off. They had a few tables still unspoken for by reservations and slipped us in on the patio at a cozy two-top. A perfect end to our day, we enjoyed warm hospitality, great service and delicious traditional French food.

Grab dinner at Bistro Jaunty after going on the Napa Valley Wine Trolley.

It had been a long, wonderfully indulgent day in Napa Valley and we fell asleep back in our San Fran hotel room, content and thankful for the varied experiences.

To learn more about the Napa Valley Wine Trolley’s offerings, visit their website, here.

-Story and photos by Courtney Drake-McDonough, Publisher & Managing Editor, RealFoodTraveler.com

Please note, we were hosted for the Trolley services portion of our day but all of the other expenses, including wine tastings, gratuities, as well as eating at Bouchon Bakery and Bistro Jaunty and our private driver, were covered by us.