Romance or Adventure on Napa Wine Train : TRAIN

Mata Hari missed the 11:37.

Just as well. She would have been a spy caught out of the cold. There are no shadowy subterranean stations for the Napa Valley Wine Train. No mist-shrouded platforms. No menacing characters in trench coats. It’s all sunshine and sport shirts and Anne Klein II.

Mind you, there are manifold charms about the newest attraction of the vineyard-carpeted valley 50 miles north of San Francisco--elegantly refurbished coaches, sumptuous dining, picture-book scenery and the everlasting allure of steel rails stretching to the horizon.

But I was crestfallen at the start. There I was in my Borsalino and aviator glasses, projecting an image somewhere in the danger zone between gigolo and Secret Service agent. I had hoped for mystery, romance and adventure.

Romance probably had reservations on the dinner train. I had to settle for adventure. Fortunately, it came through.

The Wine Train is the brainchild and pampered pet of millionaire Vincent DeDomenico, former top cheese of San Francisco-based Golden Grain Macaroni Co. He’s the guy who brought you Rice-A-Roni.

After selling his company to Quaker Oats in 1986 he bought the near-defunct Napa Valley line from Southern Pacific in April, 1987.

For $2.25 million he got 21 miles of track between the cities of Napa and St. Helena, and 125 acres of right-of-way. He poured another $1.7 million into the roadbed, then went shopping for some turn-of-the-century Pullman cars and 1950s diesel Streamliners to ride the rails.

After massive renovation, two engines and four cars are in service. The exterior color scheme is maroon, cream and forest green, though Wine Train officials insist that it’s “Cabernet, champagne and grapeleaf.”

The interiors are kiss-my-ring gorgeous, all polished Honduran mahogany and brass luggage racks (strictly for eye-appeal--they wouldn’t accommodate a makeup case).

The carpets are handsome beige wool, thick enough to belie the new four-inch-thick concrete floors. The dining car has velvet swag curtains, oval-backed chairs upholstered in rainbow hues and nice touches such as etched-glass divider panels.

Lounge cars feature crystal chandeliers and deep-cushioned club chairs that swivel 360 degrees--the better to observe the sights gliding by.

The paradigm for the Wine Train is the Venice-Simplon Orient Express. Both have beautiful wood paneling and opulent fittings in the toilets. But whereas the Wine Train’s floors are sliced marble, the Orient Express has tile mosaics with scenes illustrating the car’s name.

The Wine Train’s Napa station is only blocks from the center of this picturesque and squeaky-clean town, but no sooner did the behemoth chug through the first crossing than it began to reveal the city’s dirty linen: the backs of cinder block and corrugated tin buildings, a sludgy drainage ditch, supply yards with tired tractors and toothless back hoes.

The wise traveler will order the first glass of wine before departure, then spend the first quarter-hour of the journey admiring the fittings inside the cars. The twin club cars, Cabernet and Chardonnay, are separated by the dining car, Le Gourmet Express, and the kitchen car, Le Chef de la Cuisine.

A glass-windowed walkway separates strollers from chef Ken Schloss and his busy crew of six in the kitchen car. Although much slicing and dicing is done in land-based facilities at the Napa station, all the cooking takes place on the roll.

After the train has lumbered through industrial back yards and tidy suburbs it forges into the sweeping valley of viticulture. This is what makes the trip worth $25.

Although the Napa Valley is beautiful in all seasons, it is voluptuously seductive on sunny days in fall and winter. Temperatures can be brisk, but on the November day I made the journey, the air was soft and warm.

The leaves on grapevines, like those on hardwood trees, turn color during the colder months, and the hue--butter, scarlet, toast, old lime--depends on the variety of grape.

The mountains that shoulder the valley on both sides run north and south, so the light at this time of year slants in languorous and low from a long southern sweep. It bounces off the furrows beneath the staked vines and up through the multicolored leaves, making the vineyards appear to be lit from below . . . as if the sun were in the soil itself.

And dotted here and there are the wineries, some so close to the tracks (which parallel California 29, straight up the center of the valley) that passengers could sashay into the tasting rooms before you could say rouge de noir. The slowly passing scenic parade--the train’s top speed is 15 m.p.h.--is a feast for the eyes.

Then there’s the other feast, the one served on fine china and poured into etched crystal stemware and speared with Sheffield silver. The prix fixe lunch is $20 and offers three entrees bracketed by salads and desserts that justify Northern California’s reputation for delectable--and cute--food.

