Oakville- Rutherford & Napa City

Oakville is a town that gained its name from the dense groves of dark green oaks. California Oakville is centrally located within Napa Valley. Oakville was founded back in 1860 as a home to the water stop for the steam train owned by the wealthy early California pioneer, Samuel Brannan who wanted to shuttle tourists between San Francisco’s ferry boats coming from San Francisco Bay via San Pablo Bay to the resort town of Calistoga. The village of Oakville was owned by Napa Valley Railroad Company.

In 1903, the U.S. Department of Agriculture established an experimental vineyard station in Oakville. This vineyard is known as "Oakville Station” and was operated by the University of California, UC Davis. Oakville was formally declared a Napa appellation in 1993.

Today, there are currently 24 wineries in Oakville. Robert Mondavi Winery is one of them and is located between Oakville and Rutherford in California Wine Country. Napa Valley Wine Train runs through Oakville on the same route where the original steam train ran on over in the 1800’s.

The city of Napa is the main city of Napa Valley metropolitan area and home to 86,000 people came from all over the world and different horizons . It’s located on the Napa River that runs through Napa Valley down to San Pablo Bay and San Francisco Bay. The vibrant part of Napa is the downtown located along Main Street and “The Riverfront” where you can admire its cottage and fancy houses, diverse architecture, museums, fine restaurants, patios and courtyards filled with boutiques, coffee shops and wine tasting rooms. Take a walk to admire the great and picturesque mural paintings all over the city. Among the main attraction is the wine train just across the pedestrian bridges where you can visit Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts. Copia is a famous cultural institution and museum. For more information about Napa, you can visit Napa City’s official website: www.cityofnapa.org.

If you are interested in visiting the city of Napa, Copia and take the wine train. Feel free to fill out our Travel Request and we will combine Napa attractions with your wine tour. Napa Valley is characterized by its cool, wet winters and very warm dry summers. Napa River overflows and floods Napa city and thousands of acres all over Napa County from time to time as it happened in December 2005. Yet, Napa climate is very warm in summer which makes its wine growing regions one of the best “ terroirs” in the world.

The history of Napa and the name Napa derives from the Nappeans; the Native American-Indians who lived in Napa Valley area for thousands of years, in such fertile soil and along the banks of the Napa River .

In early 1800’s, Padre Jose Altimura, led the expedition to Napa under the Spanish Flag and then after 1820’s under the Mexican Flag to explore Napa Valley and converts the Indians to Christianity.

In 1846, California Bear Flag peaceful Revolt took place at Sonoma Historic Plaza and resulted in a complete control of Napa and California from the Mexicans. By 1870, the Native American demographics changed significantly due to the probably cause of U.S. Manifest Destiny and the flood of newcomers to Napa Valley who forced the native Indians to leave their native lands. The City of Napa was founded by Nathan Coombs in 1847. By 1850, the Dophin became the first steamship to navigate through Napa River in order to open a path for commerce to promote business in Napa Valley.

The California Gold Rush on the late 1850’s expanded Napa City. In 1858, the Great Silver Rush began in Napa Valley. The most noted silver mine was the Silverado Mine, near the summit of Mt. St. Helena. The mine was immortalized by Robert Louis Stevenson in his classic novel: The Silverado Squatters.

Today, Napa has become the primary business and economic center as well as the Agricultural Capital of California Wine Country.