One of the wineries we visited during our Sonoma visit was the historic Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery(http://www.sebastiani.com/), which is located on 4th St. East on the east side of the town of Sonoma, a short distance from Sonoma Plaza.
The winery was established in 1904 by Samuele Sebastiani, who immigrated from Tuscany in 1897. He originally worked as a stone mason, who quarried cobblestone from the hills around Sonoma and used it to help pave the streets of San Francisco. He used his earnings from the stone trade to buy the vineyards planted in Sonoma at the San Francisco de Solano Catholic Mission in 1825.
The winery was established in 1904 by Samuele Sebastiani, who immigrated from Tuscany in 1897. He originally worked as a stone mason, who quarried cobblestone from the hills around Sonoma and used it to help pave the streets of San Francisco. He used his earnings from the stone trade to buy the vineyards planted in Sonoma at the San Francisco de Solano Catholic Mission in 1825.
After Samuele died in 1944, his son August, and August’s wife Sylvia, took over the winery. Under August, the winery dramatically increased its production. After August’s death, his wife, his sons Don and Sam, and his daughter Mary Ann operated the winery. Sam was removed from running the company by his mother in 1986. He and his wife Vicki subsequently started Viansa Winery, which I described in another posting.
Our Sonoma host, who knew Sam and who had been assigned to the nearby Skaggs Island naval station told me that Sam loved the Navy and was really nice to the sailors from that base.
Don dramatically increased the company’s production through mass-market brands and wine production in California’s Central Valley. Production increased to 8 million cases per year. In 2001, the company sold its mass market operations to Constellation Brands, and returned its focus to its Sebastiani winemaking in Sonoma. Don then departed to start a winery. Mary Ann ran Sebastiani until it was sold to Bill Foley in 2008. Foley owns 13 wineries.
Sebastiani's tasting room was very nice, with the usual shop selling accessories, clothing, etc. Off of the main tasting room was a beautiful private tasting room.
Tasting Room
Private Tasting Room
We were served by a gentleman named Pat. There were two types of tastings available - one for $10 and one for $15. My wife and I shared a $10 tasting. The $10 tasting list had seven wines, as did the $15 list.
Pat
When I explained to Pat that I was doing research for a tasting and presentation for our wine club, and that we were primarily interested in red wines, he kindly let us substitute a couple of the reds on the $15 list for the whites on the $10 list.
We tasted six red wines ranging in quality from very nice to passable, with most being in the very nice range. We liked three of the four wines on the $10 list better than the two we tried from the $15 list.
We tried the following wines. Bottle prices do not reflect the substantial wine club discounts:
- 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, 95% Pinot Noir, 3% Syrah, 2% Petite Sirah - drinkable - $18. This was the first wine we tried, but our least favorite.
- 2007 Sonoma County Merlot, 78% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petite Sirah, 2% Petit Verdot - very nice - $17
- 2008 Sonoma County Zinfandel, 82% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah, 7% Syrah, 1% Barbera - very nice - $15. This was our favorite.
- 2008 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon, 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 4% Syrah, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Petite Sirah, 1% Malbec - very nice - $18
- 2008 Carneros Pinot Noir, 94% Pinot Noir, 6% Chardonnay - nice $26
- 2007 Secolo, 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Petit Verdot 8% Merlot, 8% Malbec, and 1% Petite Sirah - nice- $35. It has a 92 point rating from Wine Spectator. However, it was not to our taste. The name means, “century” in Italian.
After finishing the tasting we walked around the shop and the winery for a bit. In one area, there were some beautiful oak barrels ranging in size from medium to huge.
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