Lasseter Family Winery — Attraction in Sonoma

Love the Lasseter Family Winery, their wines, and the story behind it all! There are flashier wineries with more architectural bells and whistles but, if you’re a purist, this is your place — the grounds are tranquil and serene and you do feel like you could be in Provence (I swear!). As an animator and graphic designer I know Mr. Lasseter’s animation career well but was pleased to see his devotion for great wine receive as much love, care and attention to detail as the exploits of Woody and Buzz Lightyear of the Toy Story films. Not only do the Lasseter’s go above and beyond best practices in winemaking but they embrace the rich Bordeaux tradition of blended wines and have some sumptuous offerings. Last but certainly not least I cannot say enough great things about Alex, our host, but I will try! Super friendly, informative and with an interesting background of his own in the culinary world which serves him very well here, we enjoyed our time with him and walked away with a couple of great wines we will crack open very soon! (a 2018 L’ame du Sage & 2015 Chemin de Fer, both reds). We will be back for sure,...

I arrived at Lasseter with some people for whom I was the designated driver and was heartwarmed by how beautiful it was. I took a look around while they were tasting and thought "what a wonderful place to be able to recommend to people". I then approached the staff in The tasting room to find out more about the winery and was made to understand very clearly that I was not welcome and that the beautiful part of everything was only for the owners. I felt like a criminal rather than a guest and was completely deflated, going from a place that I was excited to be able to recommend to 10 minutes later knowing I would never ever recommend it anyone. Why is it such a critical part of some people's business model to make others...

The former CEO of PIXOR’s winery didn't disappoint. The first half of the visit was a vineyard tour with the cellar and verminating room while sipping on a brand new 23 rosé. The second half was the tasting room. We tried five wines in the private tasting room, and the food pairing with the wine was off-the-charts good and changed the wine’s flavor. All seven wines we tried, including the white Voila, were excellent. This is one of the few top-tier alcohol tastings I've had, and the prices are the best. I would recommend Audrey as your guide. This place is for everybody, but especially for lovers of red wines. I highly recommend the...