Have you ever dreamt about going abroad and setting up your own vineyard one day? Well, this is exactly what Edoardo Seghesio did in 1886. He left Piedmont in Italy and was drawn to Northern Sonoma County and the Italian Swiss Colony in California, to follow his passion for winemaking. Seghesio has since become one of the finest wineries in the area for wines made from Zinfandel and Italian varieties. And the great thing about Seghesio is that they are still a family-owned winery which means consistency in their winemaking because traditions are passed on through the generations, but also top quality. I had the chance to meet with Camille Seghesio (pictured above), one of the family members and managers of the estate at a tasting in London. She explained to me why Seghesio produces wines which are truly unique in Sonoma. Olivier Bourseau: Seghesio is a story of passion and entrepreneur which is truly exciting. Your grandfather Edoardo who originates from Piedmont in Italy immigrated in northern Sonoma at the end of the 19th Century. He first worked as a winemaker then bought his piece of land and built up the estate planting Italian grape varieties first like Sangiovese from Chianti, Trebiano, Malvasia, as well as Zinfandel. Now Seghesio is a well known and successful winery. But do you still have the same entrepreneur’s mentality in your business? Camille Seghesio: Yes absolutely! I think it is important first of all to say it is an Italian-American family with one foot in Italy and one foot in America. But in terms of the way that we live and work, it is still an Italian-American business and it is quite entrepreneurial and dynamic so meaning decisions can be made fairly quickly. Even though it is a family, there is usually a consensus in the family. And it is not like the godfather but my brother is a little bit like my grandfather and my father, or kind of the one in charge. Now we have a saying in the family: “Sempre Avanti” which means always looking forward so while we are keeping many things the same we are also changing at the same time. Picture below - The Seghesio Family O.B: You started your career with a business degree and worked in banking. Why did you decide to get back to the family business? Camille Seghesio: My dream when I was very young was to have a job where I could travel and work with international markets and work with both Europe and Emerging Markets. So my interest in international economics and finance was really from wanting a job that I could travel to these countries, use foreign languages. And it happened to be that these two things coincided several years ago when my brother finally decided to make an investment in the export markets. It is quite unusual to have someone of our size actively exporting, but it was a good time to start with the weak dollar by the time. And now that I am in the family business I think the most important thing is to be passionate. When I was in Finance I was very passionate about emerging markets’ stocks and bonds, but then came a day and I wasn’t passionate about those anymore. I want to work in something I am passionate about and I believe in. And wine is something that in good times and bad times, I would always believe in. O.B: Zinfandel is one of your specialities. And it is not very well known in Europe but Seghesio makes some of the finest examples of Zinfandel wines. What is your secret? Picture Below - Zinfandel old-vines from Seghesio vineyards.           Camille Seghesio: The secret with Zinfandel and this is something that very few people realise is that it ripens unevenly. And so it is very difficult to make a balanced wine and to make a good wine. So how do you approach this uneven ripeness? Do you put in the green fruit? Do you put in the raisin fruit? Or do you wait until all of it ripens at which point it becomes overripe. What is your philosophy? And for us the key is low yield and balance. So what you are trying to do is you have old vine Zinfandel which is naturally in balance producing low yield and low vigour, while in a young vineyard we have to create the conditions that we naturally have in an old vine. So by hand farming, getting rid of the green and overripe fruits, you achieve a balanced wine, and that’s really the key with Zinfandel. When it is well made, it can be very noble, but when it is poorly made, people never forgive that they had a bad Zinfandel. When you have had a poor Cabernet, you know that there are great Cabernets; you just didn’t have a very good one. But with Zinfandel you have it once because it is not so widely known. If you don’t care for it you condemn the grape forever. So one of our challenges with Zinfandel internationally is to explain to people it can be very well made, it can be very balanced, it can be a very noble New World red wine that holds its own but it has to be well made. Picture Below - A bottle of their fine Home Ranch Zinfandel. O.B: You are also very successful in making wines with imported Italian grape varieties like the Arneis, or your Pinot Bianco and Fiano. Is Sonoma with its cooler climate than say Napa the secret to making such elegant white wines? Camille Seghesio: I think it is really about the “Terroir” and about what varietal is very suited to a certain region and many people believe that Sonoma is producing very complex higher acid wines, in particular if it is Chardonnay or white grapes, or if it is Pinot Noir. It is very difficult to compete with Carneros, or Russian River, or Sonoma Coast because you get this acidity and minerality that are absolutely stunning. I think yes on a world level those 3 regions particularly Russian River then Carneros and Sonoma Coast which is a newer area are making exceptional Chardonnays and white wines. Now Alexander Valley and Dry Creek, where we also have vineyards are much hotter and drier, particularly Alexander Valley which is too hot for white grapes but better suited for Zinfandel. Dry Creek is similar, and very good for Zinfandel too. But the Russian River which is where the Arneis, the Fiano and the Pinot Grigio come from are signature “appellation” for those varieties. O.B: Your strategy of the last few years has been to concentrate on high quality throughout your winemaking process from the vineyards, with a smaller range of wines. How do you see the future at Seghesio ? Camille Seghesio: I think that we are very lucky that we had a younger generation who made this very important business decision many years ago to focus on wines that we produce ourselves. It is about sustainable grape growing and winemaking, doing everything by hand, canopy management to green harvest to how we prune. And I think today, to be a family business and to be self financed, and to be a small company, you have to deliver the quality. And because of what we had done many years ago which was to focus on Zinfandels and Italian varietals, and to focus on quality, we have a better chance to survive to the next generation than we ‘d had if we had continued in the “middle” of the road. O.B: Away from your wines, and Italian wines, which other regions in the world are you interested in? Camille Seghesio: I was raised on Italian wines almost exclusively and on Zinfandel too. So if you had asked me which area in the world I turn to and I know very well with regards to food and the region, it would be Italy. But I think in terms of other regions I find that when there is a similarity of the way Zinfandel is linked to Sonoma County, that intrigues me. So for instance: Malbec in Argentina, Carmenere in Chile, some old vine Shiraz in Australia. I am excited about unique grape variety which may not be from that country but it became something beautiful. That is something I often look to. I think Malbec from Argentina is something some people have said will give Zinfandel a run for its money! I love Kiwi Pinot Noir too. But looking at reds we are usually looking beyond Zinfandel. Zinfandel happens to be a great red wine but when we are comparing our Zinfandels, we are often not comparing with other Zinfandels. We are comparing these with other great red wines of the world that have palate, that have good acid, good tannins, but that are also proof that they will age for a long time. That’s kind of an interesting comparison that we make when we are looking outside of our regions. OB: Thank you very much Camille!