2013 Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel Pagani Ranch

From Piedmont to the Iconic Pagani Ranch

On any given week at WineAccess HQ there’s likely to be more than a dozen fresh sample bottles of California Zinfandel buried in our eurocave. But we choose only a few producers to work with. Why so few, we’re often asked? Too often we taste samples that just don’t measure up, for one reason or another: high alcohol masking the fruit, port-like flavors most likely from uneven ripening, or underripe versions lacking punch. Then there are the Zinfandel producers whose consistent excellence we can count on, those who coax Zins of nuance, longevity, and balance from their single-vineyard strongholds: Ridge’s Lytton Springs, Matt Cline’s Evangelho, Bill Knuttel’s Ottimino Von Weidlich, to name just a few. But none is more storied than Seghesio.

The Seghesio story is straight out of 19th-century folklore. Edoardo Seghesio left Piedmont, Italy, in 1886 and settled in the Italian Swiss Colony nestled in Sonoma County. Founded by Italian immigrants in 1881 but funded by local capitalists, the Italian Swiss Colony was a social philanthropy employing Italians, then arriving in San Francisco by the thousands, in the grape-growing trade with which they were already quite familiar. In 1893, Edoardo wed Angela Vasconi, the niece of the Colony’s manager. Two years later, the couple purchased 56 untouched acres in northern Alexander Valley, planting their first Zinfandel vines along with a few Italian varietals. Five generations of Seghesios would continue the proud family tradition.

These days, Ted Seghesio makes the wines, cousin Pete champions the brand, fifth-generation Ned manages the vines — 120 years later, they’re continuing a legacy of land conservation handed down from their ancestors.

But the proud Seghesio family legacy isn’t the only historic Italian immigrant tradition captured in the bottle we’re offering today. Pagani Ranch is one of the few vineyards with a timeline stretching back as far as Seghesio’s. When Felice Pagani bought part of the Wildwood Dairy Farm in the 1880s, could he have guessed that 125 years after he planted his first vines, Pagani Ranch would still be among the most revered Zinfandel vineyards in the United States? Tended by the fourth generation of Paganis, this bucolic 30-acre vineyard nestled in the rolling hills along Sonoma’s Highway 12 yields some of the country’s most beloved ancient clusters of small-berry Zinfandel. The Seghesios have company in making magic with Pagani grapes — company like Bedrock, Carlisle, Robert Biale, and of course, Ridge.

Mother Nature kept Zinfandel growers smiling in 2013, with Paul Draper at Ridge calling it “a truly great vintage.” Healthy rainfall in winter was followed by a historically dry spring with few heat spikes and little frost. Uniformly beautiful days throughout July and August permitted grapes to ripen evenly. Harvest started two weeks early, allowing vineyard managers to pick fruit at optimal maturity and prevent an overripe crop. Filling the baskets were grapes of solid color, ideal tannins, and heightened acidity levels. Ted Seghesio says the Zinfandel he crafted from these “vibrant dark fruits” has “striking synergy.” He knows what he’s talking about when he calls Pagani “an iconic vineyard.”

$50 at the winery. Only $38 today on WineAccess for the century-old-vine Pagani Zinfandel from Seghesio. A Must-Buy for those who prefer elegance and balance vs. over-the-top Zins of alcohol and over-ripeness, for those whose palate can appreciate history captured in a bottle.

• ABV 14.80%
• Enjoy right away
• % Zinfandel