The Seghesio story began in the late 1800s, as immigrants from Italy descended on California and started a winery. In 1895 they planted their first vineyard in the Alexander Valley and the rest was history. At the time mostly Sangiovese was planted and for many years the Seghesio family was producing bulk wine to meet consumer demands for the time.
In 1983, the first wines were bottled under the Seghesio label at the hands of Ted Seghesio, a fourth-generation family winemaker.In 1986, his cousin Peter Seghesio joined the business and started a distribution network nationwide. By 1993, the Seghesio brand had grown to 130,000 cases of not only the family’s Zinfandel and Italian varietals, but also Chardonnay, Cabernet, Sauvignon Blanc, and red and white table wines. Seghesio became to grab acclaim for their Zinfandel wines from Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast and Robert Parker. In fact, some of their Zinfandel wines have featured in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list. The Zinfandel today is made from many old vines, some of which were planted in the late 1890s.
Their least expensive bottling, the 2012 Sonoma County Zinfandel, offers great value at the 20 dollar price point. I’ve had the past five vintages of this wine and it drinks well each year and consistently scores over 90 points from the top wine publications. You can find this wine in most wine shops, as well as Safeway, QFC and most Costco stores. Here is my pick of the week, the 2012 Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel.
2012 Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel- Blackberry and dried herbs on the nose. Palate has a strong acid structure and needs more than 30 minutes to open up after decanted and aerated. Flavors of blueberry, blackberry and mocha in this slightly jammy wine. Tasty stuff, drink now or cellar for 1-2 years. -91