Wine tours take more leisurely mode

Sonoma Wine Trolley makes its way through the Clarbec vineyard (Jeff Kan Lee/PD)

Ed McCormick used to ride in the captain’s seat in the cockpit of a commercial jetliner for U.S. Airways.

But these days he’s the jolly pilot of Ed and Jonnie’s Wine Trolley, weaving in bits and pieces of Sonoma’s history and its deep roots in viticulture — all while safely ferrying wine tasters up and down the Sonoma Valley in old-fashioned style.

Ed McCormick opens wine aboard the Sonoma Wine Trolley.

The cheery burgundy and green trolley, trimmed in oak and equipped with a high-end galley kitchen where he and his wife Jonnie prepare gourmet meals for passengers — is one of several new ways to taste the Sonoma Valley while wisely leaving the driving to someone else.

Within the last year, in addition to the Wine Trolley, the distinctive open-air purple Vine Line HoHo (hop-on, hop-off) and two human-powered pedicab services have hit the road in the Valley of the Moon. And there’s a horse-drawn carriage trip through the vineyards in the Alexander Valley outside Healdsburg, giving wine-tasters new options beyond the traditional limousine and bus tours that have been a longtime staple in Wine Country transit.

“We wanted to enjoy drinking and not worry about driving. It’s freeing,” said Trolley patron Jessica Domlucas of Hayward, who pointed out that the open-air experience and al fresco lunch beat the closed in feeling of a limo tour.

The McCormicks, longtime Sonomans, aim to give people an intimate view of their valley, including a picnic under the trees at the historic Glen Oaks Ranch in Glen Ellen and an outdoor tasting at CLARBEC winery.