Buena Vista Carneros Family!

Profile of the Week!

Meet our friends, Janine Flavo, Chef & Chris Sawyer, Sommelier, both of Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar.

Janine Flavo - Chef de Cuisine
Janine graduated from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in 1998 and cut her teeth working for at the Disney World Resort in Orlando. Since April 2005 she has directed the culinary program at Carneros Bistro located in the Lodge at Sonoma. She grows a magnificent herb and vegetable garden, that sources her seasonal cuisine, just outside the restaurant doors. Her dinner menu features local items such as CK Lamb T-Bone Meyer Lemon Cavatelli, Fava Beans, English Pea, in a Syrah Gelee. With an open kitchen, high ceilings and large windows overlooking the garden, Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar is a must stop in Sonoma Wine Country.

Ask about her famous smoked pork belly!!


Chris Sawyer - Journalist/Sommelier
A world-renowned wine writer, sommelier, wine educator and critic, Christopher Sawyer travels around the globe following trends in wine and participating as a judge in international wine competitions. Sawyer is also notably the world’s only Film Festival Sommelier, pairing wine selections with some of the world’s top independent films each April at the Sonoma Valley Film Festival.

Christopher is currently sommelier-in-residence at the Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar at The Lodge at Sonoma and Renaissance Resort and Spa, where he features an extensive wine list spotlighting wines from Sonoma County and Carneros. He also serves as the private sommelier for some of the area’s most well-known residents, including the Getty family in San Francisco and Pixar Co-Founder and Oscar Award-winning director John Lasseter, of Cars, A Bug's Life, Toy Story, The Incredibles and Ratatouille fame, and as consulting sommelier for an innovative new wine program at the Hilton in the San Francisco Financial District.

Born and raised in Sonoma County, Christopher is also a well-respected journalist whose articles frequently appear in the Patterson’s Tasting Panel, Click by LavaLife, Wine Business Monthly, Wines & Vines, Vineyard & Winery Management, Fine Life, Sonoma Magazine, California Wine & Food, San Francisco Chronicle, Press Democrat/Argus-Courier, Smart Meetings, and many other national publications.

The Lodge & Sonoma, Renaissance
Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar
1325 Broadway Street
Sonoma, CA 95476
707.935.6600