La Belle Vie Tours — Attraction in Sonoma

It was our first time in Sonoma County and Napa Valley. We’ve known that the area is very popular for their wineries so we wanted to check it out. However, given that this was our first time, we were hesitant and needed a guide. We’ve been plant based/vegans for the last 5 years and saw that La Belle Vie Tours offered a vegan tour, so we booked it.

It was worth it because our guide, Michelle, was a vegan. Usually when it comes to tours or reservations that don’t specifically cater to vegans, there’s some visible apprehension & annoyance from our tour guides - even after we’ve given them our requests weeks in advance. With Michelle, it was so easy and comfortable. She took us in her Mercedes SUV to Charlies Acres’ sanctuary and Gustavo (great!) walked us around the farmland and gave us an in-depth description of the animals they rescued. Truly an eye opening experience and I’m so grateful for all the work he’s done and the whole team at this Sanctuary. Petting the animals and even admiring them from a far, was one of the many highlights of our trip. (Hi Bernard!) Afterwards, we had a hummus sandwich at the dining area outside, overlooking the 30+ acres of farmland. We hopped into her car and she drove us to the plaza to our first winery at BedRock, where we were guided by Aiste who was extremely knowledgeable and a sommelière. We sat outside in the back. Truly intimate and personable. We bought four bottles of wine because we loved the Sauvignon Blanc, Rose and the Carignan. (*Tasting fee is waived with a purchase of two bottles per person). Afterwards, we were driven to Patz and Hall Winery which we had a lovely hr chat with Jonny who provided us their selections of wine. The view is beautiful here. We got to walk around the property and tasted their grapes from the wine. For two people with tasting included, you’re looking to spend $300-$500 in total. It was worth it though because this was our first time and definitely not our last time. We will check out Domaine Carneros next because I wanted a vegan charcuterie board and Michelle suggested that place, amongst many other places in the Plaza. Overall, an enjoyable experience - so informative and well thought out. Mahalo Michelle for guiding us through and breaking our...

Michelle was super friendly and informative since our booking till the day of our tour.

Marc picked us up at the scheduled time. That was as smooth as it could be. We got there and he arrived at the exact same time. He was super friendly, and willing to tell us more about Sonoma and the places we were going to visit. He was very knowledgeable!

We first visited the sanctuary. It was our first time on an animal sanctuary, and it was just amazing. I had to hold my tears (a mix of happiness by looking at how the animals were being taken care of, and sadness, by knowing what they went through) most of the time lol.

After the sanctuary tour, Marc was waiting us with a lunch box for each, including cold drinks, and a complimentary bottle of wine that we weren't expecting at all! The lunch was just perfect, on a picnic table under an umbrella, viewing the animals we'd just petted, from afar.

We then went to visit two wineries, both excellent. The wine was first class, and the attention given by the hosts was perfect too. Marc remained constantly in touch with us to make sure our needs were constantly met.

Thank you for such a...

We had such a glorious Farm Sanctuary and Vegan Wine Tour organized by Marc and Michelle. I took my (adult) daughter and two friends to celebrate her birthday. The planning was seamless, they took care of everything and didn't miss any detail. They even brought my daughter a birthday treat (vegan,, of course:). There were some folks that were hesitant about Covid and they made sure that we were safely distanced and ate and wine tasted outside (even in the rain!). Charlie's Acres is such a special place, what a treat it was to get to visit the rescued and rehabilitated (and very happy!) animals that they take care of. Our lunch was tasty and the vegan wines were fantastic. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't your typical wine tour and that we got to learn about vegan wines and how they are different from traditional wines. We loved it so much I am already planning another tour for my mom's...