Russell was fantastic - good knowledge, no pretence. Awesome tasting experience. Good range of wines - Chard and Merlot were the focus. Picnic and kid friendly. No corporate vibes. Highly recommend!

You get 2 different choices to start with for the tasting. Either the Taste of Bennett Valley or Estate Tasting. We tried both. I like lighter, refreshing white wines and I think the Taste of Bennett Valley is a better choice to try. Unfortunately, I didnt like that many of their flavors, we didnt buy any bottles. I did like Journey Chardonnay, but didnt think it was worth the $65 price tag. The staff and the atmosphere is super nice thought. It would be nice, to have seating outside or having any seating inside the vecinity during tasting. We were tired of standing around the bar, because we hiked earlier. I would recommend getting a few glasses of wine and then going downstairs and enjoying the beautiful outdoor weather.

I never know what to think of wineries that you see in grocery stores (those Big Box folks tend to lack in quality) but my tasting at the Matanzas Creek property in Bennet Valley was INCREDIBLE. The property is lovely, the wines are all delicious, and our host Russell was charming, knowledgeable, funny, accommodating, and just plain pleasant to talk to. I definitely recommend giving this place a try.

Its a decent experience and the wines are not bad, but for the price, there are better options. The Journey Red was the best of the tasting, but for $85, I would certainly choose something else. Their picnic area and lavendar garden are very pretty.It might just be my tastes lie elsewhere.

Great Sauvignon blancs, Chardonnays and Merlots. All the staff was super friendly and the grounds are pleasant to walk after you’ve had wine.

It is so hard to rate this place....The view is fantastic. It has one of the best lavender field within Bay Areas reach. But as a wine geek I cannot give their wine more than 3...It isnt bad, but I can tell they are more like multi-directional vineyard instead of fully focusing on their wine. In the business perspective it is probably really good strategy since many tourists are not that into wine anyways; mind as using more side product to bring more crowd.This place is my must go during summer time when the elders in my family visiting California. They found the lavender products are great here, and the view is awesome.Swing by when got the chance, grab some wine if you still have room in your stomach. Enjoy a crisp white with the view. It is nice.

Beautiful..a must see winery with lavender fields. AMAZING SCENERY

Great view, beautiful fountain and seating area for picnics. We went during week day so was not crowded at all and felt great with the atmosphere of the place. Would come again with family next time.

A quaint and excellent place to spend some time drinking some amazing wine. Head up the hill to the tasting room and treat yourself to some very good vintages. Carol was great and helped us talk through the wines, describing their winemaking process, appellations, and what makes their wines unique. Grab a seat outside with a bottle and let the day pass by. Loved this place.

Ill leave the wine reviews to connoisseurs, but for years I regularly take my friends and out-of-state visitors to the winery during the lavender season. Sitting among the winerys lavender fields is like being in southern France without the hassle of travelling.

We arrived around 9:30 and while the tasting room doesn’t open until 10 the gate was open and we could explore the gardens before it got busy with people taking pictures. By 11 the parking lots were filling up and the tasting bar was busy (a Saturday). I didn’t do any wine tasting as I really wanted to see the lavender. Bought some lavender honey which is great! Not a huge place but nice to sit and relax in the shade for a bit. There are areas to picnic.

Really nice winery with many outdoor area to enjoy and both white and red wines. They have Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay for whites and pinot noirs. They also sell cheese and crackers there you can enjoy outside. Nice staff also! Great place to enjoy an afternoon with some wine and food!

Excellent experience with the staff. Both knowledgeable and friendly, Matt guided us through a wine and cheese (and fruit and nut) pairing selection, helping us to understand what made each pairing work. The wines stand out on their own, but also work amazingly well as the pairings.

Great place, good wine, nice views, Brad is great

We were visiting Northern California and spent a day visiting some winerys. This was our first stop, picked at random. We loved it. The lavender was in full bloom, ready to be picked in two weeks. We had a group of 3 and did a wine tasty. It was a mix of some wines some of us really liked, others not as much (like any wine tasting(. The staff was very nice and knowledgeable of the wines. No pressure to join the wine club at all. The have nice picnic areas to bring along a lunch and enjoy a bottle of wine.

Pro Very beautiful sceneryCon $21 for a glass of wine, not offered to just buy a bottle instead.

The winery is still an enjoyable place to come on this mid winter day for a stroll even without the blooming lavender which only happens around mid June. We had a glass of the Estate Sauvignon Blanc, and the Sauvignon Cabernet which were both tasty. Sitting outside enjoying the magnificent views. Life couldnt get any better than that.

Were coming back next weekend to get our Wine On!!! We love Matanzas Creek Winery. This time were having some cheese and crackers with our wine... Hahaaa!!!!

