Explore Famous Napa Wineries With Wine Country Tours
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Country-Adventures wine and vineyard tours are available throughout the States... click here to include a wine tour in your rural vacation plans. |
For six months of the year, the famous Napa Wine Train departs the city of San Francisco on a weekly basis. It takes its passengers on Wine Country tours of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, one of the most famous wine-making regions in the world. Its crimson red wagons, evocative of the golden age of train travel, wind through the mild, pastoral background of Northern California's wine country, like an image out of a dream. Yet, for the passengers aboard that train, the dream is a sustained reality. For many of them, the reality of the trip will be underscored in the upcoming months by the many bottles of world-class California wine that will take up space on their wine rack--all purchased during their leisurely trip through Wine Country.
Learn Wine History With Wine Country Tours
One benefit of Wine Country tours is that they are a fine way to learn about the often-overlooked history of Northern California. They are also a fine way to learn something of the history of one of the most celebrated beverages of all time. During the course of a day-long tour, visitors learn that the Wine Country (as the Napa-Sonoma region of California is known worldwide) has been producing wine since the middle of the 19th century. The region's climate and geology, its low mountains and sunny valleys, have attracted aspiring wine-makers since those early days.
After the Prohibition, wine-making in the Wine Country underwent a renaissance thanks to the innovations of local viticulturists and entrepreneurs, such as Robert Mondavi (founder of the famous Robert Mondavi Winery, an important stopping point on virtually all Wine Country tours).
Experience Northern California Through Wine Country Tours
Viticulturists were attracted to the area because of its mild, dry, Mediterranean-like climate, which is especially conducive to growing large quantities of grapes with a warm, deep flavor. It requires patience and effort to grow the kind of flavorful grapes necessary to make world-class wine, especially in the required quantities. However, in viticulture, patience and effort amount to nothing, unless the grape-growing region in question also has the proper climate.
During the course of their Wine Country tours, visitors can experience this pleasant climate for themselves. As they sample wine at famous winery after famous winery (today, the Wine Country hosts over 400 of them), visitors can attest to the restorative effects of the Wine Country's climate on their own bodies and souls. Over the course of a single day, visitors can feel the wondrous effect of the Wine Country take hold over them, as though they, themselves, were grapes of a fine vintage.
