Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery 2013 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Sebastiani’s first century in Sonoma winemaking began when Samuele emigrated from the Tuscany region of Italy in 1895 and started Sebastiani nine years later. A stonemason by trade, he quarry-mined the Sonoma hills for cobblestones that were used to build the streets of San Francisco. He worked long hours and saved carefully to buy land in Sonoma County, from which he would make wine for the Sonoma community and San Francisco’s restaurants. The winery was the only one in Sonoma County to continue operations through Prohibition, making a small amount of sacramental and medicinal wines. It has been joked, and perhaps with some grain of truth, that during this time there was a resurgence of people becoming very religious. When the combination of Prohibition and the Depression hit hard, Samuele initiated major projects at the winery to create employment for his neighbors. When there wasn’t sufficient work at the winery, he built around the plaza and constructed a skating rink, motel, theater and meeting hall at the Catholic Church. To keep people employed at the winery, Samuele began canning peaches, pears and nectarines.
I attended a private wine tasting and tried several of Sebastiani’s wines. Their Alexander Valley stood out as an outstanding wine, at a great value. A blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Merlot, the wine was a very deep and dark red with ripe black fruit aromas and elegant spice. On the palate, blackberry and black cherry with vanilla spice and oak. The wine was well balanced with tannins, acidity and oak. The finish was rich and lingered with earthy spice on the ending. The wine has some aging potential, but it is great now! Tasting Sample!
Cheers!