Two longtime friends who share a love of South County’s wine country are off and rolling with a new way to offer oenophiles safe transportation between downtown Morgan Hill and various local wineries—as well as insight into the history and heritage of the Santa Clara Valley American Viticultural Area.
The AVA encompasses vineyards between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo Range, from Menlo Park and Fremont in the north to Gilroy and part of San Benito County in the south.
The Morgan Hill Wine Trolley is also a linchpin in the region’s longtime efforts to expand tourism opportunities in the wine country that surrounds Morgan Hill—which includes vineyards almost as old as the city itself, which was incorporated in 1906.
“We are in love with the beauty and community of Morgan Hill, and we want to help more people experience it,” says Heather Gallegos, who co-founded the trolley with Christina Perez. “I lived in San Jose for most of my life and didn’t realize the abundance of friendly wineries, excellent restaurants and gorgeous countryside that are just a short drive away. We’ve tried to plan group wine tasting tours and found that planning was harder than it needed to be. We created the Morgan Hill Wine Trolley to make it easy.”
The trolley, which launched this month, will offer tours every Saturday and Sunday year-round—rain or shine. Guests on the 30-passenger cable car replica will embark on an excursion that begins with a champagne reception and appetizers at a selected downtown Morgan Hill restaurant.
From there, the trolley will visit three wineries—about an hour at each stop, one of which will include lunch for tour passengers. A local tour guide and driver will accompany each excursion.
Perez and Gallegos say there are more than a dozen wineries in Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy. The trolley tours will focus on locally owned vineyards and wineries, where the winemakers tend the vines themselves, the trolley’s founders say.
Partner wineries include Besson Family Vineyards, Cottage Creek Vineyards, DeRose Winery, EmmaLily Vineyards, Fernwood Cellars, Fortino Winery, Guglielmo Winery, J Winston Winery, Kirigin Cellars, Lion Ranch Winery and Vineyards, L&M Vineyard, Miramar Vineyards, P&V Winery, Satori Cellars, Solis Winery and Tank House Winery.
Perez and Gallegos have plans for the future as well. The purchase of a second trolley—for private events only—is in process. They are also considering establishing another Wine Trolley that will be based in Gilroy, as well as smaller vehicles for more of a “hop on, hop off” service.
Tickets for the trolley cost $149 per person, which includes the wine tastings, lunch, appetizers and a champagne reception for each tour. The trolley is also available for private events. For more details, visit mhwinetrolley.com.
