The Morgan Hill Wine Trolley—the brainchild of two longtime friends who share extensive business experience and a love of South County’s charming wine country—opens to the public on Aug. 3.
Founded by Christina Perez and Heather Gallegos, the Morgan Hill Wine Trolley offers passengers a unique wine tasting tour experience, providing safe transportation between the city’s downtown and a list of local wineries—as well as insight into the history and heritage of the winemakers and growers who comprise the Santa Clara Valley American Viticultural Area.
The Wine Trolley is also a lynchpin in the region’s longtime efforts to expand tourism opportunities around the wine country that surrounds Morgan Hill—which includes vineyards almost as old as the city itself.
Gallegos and Perez said they created the Morgan Hill Wine Trolley to showcase a wine country that is “undiscovered” among many Bay Area residents who live outside South County. That opportunity, combined with a mutual passion for entrepreneurship, was the genesis of El Toro Tours LLC, the trolley’s parent company.
“We are in love with the beauty and community of Morgan Hill, and we want to help more people experience it,” said Gallegos, whose career until recently included about 25 years in tech and corporate communications. “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 launches to the public on Aug. 3, and will offer tours every Saturday and Sunday year-round—rain or shine. Guests on the 30-passenger cable car replica will embark on a winery tour 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 expert tour guide and professional driver will accompany each Morgan Hill Wine Trolley excursion.
The tour ends back in downtown Morgan Hill, where passengers can step off the trolley for more wine or dinner at a wide selection of restaurants, Gallegos and Perez explained.
Tickets for the trolley cost $149 per person, which includes all wine tastings, lunch, appetizers and the champagne reception for each tour. The trolley is also available for private events.
Perez and Gallegos, who have been friends for more than 30 years, said the Wine Trolley will visit a selection from among more than a dozen wineries in Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy (within a 15 minute drive of downtown Morgan Hill) each tour. Tours are tailored to the weather and any special offerings a particular winery might showcase for the time of year.
A focus is on locally owned and operated vineyards and wineries, where the winemakers roll up their sleeves and tend the vines themselves, the trolley’s founders explained.
“We hope the Morgan Hill Wine Trolley helps increase tourism to Morgan Hill’s vibrant downtown and South Santa Clara County wineries,” said Perez. “We are an easy and safe way for those all over the Bay Area, as well as tourists visiting Northern California, to enjoy our wine country. With so many great wineries to feature, each weekend’s wine tasting tour will have a new set of three wineries on the schedule. Guests can come back again, see a different part of the valley and be introduced to new wineries.”
The Morgan Hill Wine Trolley’s 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.
Ever the entrepreneurs, Perez and Gallegos have big plans for the future as well. The purchase of a second trolley—for private events only—is in the works. 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 that would circulate among numerous South County wineries.
The Morgan Hill Wine Trolley celebrated a soft opening on July 27-28, for friends and family of Perez and Gallegos. The weekend provided two tours, visiting a total of six wineries—each offering hands-on experience with their owners and winemakers, Gallegos said.
“We were blessed by beautiful weather and were thrilled to share the experience with our family and closest friends,” Gallegos said. “It was extra special to have our parents with us.”
Seats are already filling quickly on the Morgan Hill Wine Trolley, with openings available on just one Saturday and most Sundays in August.
For more information about the Morgan Hill Wine Trolley and to purchase tickets, visit the trolley’s website mhwinetrolley.com.
