Seghesio, `Cortina` Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel

For over a century, the Seghesio family has played an integral role in the history and evolution of viticulture in Sonoma County. Founded in 1895 by Italian immigrant Edoardo Seghesio, who first planted Zinfandel vines at the ‘Home Ranch’ vineyard in Alexander Valley. Edoardo and his wife Angela continued growing vines during the Prohibition years, becoming the only winery in the region to survive that era.

Seghesio’s reputation for world-class Zinfandel was cemented under the guidance of third-generation Pete Seghesio and his cousin Ted Seghesio in the 1980s. Owned by Crimson Wine Group since 2011 (who also own Pine Ridge in Napa Valley), today Seghesio remains focused on its family roots, with Ted's nephew Ned Neumiller in charge of viticulture.

Over the past decade, Ned has championed regenerative farming, revitalising the estate’s old vineyards through practices that eliminate pesticides and herbicides, encourage biodiversity and improve soil health. His work earned him Sonoma County’s ‘Outstanding Young Person in Agriculture’ award in 2018. Today, Seghesio farms 120 hectares across Sonoma’s leading AVAs, including Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley, alongside long-standing partnerships with growers in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

Andy Robinson, who worked alongside Ted in the cellar for almost 20 years, is now head winemaker. Italian consultant winemaker Alberto Antonini has also helped improve the quality of the wines, and his influence can be seen in the juicy, approachable style of Zinfandel that has become a Seghesio hallmark.

The Sonoma County Zinfandel blends fruit from carefully selected vineyards across Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley and Mendocino County and is brimming with notes of blackcurrant, dark cherry and spice. ‘Old Vines’ Zinfandel is powerful yet refined, from 70-year-old bush vines in the Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys. The ‘Cortina’ Zinfandel is named after the gravelly-loam soils of the dry-farmed Chen’s vineyard in Dry Creek Valley. The vineyard is influenced by cooling maritime breezes and is blanketed in fog most summer mornings, resulting in a longer growing season and a Zinfandel defined by great elegance and freshness.

‘Home Ranch’ Zinfandel, the estate’s flagship wine, is made from Edoardo’s original 1895 planting in Alexander Valley. Long, warm days and very poor soils, composed of clay with underlying layers of basalt and sandstone, result in very low yields of highly concentrated fruit. This is one of California’s most revered expressions of premium Zinfandel.