About Our Wine
Make A Reservation | Call: +1.800.427.4124
Meet our Wine Director:
Greetings and salutations! My name is Ryan Graham, and I am the Director of Wine for the Napa Valley Wine Train. I am excited and pleased to be meeting all of you and helping you with your future wine needs.
I come to this position by way of a lifelong passion with great wine and food, and have spent my entire professional career in and around the food and wine industry.
I grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, the first suburb west of Cleveland on Lake Erie. Growing up I was exposed to many wonderful and diverse culinary options, and I was raised in a family of great cooks. I began working in restaurants as soon as I was old enough to work, and set out to learn all I could about food and wine.
I attended Kent State University, and then moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where I spent several years before, during and after the 1996 Olympics, managing some of the fine restaurants in that cosmopolitan city. Lots of time spent in New York and abroad helped to intensify my growing passion for all things wine and food related.
Eventually I succumbed to the draw of the wine Mecca that is Napa Valley, and moved out here in 2000 and accepted a position as the Manager and Wine Buyer for Bistro Jeanty in Yountville. I also helped Philippe Jeanty open Jeanty at Jack’s in San Francisco. After that I spent several years working at another Napa Valley culinary destination, Bistro Don Giovanni, all the while nurturing my passion for wine by tasting every great glass of fermented grape juice I could get my hands on. Not too difficult to do when you’ve got some of the world’s best winemakers pouring their wines for you on a regular basis. Most recently I worked as a wine merchant at Back Room Wines in Downtown Napa, where I learned the retail side of the business.
I live in the town of Napa with my partner and best friend, and we share our home with our dog Lucy and our three cats. I am an avid cook, and we enjoy hosting many wine dinners with our circle of friends in the local Napa wine and food industry. When we’re not working here in town, we try to make it north as often as possible to the town of Etna in Scotts Valley, where we have a second home and a real estate development company. When and if I can find any extra time, I try to indulge my other two passions, scuba diving and skiing.
I am pleased that you have taken a little time to get to know me, and would love the opportunity to get to know you, as we discuss and share the great wines of the world.
Cheers,
Ryan
Tasting Bar on the Train:
On board the Napa Valley Wine Train, we offer a special and unique opportunity for our guests to sample boutique wines from 30-40 local wineries on any given day. In our beautifully appointed and historic tasting car, our guests may visit and taste with our knowledgeable wine educators, as they take in the breathtaking vistas of the Napa Valley.
We offer selections to please any palate, from the novice wine drinker, to the seasoned oenophile. From off-dry white and dessert wines to rich and robust reds, and everything in between, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. All of the wines poured at our tasting bar are available after the journey back at the rail station in our wine emporium. The cost for the tasting experience is just $10 to try four great wines.