Hello Wine Lovers, join us tonight Friday, June 19, 2009 from 5pm to 8pm for a taste of one of California’s Noble wine making families. Sebastiani and Sons Winery. And tonight is a recession buster—only six dollars for four glasses of wine.
August and his wife Silvia started the family winery in the heart of what is downtown Sonoma today. The family winery thrived and became one of the most popular wineries in Sonoma County. August and Silvia were true pioneers in the wine business in Sonoma Valley.
August Sebastiani and Silvia had several children and raised them to work with the family in the winery helping and learning as they grew. Don the son, took a great interest in wine helping his father after school and during summer. When he completed his college Don became very involved in the business of wine making—the business grew and became a household name.
Don decided to open a new winery called Sebastiani and Sons Winery and based it out of Napa. Sebastiani and Sons Winery offer several value brands in the wine market today. Smoking Loon, Pepperwood Grove, Screw Cappa Napa, Aquinas, and on the high end side Used Automobile Parts. These consist of the bulk of the wine portfolio that we carry at Ralphs.
Don has two sons that help him in the day-to-day business of running the family business. Don spends his time looking for new growing sites and sources fruit from other growers when making the vintage. What his own properties do not produce can be found around Napa with contract growers around the valley. The wines are great tasting and a great value. Pricing begins around $5.99 a bottle and can top out at $9.99 a bottle on most value brands.
Used Automobile Parts is the only exception not a value brand, but a high end blend of Bordeaux style varietals, this wine exceeds all others by getting 56 to 60 dollars a bottle. Due to the small production of this wine it is highly allocated in between vintages. Admittedly a strange name for a wine “Used Automobile Parts” but certainly not a strange tasting wine. In fact Don Sebastiani and Sons have created a brand following that has given dawn to a new dynasty of the Sebastiani family.
A friend and I were invited to visit the family estate winery in the heart of Sonoma; I was treated to a delightful experience with one of the docents. Pierre met my friend and I at 10:00am and toured us through the history of the Sebastiani family winery. Inviting my friend and I to join him in the barrel area, Pierre produces a wine thief, a long rubber hose containing a weight at one end used to siphon liquid from barrels. Pierre used the thief like well-worn professional of his craft, stealing only the best nectars from the prisons of oak casks. Deep red wine began to flow from the casks and into our crystal glasses and quickly into our mouths. I must admit tasting wines from barrels at 10:00am in the morning has its special way of creating lasting memories. After an extensive tour of the winery, and a stop in the gift shop we made our way to the tasting room. One half of the room was reserved for my traveling companion and I, Pierre had opened no less than 50 of the bottle selections the family produced through the years. What a grand selection of taste and character these wines offered. Thankfully we were sampling and spitting due to the need for staying remotely sober. As we were leaving, a lovely lady in her late years greeted us and offered a signed copy of her cookbook; I thought it was a celebrity chef visiting the gift shop from one of the local restaurants. When she introduced herself as Silvia Sebastiani, I was stunned and honored all at the same time. Silvia was sweet and kind to my friend and I and wished us a wonderful trip across Sonoma. As we were leaving the parking lot I noticed a massive stone home perched on the hill just above the winery property, realizing this was the family home of Silvia and August I was reminded of the commitment this family has to quality and passion for there craft.
Cheers
Mike The Wine Guy
