Sometime in mid-fall, after the grapes are in and fermentations are percolating throughout Wine Country, harvest parties begin. You catch their scent on the wind, grilled foods mingling with new wine. All over Wine Country, people are celebrating.
“It takes a lot of beer to make wine,” Nancy Lasseter of Lasseter Family Wines says, laughing as she acknowledges a well-known Wine Country secret. When she and husband John Lasseter of Pixar fame host their harvest fete, there will be plenty on the table.
John and Nancy began making wine with a group of friends shortly after they moved to Sonoma in 1992. They had fallen in love with Malbec during their honeymoon and thought it would be fun to try their hand at crafting. It was.
By 2000, the project had become too big for the amateur group and John and Nancy had moved their blossoming endeavor to Smothers Winery. In 2002, when the former Grand Cru estate on the northern fringe of Sonoma Mountain in Glen Ellen became available, they took the next step.
Today, they have restored the long-neglected 50 acres, using all organic practices and reestablishing natural habitat throughout the estate. A lake, terribly polluted when they acquired the property, has been returned to health and serves as the location for gatherings, including this year’s harvest celebration.
The Lasseters expect to finish the winery, which will not be open to the public, next year. One of two 10,000-gallon stainless-steel tanks that Nancy saved will serve as a tasting lounge; the other is a restroom at the lake.
Nancy and John make wines they love to drink, two French-inspired red blends in the style of St. Emilion and the Rhone, and a dry rosé in the style of Provence.
Today, Julia Iantosca heads up the winemaking team; Bart Hansen, formerly of Benziger Family Wines, serves as cellar master. John’s 85-year-old father, Peter Lasseter, who lives on the edge of the estate Syrah vineyard not far from John and Nancy’s home, likes to watch the vines. He calls himself “the inspector” and, come harvest, shovels grapes.
When everyone gathers for the harvest celebration, John and Nancy’s five sons, ages 11 to 29, will join in the fun. John will preside over the grill, presenting chicken, tri-tip and vegetables from their garden.
“John always gets the meat just perfect,” Nancy says. “We’re a medium-rare kind of family.”
Lasseter Family Winery, 1 Vintage Lane, Glen Ellen, 707-933-2800, lasseterfamilywinery.com.
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