About Us

Samuele Sebastiani was born in 1874 in a small town of Farneta, Italy. As a young boy he learned the art of winemaking from the monks of a nearby monastery in Lucca. In 1895, at the age of 21, Samuele immigrated to America with the dream of a better life and the vision of starting his own winery. When he first arrived in California, like most immigrants of the time, he was very young, and very poor. He began working at odd jobs and saved enough money to buy a wagon and a team of horses to go to Sonoma. There he searched out an uncle by the name of Fioremonte Milani. Milani, it turns out was a local winemaker. It was here in Sonoma Valley that Samuele found the climate and rich red soils similar to his homeland, which are ideal for growing wine grapes. Upon his arrival in Sonoma, Samuele began hauling cobblestones from the quarries in the Mayacamas Mountains east of Sonoma to help pave the streets of San Francisco. It was during this period that Samuele began making wine and selling it by the cup to the men working in the quarry.

Meanwhile, Milani, who built the original stone winery building in 1903, wanted out of the winery business, and Samuele wanted in. In 1904, after working for five years in the quarries, Samuele purchased the winery from Milani. And so, with a 500 gallon redwood tank, hand crusher, hand press, and hand pump, along with sixty acres of vineyard, Sebastiani Vineyards began operation. That first batch of wine was a Zinfandel. He sold the wine door-to-door from a horse-drawn wagon, filling his neighbors’ wine jugs from small wooden barrels. Within five years, Samuele owned the winery outright. By 1913, he added additional cellars, increasing the winery to a capacity of 300,000 gallons. By this time, Samuele was shipping wine to the east coast by rail tank car.

Prohibition came as a rude intrusion in 1919 and remained an unwelcome guest until 1933. Though he was able to keep the winery in operation by obtaining one of only seven licenses issued by the government to make altar and medicinal wines, this production was only a small concession. Sam took a financial beating through prohibition and suffered along with everyone else, through the depression. Still, through his raw courage and his perseverance, he retained his faithful crew throughout those times, and never missed a single payroll.

The 20’s were certainly a busy time for Samuele. In addition to battling prohibition and the depression, he had begun making contributions to Sonoma as he felt it was only appropriate to give back to the community that provided the foundation of his winemaking dreams. Sam was an energetic man and along with winemaking, he loved to build things, and construction became a hobby. He installed streetlights, he built homes for his employees, constructed many of the homes on 4th Street East and Spain Street, and paved the streets in front of the homes at his own expense. After the depression ended in 1933, the Sebastiani building boom really took off. Some of the major Sebastiani contributions included the first bus depot, motel, apartment complex, land for the hospital, rebuilding of the Catholic school, convent and church, the Sebastiani Theatre, a bowling alley and a roller rink for the kids. Samuele passed away in March of 1944 at the age of 70.

Shortly after Samuele’s death, his son August and August’s wife Sylvia purchased the winery from Samuele’s estate. August inherited his father’s winemaking talents and knowledge. He soon gained a reputation as one of America’s most skilled and innovative winemakers. The wines of Sebastiani were virtually anonymous until August began bottling the family wines under the Sebastiani Vineyards label. Prior to that the winery was selling its bulk wine to private labels. August believed that Sonoma possessed the unique soil and climate conditions necessary to produce great wine. August became a leader and innovator in the industry, and his wines achieved international acclaim. August was a noted ornithologist; he took great pride in his bird sanctuary where he spent a lot of time.

When August died in 1980 Sylvia and their children Sam, Don and Mary Ann assumed management of the company. The Sebastiani company’s biggest growth spurt came during this time. The family built a large-volume portfolio of value brands, collectively called Turner Road Vintners, while continuing to produce its Sebastiani-labeled wines. Production of Turner Road Vintners brands reached 8 million cases a year.

With the decision made to refocus on quality and the flagship Sebastiani brand, the family sold the Turner Road Vintners brands and winemaking facilities in March 2001 to Constellation Brands (formerly Canandaigua). Mary Ann Sebastiani Cuneo assumed the role of president and CEO. Since that time, Mary Ann has led the company through its transition into one of Sonoma County’s premier quality wine producers.

The entire family continues its ownership of Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery, and a fourth generation member of the family has stepped into a leadership role. Marc Cuneo, son of Mary Ann and husband Richard Cuneo, serves as Sebastiani’s Vice President of Vineyard Operations.

To visit the Sebastiani winery website, click here.
To learn more about Cuneo Cottage, please click here.

For more information, contact Michelle Wing at mwing@sebastiani.com or 707-933-3204