
In honor of my
beautiful mom's birthday,
Beth and I traveled up to
Napa to join my sister Shauna and my parents Donna and Ed, for a day spent on the
Napa Valley Wine Train (NVWT).
The Wine Train has had a
long and sometimes
contentious history in the Valley. The movement to start the NVWT was headed by Vincent DeDomenico of Rice-A-Roni fame, among many other food brands. The long legal battle was bitterly fought throughout the valley with many residents against the idea, including my own grandfather Bud Schroeder. Local protesters argued that the Valley was already fraught with enough tourists, a rather reasonable view, actually. Eventually the legal battle ended up in the California Supreme Court, where DeDomenico et al prevailed. The original dissension has dried up over the last 18 years of operation and, for the most part, the Wine Train is now an accepted part of Valley life.