Review: New Alfresco Tasting Terrace at Disneyland’s Golden Vine Winery offers wine with a Disney Connection

in Disney, Disneyland Resort, Food, Reviews, Theme Parks

Posted on by Mark Eades

A new wine tasting experience debuted at the Alfresco Tasting Terrace of the Golden Vine Winery in Disney California Adventure for the summer. It was part of a new menu for the small outdoor terrace located on the second floor.

The new menu features appetizers and wines from eight wineries, all with a Disney connection.

The eight wineries featured are:

Fess Parker Winery – Yes, the man who played Davy Crockett!
MacMurray Ranch – founded by Fred MacMurray who played the original “Absent Minded Professor.”
Silverado Vineyards – founded by Diane Disney Miller, Walt Disney’s only natural daughter, and her husband Ron Miller, one time CEO of the Walt Disney Company.
Lasseter Family Winery – Founded by the family of John Lasseter, Disney’s Chief Creative Officer, and director of “Toy Story.”
Gogi – owned by actor Kurt Russell, who starred in many films for Disney.
Frank Family Vineyards – owned by Rich Frank, president of Walt Disney Studios for nearly a year.
Chappellet Winery – the connection is through Frank Wells, former President and COO of the Walt Disney Company.
Skywalker Vineyards – founded by George Lucas, some of the wines use grapes grown at his Skywalker Ranch facility in Marin County.

One of the unique features of the experience is the ability to enjoy a “Flight” of wines – three wines paired together with a common theme. One flight features red wines, while others feature whites and more. If you order a flight you get three glasses of wine, with a pour of two ounces per wine. The wines are placed on a printed card stating the name of the winery (complete with the winery’s logo), the name of the wine, and a brief description of the wine’s attributes.

The wine flight called Red Blends – Three glasses of wine are placed on a card with the name of the winery, the wine, and some details on the flavors.

The menu also features a number of appetizers designed to enhance the wine tasting experience. They include cheese plates, brochettes and a beef tenderloin slider order. There are no entrees or desserts on the menu.

Beef Tenderloin sliders, with horseradish caramelized onions aioli.

There is a wide variety of appetizers offered to go with the wine tastings. No one likes to drink on an empty stomach.


The location has a great view of the Pacific Wharf, and Carsland, with the Cadillac Mountain Range in the distance.

This is the view from the new Alfresco Tasting Terrace at the Golden Vine Winery, located on the second floor.

A former Imagineer’s review:

This is a wonderful experience. I had the beef tenderloin sliders made with horseradish caramelized onion aioli for $12.49 before Annual Passholder discount. You get three of the sliders, a perfect match for one of the red wine flights. For my “Flight” I chose the Red Blends, $23. It featured wines from the Lasseter, Chappellet and Fess Parker wines. (There are no discounts on alcohol.)

The three glasses of wine were delivered to my table by Jayson the waiter, via a nice little metal carrier that allowed him to place the glasses right on top of the placard with the descriptions. Right after delivery of the wine, and the appetizers, Elizabeth, the Sommelier, dropped by to give an excellent description of each wine.

It was a warm day, but the shade from the trellis over the patio made it very enjoyable. I had a seat near the side where I could easily see into the Pacific Wharf and Carsland. The sliders were perfect and tasted great. I wisely asked for a glass of water to clear my palate before trying one of the wines, savoring and drinking one wine after each slider.

All three wines that I had were terrific. After finishing my flight, I ordered a glass of wine from the Silverado Vineyards, based on a recommendation from Elizabeth. It was also excellent.

The menu features all the wines offered, by the glass or by the bottle, and has an explanation of the Disney connection. On this page can be found the Silverado Vineyard, owned by the Miller family, which was headed by Ron and Diane Disney Miller – Diane was Walt and Lillian Disney’s only natural child. (They also had an adopted daughter.) On the bottom is GoGi Wines, owned by Kurt Russell.
This page of the menu features the MacMurray Ranch, founded by Fred MacMurray. Fred was in several beloved Disney films including “The Absent Minded Professor” and “The Happiest Millionaire.” Below is Fess Parker Winery, founded by the man who played Davy Crockett for Walt Disney. Fess later played Daniel Boone in a television series of the same name.
On this page is the Chappellet Vineyard. The connection is a little thin, but through a marriage to Frank Wells, who served as president and COO of the Walt Disney Company in the 80s and early 90s. The Frank Family Vineyards is owned by Richard Frank and family. He was president of the Walt Disney Studios from 1985 to 1994 and held other key positions.
Finally, there are several wines from the Lasseter Family Winery owned by Disney’s Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter – a pioneer in the computer animation field, and winner of several Academy Awards.
For those desiring something other than wine, there are some beer selections. There are also non-alcoholic drinks.

I heartily recommend this location for anyone wanting to spend an hour or so enjoying what was a delightful lunch with some fine wines, with a unique Disney twist.

Comments Off on Review: New Alfresco Tasting Terrace at Disneyland’s Golden Vine Winery offers wine with a Disney Connection