My friend Vince De Domenico died last week at age 92. Vince was best known as the inventor of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat. But to me, Vince was not only a friend, but also a visionary.

He created the Napa Valley Wine Train, which currently caters mainly to tourists, but also lays a strong foundation for future mobility in the Napa Valley. Now, Vince was the sort of person that was never motivated by trying to impress people. In this respect, he was like Paul Newman, another food entrepreneur. Paul Newman knew, like Vince, that his products would be judged by quality, not because of links to a famous movie star, or through clever marketing or through any other superficial means.

The quality of Vince’s vision is certainly apparent to this day in Rice-A-Roni and related products, but also by the stellar quality of the Wine Train experience. Despite the lingering resentments of a few who fought the Wine Train beginning in the late 1980s, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Wine Train, on balance, is a huge net plus for the Napa Valley.

The Napa Valley owes great thanks to Vince, who had a great deal of foresight and vision that will be increasingly relevant in this age of global warming and pending “peak oil.” Unlike many communities in the U.S., we won’t have to rebuild our public transportation system from scratch, since Vince was kind enough to preserve a strong foundation on which we can build. For the most part, the railroad that has been here since the 1870s is still here thanks to Vince DeDomenico. He saw the value of the railroad when many in this valley saw only their own convenience and resentment against tourism.

At a point where many people probably thought they saw selfishness, Vince also had the foresight to insist that the flood control project take into account the needs of his railroad, but also the future needs of public transportation. As a result, we have the core of a fantastic transportation facility between the Vallejo Ferry Terminal and St. Helena that can be revived for everyday public use for about the cost of two Trancas/Highway 29 interchanges.

It is now only a matter of time, until even the most jaded of us in the Napa Valley will come to understand the value of Vince’s legacy, and that its outstanding potential is at the heart of reducing and eventually eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels. Vince’s legacy will also be at the heart of preserving the environmental — and economic — integrity of the Napa Valley in the face of global warming and peak oil.

(Setty is a transportation consultant who, like DeDomenico, has strongly supported reviving the Napa Valley Railroad for local passenger service. Setty lives in Napa.)