When the last train left Calistoga in 1939, some things got left behind. Namely a handful of train cars, one of which has gotten a lot of attention from visitors to Calistoga and local wine lovers alike — the Calistoga Wine Stop.

Step up into the Calistoga Wine Stop’s main office — its showroom, business, emporium and curiosity shop — and you instantly experience the spacious appearance of what some consider to be Calistoga’s glory days, when the iron horse made its way to town daily, bringing commodities to town from the rest of the world, and hauling Calistoga goods, including prunes, walnuts, mercury — or, if you prefer, quicksilver — to the rest of the world.

Stashed away in compartments and shelves you’ll find a cargo of wines — 95 percent of which come from Napa and Sonoma counties — and beyond that, you might find a lovely Portuguese port.

This rustic wine shop with wine country cargo has a most unique feature — its own tasting room — which, according to owner Tom Pelter, features wines other than the Pelter label. Pelter makes a killer cabernet on his property right here in Calistoga, but shares his tasting room with other local winemakers, including Ron Lilly and Hal and Maureen Taylor, of Diamond Terrace. On Saturday, Nov. 14 Storybook Mountain Vineyards, owned by Jerry and Sigrid Seps, will host a very rare public pouring by one of the finest zinfandel winemakers in the industry. Hmmmm. One has to wonder if Seps will be pouring his coveted viognier.

“Tasting rooms are usually tied to just one winery, so if you visit their tasting room today and go back in three or six months you’ll taste the same wine you tasted before,” Pelter said. “At our tasting room, we have a different winemaker almost every Saturday — so if you taste here today and come back in a couple of weeks, you’ll taste something completely new and different.”

On Nov. 21, Pelter will be featuring T-Vines pouring Calistoga wines.

Choosing winemakers to add warmth to the tasting room is tough work, Pelter said.

“Those wines featured in our tasting room are wines we carry at the Wine Stop, and some, like Jerry and Sigrid Seps, whom I’ve known for years, or Gary Branham, come around and we start talking and I’ll just say, ‘Hey, what are doing? Wanna pour?’

“Pretty tough,” he said, “See what I’m saying?”

Community booster

In May, the Calistoga Wine Stop will be celebrate 25 years in the same location. It had been in business for about two years, owned by a pair of Calistoga families, when Pelter and his wife Tammy purchased it.

“I got into selling wine because I love wine country, and I loved wine,” Pelter said recently. “They kicked me out of college, and I decided this is what I wanted to do.”

The Pelters have raised three children in Calistoga, Bryce, 28, Tara, 18 and Jonah, 13. Raising three kids through the Calistoga school system, they became big boosters of everything Calistoga. Jonah is a high school student, Tara is away at university and Bryce works at the award-winning Solage restaurant in Calistoga.

“Tammy was the Calistoga Education Foundation corresponding secretary for four years,” he said. “For about 15 years I procured the wines for the CEF wine auctions. It’s just something you want to do, because you see teachers need the help and you want to give it.”

The Calistoga Wine Stop also donates a lot of wines to help promote the Calistoga Fire Department’s Firefighters Association events. One coming up is the Nov. 21 annual Firefighters Bingo and Raffle.

“Tom and Tammy are very community minded, and have always been big boosters of anything Calistoga,” said Sally Manfredi, who owns Calistoga Pottery, with her husband Jeff. The Manfredis created the ceramic dump buckets — or spittoons — used in The Calistoga Wine Stop’s tasting room.

“My husband and I like to sit near them during the bingo and raffle, because the firefighters treat them so special it makes everyone feel special,” Manfredi said.

Tom fends off the praise by saying, “We think our local firefighters treat everybody special,” Pelter said. “They’re always there for the community, and we want them to know the community is there for them.”

Tom has also been a volunteer coach for every local sport — Little League, basketball, soccer, you name it.

More details

The Calistoga Wine Stop and tasting room is located at 1458 Lincoln Ave., in California’s oldest railroad building. (It’s true, there is even a bronze plaque on the front of the building to prove it). The Wine Stop is open daily, but the tasting room is open Thursday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Two wines are poured for $5, but no fee is charged with any wine purchase.

Because the right-size glass is so important to experiencing the total enjoyment of any wine, the Pelters feature Reidel stemware.

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