Lovely setting, great staff. Perfect late afternoon place to unwind with a glass of wine. Wine club is a great deal especially if you live near enough to enjoy the member events. (edited, because, typos)

Very nice and peaceful place for a weekend time. There are lots of honey bees flying around every flowers, but I I dont think they are really dangerous because my friends including 2 little kids were walked through the garden but not one get hurt.The gift store sell lavender honey in a fare enough price but not too many in stock, so you will want to come early if you dont want to miss the chance to buy the honey.

We arrived at the winery about an hour before closing and felt very ignored. Once we did start our wine tasting, it felt very rushed and as if the only objective was to get us out as fast as possible. We had just checked into our hotel and this place was recommended by the concierge as a good place that was close to Rohnert Park.The area was beautiful and the lavender was amazing, but the staff and wine that we tasted left us hoping that the rest of our trip was going to be better.

Tucked away atop Sonoma Mountain with gorgeous grounds, this is one of my top recommendations. Get a tasting of the good stuff for sure. Some of the best wines we tried. The views are fabulous from the deck so take your wine outside.

This is a friendly place with beautiful grounds overlooking the valley. We were told they were dog friendly and they are. Lovely wines, lovely picnic area.

If you’re looking for a place that will make you spontaneously propose marriage to the person next to you, look no further. Matanzas Creek is gorgeously landscaped and has stunning views across a lush valley. But despite the cornhole toss and bocce court, this tasting room is not especially family-friendly. Kids and designated drivers will have to make do with tap water, and the small selection of gourmet snacks on sale won’t keep them occupied while you sit on the deck with your newly purchased, and delicious, bottle of wine. Wine-and-cheese tastings are available, but must be reserved in advance.

If you are looking for a smaller, out of the way winery I highly recommend Matanzas Creek. When you arrive head inside for their classic tasting. I am not a huge fan of whites but their Chardonnay had a nice oakiness on the finish that was delicious.The staff is friendly and they encourage you to walk around the grounds in between glasses. The lavender fields and beehives create a pleasant aroma and their are plenty of hummingbirds zipping around to say hi.

Wow, this winery treated us like family, we reserved 2 tables and had our whole family over for tasting and a picnic, Molly was a great host, she made us feel welcome and like we were part of her family. They had complementary valet parking and the attendants were terrific! It was an overall wonderful day...not to mention great wines!

We came in for a tasting after wanting to visit for many months. The property is beautiful and the wines were very good. Ask for Nicole! She poured our tasting and was awesome! Super knowledgeable and very fun to taste with. We came in the fall so there was no lavender blooming but it was still a very cool looking property with great views.

We came in the summer months and this place was beautiful, except for all the bumble bees flying around. Nothing you can do about it as theyre attracted by the lavender plants.Nonetheless, this is a cool hangout place with ample parking. Wine tasting is only $10 (and this includes admission to their lavender farm) or just $5.00 per head if you just want to visit the farm. The wine here are above average and staff here are friendly. You can even bring some food and sit on their table and have a picnic.This place got a some picture perfect scenery.

Beautiful setting in Bennett Valley!!! Bocce court cornhole and a couple other outdoor areas to help make a day of it!! Staff was a bit off not greeting everyone that enters their establishment.... unacceptable in the industry were in.

Really good wines and just a beautiful place to hang out. Great lavender gardens when it is in bloom. Nice picnic table area for lunch. Good place to bring kids.

The view is not great, tasting is $30 and you can purchase overpriced cheese and bread and purchase wooden forks and knives.. the wine is good.

Wonderful wine and a beautiful area. They have a great variety of wine and every one we tried was very good. They are also very accommodating on the wines you want to try in your tasting. Every staff member we talked to was very friendly and helpful. My wife, 2-year-old, and I then had a great time walking around the beautiful grounds and looking at the flowers and the pond with frogs (yes our daughter was more than welcome, but, then again, she wasnt being a loud, obnoxious brat).

This place is fantastic! The wine is nice, but the grounds are amazing! A beautiful place for a picnic. The lavender barn is so pretty.

Beautiful winery, grounds and views! Amazing Merlot! I really enjoyed the total experience.

The grounds were beautiful and relaxing, walking through the lavender was delightful. The wine was good but nothing exceptional. Staff were nice and knowledge, we enjoyed talking to them.Best part was sitting in the gardens.

We had a great time there. The wine and cheese pairings were the best and Nancy was not only knowledgeable but pleasant too! Very welcoming winery...just wish the gardens were in bloom when we were there

The wine and cheese pairing at Matanzas Creek Winery was a lovely experience! I highly recommend it! The grounds are also lovely. If you have the time, bring a picnic and hang out!