The greens in the salad were multicolored, came in shapes ranging from oak leaf to tea cup, and were crowned with edible flowers (nasturtiums, in this case). But for all its precocity, the salad was delicious, thanks to an imaginative hazelnut and sherry vinaigrette dressing.

Savory, too, was the Black Angus filet mignon, glazed with a reduced Cabernet and Roquefort sauce. The entree was accompanied with pleasantly crisp foetal vegetables and Ping-Pong-ball-size red potatoes, cleverly cut to resemble mushrooms. Chicken and salmon were the other entree choices on a menu that changes at least every two weeks.

A lovely selection of valley wines is offered for a price--by bottle or glass. (A whole bottle was cheaper than two glasses, at least for lunch.)

The service works this way: Half of the 120 passengers booked on each trip are ushered immediately into the dining car upon arrival. The remainder are seated in the trailing lounge car, where they can order cocktails.

By the time the train reaches the northern terminus of St. Helena 1 1/2 hours later, diners have been invited to move into the empty forward lounge car for coffee and dessert.

The dining car is tidied up, the tables reset and the second seating starts while the engines unhook from the cars, edge by on a siding and reconnect at the back (now front) of the train.

That way, loungers never have to stare at the hulk of the engine, but have an open vista from the rear decks of the cars. It also eliminates a lot of two-way traffic in the aisles.

Each week 10 trips are offered, lunch and dinner Thursday through Sunday and morning brunch on the weekends. Travelers are advised to make reservations a couple of weeks ahead.

But I’m a great believer in last-minute calls for the impulsive adventurer.

I wouldn’t recommend postponing this ride, if you happen to be in the area. The Wine Train’s future is cloudy.

The project has run into some nasty opposition. A group called “Friends of the Napa Valley” has complained that the diesel fumes will damage their crops planted trackside, and that the 20 gate crossings and 44 private crossings cause traffic snarls, noise pollution and accidents.

Foes also decry the additional tourists who will be drawn into the valley.

The railway was built in the 1860s to deliver tourists to the mud baths at Calistoga in the northernmost fold of the valley, long before oenophiles put down roots.

In the last 20 years the number of wineries has more than doubled, to 200-plus. Millions arrive annually to sip their way through endless tasting rooms and pack their car trunks with cases of sherry, Chablis and claret.

The coalition succeeded first in delaying the start of the Wine Train, and now has prevented it from following its intended course: Stopping at select wineries so that passengers can stretch and sip and shop. That won’t be permitted until an expensive environmental impact report is completed sometime this year.

The Napa Wine Train Main Depot is at 1275 McKinstry St., Napa, Calif. 94559. For reservations and information, call toll-free (800) 522-4142.

From San Francisco drive north across the Golden Gate Bridge on U.S. 101 to Novato, east on California 37 to California 121, then north on 121 to Napa.

Or go across the Bay Bridge to Interstate 80, north on 80 to California 12 (shortly after crossing the Carquinez Straits Bridge), then northwest on 12 to California 29, and 29 into Napa.

The brunch train departs Saturday and Sunday at 9 a.m., returning at 11:30 a.m. (The Saturday brunch train has a special car reserved for families with children. Special rates and menus are available.)

The lunch train departs Thursday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. and returns at 2:10 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday it departs at 12:20 p.m. and returns at 3 p.m.

The dinner train departs Thursday through Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and returns at 10 p.m. On Sunday it departs at 6 p.m. and comes back at 9:30 p.m.

Note: On March 17 a seven-day summer schedule will take effect. During the months of Pacific Standard Time the dinner train will be running after dark, severely reducing sightseeing. But the fare is half-price. Round-trip train fare is $25 per person. Train fare for dinner parties of two or more is reduced to $12.50 per person.

The prix fixe brunch and luncheon is $20 per person, dinner is $45. Beverage service is available in both lounge and dining cars during all trips. The California sales tax of 6% is added to the price of all food and beverages. A 12% service charge is also added, eliminating the need for tips.

Grape Line Tours offers shuttle service from various San Francisco and Oakland hotels to the Napa Wine Train. Round-trip fares begin at $20 from San Francisco.

It’s best to call for reservations when you arrive in the area. From area codes 415, 408 and 707 the toll-free number is (800) 675-7433. The Grape Line main office is in Campbell, Calif.; call (408) 866-1400.