All in the Sebastianis
One of the best-known names in winemaking is also one of the best-known family dramas in wine country.
Sebastiani, one of the best-known names in winemaking, has been on the California scene for a century.
But in the past 20 years, the family business split three ways into separate wineries, none of which are much like like the winery most people remember.
It's a Falcon Crest family drama for sure and also tells the tale of California wine's maturation as played out by one large Italian family in Sonoma.
Here's a rough guide to the players and the chronology.
1. SAMUELE SEBASTIANI arrives in Sonoma from northern Italy in 1897, grows grapes and makes wine at the turn of the century. At that time, most winemakers shipped in bulk to the East Coast, where it was bottled. He's the first winemaker to decide it's worth bottling his wine and selling it himself.
2. After Prohibition, his son AUGUST expands the business and dominates Sonoma County and the jug wine business.
3. In the 1970s, August's older son, SAM, tours the United States touting the glories of Sonoma and is prepared to take over the winery when his father dies.
4. In 1985, there is still one Sebastiani winery, but the two sons, DON and brother SAM, quarrel. SAM is kicked out, and mom SYLVIA and DON hold on to the winery. The fragmentation begins.
5. SAM starts Viansa, a winery and marketplace specializing in rare Italian grapes grown in California. Most wines are $25 and up a bottle and available only by mail order. This year, Sam turned Viansa over to his seven children.
6. DON splits from mom and with his sons starts his own labels, including Smoking Loon and Pepperwood Grove, now one of the 30 largest wineries in the country.
7. Back at the ranch, SYLVIA, with the help of daughter MARY ANN SEBASTIANI CUNEO and grandson MARC CUNEO, has radically refocused Sebastiani away from quantity production and stopped jug wine production 10 years ago.
In 1999, Sebastiani produced 8-million cases. The next year, it cut back to 180,000 cases, concentrating on classic cabernet, zinfandel and chardonnay from Sonoma.
