Review by Elizabeth Warnimont
Special to The Herald
The Napa Valley Wine Train is a luxurious ride, offering specialty dining excursions throughout the year against the backdrop of the incomparable grape-growing landscape. Depending on their selected tour, guests may be seated in a dining, lounge, or vista dome car, or any combination thereof. The train also boasts a wine bar with a rotating selection of 30-40 local wines and a knowledgeable sommelier.
One of the more intriguing tours offered by the Wine Train is the Murder Mystery Dinner, in which passengers mingle with murder suspects (actors from Incentives to Intrigue of Guerneville) while dining on a gourmet, five-course meal. The three-hour tour follows a leisurely course from downtown Napa to St. Helena and back. It begins in the dining car, where guests select their preferred entrée. (The chicken appeared to be the favorite, fresh roasted and served atop a mushroom polenta with avocado cream.) Each course is meticulously prepared and presented, most with suggested wine pairings. The baby lettuce salad with candied walnuts and smoked goat cheese, for example, is paired with a 2008 Miner Viognier, while the sweet pea ravioli with roasted peppers, grilled zucchini and pesto pairs with a 2006 Zmor Gewürztraminer.
The entertainment begins when a rattled young detective (Deborah Wade as “Nancy Grew”) arrives on board with the news of the evening’s first murder – her father’s friend and fellow detective, Julius Fox. As the meal progresses, the remaining characters begin to take seats with the dinner guests, providing some clues as to the perpetrators and their motives. A clue sheet is provided, with a brief statement about each character. For example: “Marmaduke the Mystic would love to impress Shirley Holmes and would never discredit her.”
Like Agatha Christie’s “Ten Little Indians,” the characters on the train soon begin to drop off, leaving participants to guess at who murdered whom, and why. At the end of the program, each seating group receives a card and must guess at the culprits and their motives. Was it jealousy? Greed? Fear of exposure? Each party must agree on a set of answers, and the group closest to guessing all points correctly wins a small prize.
Once all of the cards are scored, the solution is revealed and diners’ questions are answered. Last Friday night, no one group was 100 percent correct, which is some indication of the level of attention required in order to solve the case.
The main attraction of the Murder Mystery Dinner tour is indeed the challenge of solving the mystery. It makes for some fun conversation and creative thinking. The quest for clues seems even to overshadow the exceptional food; it certainly detracts attention away from the passing scenery, which would otherwise take more of a center stage on a Wine Train tour. It feels somewhat like a visit to an amusement park; it’s a lot of fun, but you can’t see it all in one day. On a regular dinner tour, by contrast, guests can tour the train at their leisure and enjoy the passing scenery over relaxed dinner conversation.
The mystery tour is a great idea for a special birthday celebration or a night out with friends, although it may not be the best choice for a romantic date, since such careful attention must be paid to the entertainment. For that, a Vista Dome dinner might be a better option.
If You Go
For information about Wine Train events or to purchase tickets, call 253-2111 or visit www.winetrain.com.
Elizabeth Warnimont holds a BA in Germanic language and literature from the University of California-Santa Barbara. She is currently a substitute teacher for the Benicia Unified School District.
Leave a Reply