Beautiful place but kids are NOT welcomed here!!!I dropped by today with friends. 4 adults and 3 kids 3-7 yr. We had wine tasting and liked the blanc. We bought 4 bottles on the spot and were seriously considering getting the estate membership since we enjoy drinking good wines with friends.But the service lady said our kids were too loud so we brought them down to the large yard 3 floors down and about 200 ft away from the tasting room. But after awhile she came again and asked how long we plan to stay around. I asked why and she said they had private tasting going on and the kids are too loud.Jesus Christ! Why dont you put a sign in front and say kids NOT welcomed here! You just lost a few grands of business from me and my friends each year. We are not coming back ever again.

The wine and cheese pairing ($25) was a great value and the combinations were perfect. Judy did a wonderful job of describing everything I was about to enjoy. I highly recommend Matanzas if you are within an hour or so of this beautiful site.

Had a surprise visit here thanks to my husband. Gorgeous facilities, delicious wine and beautiful lavender fields. Our tour guide was great, super knowledgable of both the grounds and the wine. Would love to go back and have a picnic under their 300 year old oak trees!

So much here to see and do, could spend half a day. Fabulous picnicing spots.

Scenic location. Great wine tasting options!

Wines by the glass, in addition to tastings. Lovely view and seating outdoors.

Incredibly beautiful views. The lavender garden is just amazing. The staff was very friendly and the wine was great. This is the one and only vineyard you need to visit in Sonoma!

Amazing wine, but dont miss the Lavender products and garden... wonderful experience and Bennett Valley is such a gem. After Matanzas go to Glenn Ellen for some world class food...

Really lovely site with several acres of lavender plants, which are a delight to visit in mid-summer. A huge oak overlooking the lavendar garden makes a great spot for a picnic and a bottle of their wine. Bocce courts also.

Excellent pinot noir and chardonnay - friendly staff too!

When we first drove up the first thought was, Holy crap! Can I live here? Absolutely beautiful! Lavender gardens, and fields of grape vines, we found out later that they also grow their own olive trees. They make their own lavender everything, as well as olive oil and grapeseed oil. But anyway, to the wine: in a word Amazing. Myself personally, my palette is a bit inexperienced. Often I will get overwhelming alcohol flavors that are a bit overpowering. Not here, everything we tasted had wonderful unique flavors that were not overpowering, and many of the wines bloomed and changed as you drank them. I also want to give a big thank you to our pourer Tiffany who was great! So knowledgeable and helpful!Malia and Eric

Beautiful place and very nice staff. You should definitely try the wine/cheese pairings, they are definitely worth it!

Highly recommend the wine & cheese pairing!The experience was divine! Extremely memorable.

Its nice that they let you bring your own food!

Beautiful lavender fields and exquisite tasting place... Interesting wine and cheese pairing!

Great photography here. Wine is a 3 but the grounds are great and lavender products are good. Dont get the beef jerky, its nasty.

Beautiful setting, great selection of wines. Staff was knowledgeable and friendly.

Absolutely divine wine and cheese tasting experience! Very polite and nice people and there is a free tour at 10.30 thrown in. Lavender gardens are like paradise, reasonable prices but the tasting of wine and cheese pairing is really something special (and we visited some other wineyards)

This place was heavenly and Id move to California for it if I could. My boyfriend, brother, and I spent the day here last year and played Bocce in the mountains while sipping on 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, which was light and crisp and matched the September weather perfectly. Before that we spent about a half hour speaking to the woman at the front desk as she doused us in many different samples of the beautiful wines they had, which all came with a bit of a history lesson. All of them were fresh and enjoyable, and it was helpful to learn so much about each wine as we drank. Long story short, this winery made my trip to California a peaceful and memorable one, the staff was beyond awesome, almost like we were long-lost friends, and the wine was the best Ive ever tasted, and Ive been to Italy.

Fantastic wine & cheese pairing in a beautiful setting!

Some really special wines, well worth the tasting fee, which theyll waive if you buy two bottles.

All around wonderful

The sauvignon blanc is good. And theres lavender farm and shop.

We came just a couple weeks too early for the lavender bloom (happens at the beginning of May, I learned) but this secluded winery was still beautiful. The tasting fee is $10, and for that youll get a minimum of 6 pours (more if youre nice) and plenty of education on their wines. We ended up taking home a bottle of their excellent Sauvignon Blanc.

Lavender garden is beautiful. And the wine tasting is good.

Beautiful lavender farm and delish Sauv Blanc. Go for their highest range.

Had a great time and Carol was awesome!

The lavender garden is amazing! Wine with cheese on the patio, lux!

Beautiful place

Very beautiful area full of lavender!

Most beautiful place

Great experience

Very rude

Beautiful and leisure place!

Great wines and lavender park

Nice winery when the lavender plants are in bloom.

Great wines and atmosphere

Beautiful location to relax and to do picnicking.

Beautiful winery with picnic tables. Great spot to see a sunset. Very friendly staff. Highly recommend.