It’s wine trolley season: Kansas City area excursion takes passengers around wineries
The wheels of a retro trolley roll down a Paola street, music blasting through the windows.
A couple dozen women — giggly from pinot grigio — sing at the top of their lungs.
Hopping aboard the Miami County Wine Trolley is always a high point for Alena Warren and her co-workers. They did it once years ago.
“Are we going again?” her co-workers asked the next year. So they never stopped.
“Everyone’s singing and the wineries are amazing,” Warren said. “It kinda turns into karaoke.”
Warren’s group is one of several who hop aboard and tour three wineries in this area south of Johnson County. The trolley schedule rotates among Nighthawk Vineyard & Winery, Isinglass Estate Vineyard & Winery, Somerset Ridge Vineyard & Winery and Fossil Springs Winery.
Brian Roberts operates his trolley year-round, booking events from bachelorettes to birthdays. But of course, business multiplies when warm weather arrives. Spring/summer is his busy season.
Roberts started his business in 2013 when he bought his first 20-passenger trolley, built in 1994, from Hermann, Missouri. After riding a trolley in that winery-filled town, he decided to replicate the concept in Miami County.
“We provide the environment, but (customers) are the ones that create the fun,” he said. “It’s just the atmosphere. … It’s a scenic route we drive.”
His trolley trips quickly took off. A year later, Roberts bought a second, 30-person trolley, built in 1988, from Oak Grove, in eastern Jackson County.
Every Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 11:45 a.m., Roberts picks up customers in the parking lot near Paola’s Park Square. The tour lasts five hours, giving groups an hour and 10 minutes for each stop.
“A lot of people come from the city. … It’s completely different scenery,” he said. “They really enjoy that.”
Outside alcohol isn’t allowed on the trolley, but if passengers purchase wine along the route, they can drink it on the ride.
Some groups book an entire trolley privately. Others join public tours. But many show up hoping to make friends with strangers.
Roberts has seen passengers forge lasting connections — maybe it’s the wine, maybe it’s the trolley. Or perhaps it’s the long, scenic ride through the Miami County countryside.
“We even got groups that’ve been coming back to us for years that met on the trolley,” he said. “Friendships grow, new friendships grow.”
The tour itself costs $30, with each winery charging a $10 tasting fee. Reserve a spot with a credit card by calling 913-306-3388. For more information or to book a private event, visit miamicountytrolley.com.
