5 Reasons why you should visit the Lasseter Family Winery

Since I moved to SF in 2011, I’ve visited Napa and Sonoma wineries more than I can count.

I go there with my hubby, friends, mom, far distant relatives, or even with a random person, whether it be for any special occasions or for just a brief weekend outing. 

I love the food and wine, the view of the magnificent countryside, the people, really mostly everything about the area.

However, after visiting more than 50+ wineries,there was one thing that I could not commit myself to do: Find a favorite winery and join a wine club.

You can say my inconstancy with wineries is not a bad habit though, since there are constantly good tasting rooms popping up in the area. A good example is the Hall Winery’s new tasting room that popped up with the intimidatingly-large-shiny-rabbit statue about a year ago. This winery has this wonderful modern feel with good vibes, and I love chilling there on the garden couch while I sip their cold crisp white wine. But sad to say, no winery was not good enough for me to really push & commit as the one to join their Wine club.

Until, last week, for the first time, I visited the Lasseter Family Winery. This winery is run by John Lasseter and his wife, Nancy. 

For those of you who has not heard John's name, he is the founder of Pixar Animations in Emeryville and is the blood and veins of Disney Animation as we know today. I think he is famous than Bob Iger(Current Disney CEO) because of the things he's achieved in the history of animation. So basically you can think of him like the CG Animation God.

I personally heard about his winery when I was working at DIG(Digital Interactive Group) at Disney JPN but never went when I moved to SF because I thought “Well John is VERY busy almost like Obama,(he takes private jets within Burbank-Sonoma) maybe he has no time to take his winery too seriously. ” DAMN ME for ASSUMING that way and I regret not going there before.

So to save those who might be foolish enough to think like me (😁), here is my list of why your visit will be delightful and you will have one of the best winery tasting experience!

1) Takes tasting “personal” to another level

You have to make reservations for the tastings- No surprise there, a lot of wineries do that.

They take you in in small groups- Expect family like mood.

Before you enter the tasting room you realize there is a sign with your name that greets you- OMG, I’ve never seen that, other than at my cousin's wedding.

The host greets and welcomes you in the house AND remembers everyone’s name (note: our names are not the usual English names)

The host is very experienced and knowledgeable, answering to any of the random silly questions and is very kind.

Plus, I'd like to mention that our host was very generous and poured lots of wine which I didn't mind at all.

2) Pushes the values of Storytelling

When you enter Walt Disney Company, the first thing you learn is that storytelling is the most important element in the Company DNA.

This principle is processed very well at this winery.

The logo has a story behind it. Each label has a story behind it. I won’t go into details because I think it would be best to hear it directly at the winery, but the stories are very interesting just like Toy Story. 

3) Awesome Wine Pairing

The staff has had a serious debate and picked the right cheese to match with the French style wines to make all of us very happy.

The cheese is mostly local and the Cowgirl Creamery Cheese I had there was heavenly with the wine.

The chocolate is from Glen Ellen and they have it specially made with the winery logo.

4) Is organic

This is my personal opinion but the fact organic adds more value to wines, more than “estates” for example.

Lasseter family winery have mean territorial birds on the premises on the watch- no seriously, they do, and these birds will intimidate to chase off other birds that come to eat the grapes😂

5) Limited produce Wines

The wines are more French/California style so if that is your preference, I assure you, you will like them. 

The wines that are sold here are not in retail. Also, they currently don’t ship overseas, so if you want to try them out, you can either 

i)go to the winery 

ii) buy them online if you have a US address, or 

iii)drink them in one of the Disneyland/Resorts in US (not the ones in Paris/Tokyo/HK).

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So at the end of the day, I decided to join their Wine Club.

I felt like as if I got engaged to someone, but you can see how very very happy and satisfied I was.

I really felt that John, Nancy, and Julia(winemaker) had done a tremendously good job on making good affordable wines and making hospitable tasting experience. I hope to come back soon and wait for more good things to come from this lovely winery.

Helpful Links

Wikipedia on John Lasseter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lasseter

Reservations for the winery: http://www.lasseterfamilywinery.com/taste/

Your comment on this article is greatly appreciated -Monyosan