Seghesio Family Vineyards in Healdsburg, Sonoma County
At Seghesio Family Vineyards, the cornerstone is family.
The story of Seghesio Family Vineyards began in 1895 when an Italian immigrant and his wife planted Zinfandel vines in the rich soil of Sonoma, establishing roots that, five generations and 125 vintages later, continue to thrive. The Seghesio Family navigated the early experimentation in Sonoma, Prohibition, the bulk production years and the establishment and development of brand identity to become synonymous with exceptional Zinfandel and Italian varietal wines from Sonoma County. For the team at Seghesio Family Vineyards, each harvest represents the fulfillment of the American dream.
Today, the importance of family is held in even higher regard—both the one you’re born into and the one you choose. There is always a seat at the table, and everyone is invited to join in the daily celebration of family, Zinfandel, and the abundance of Sonoma County’s Healdsburg.
We interview Seghesio Family Vineyards Winemaker, Andy Robinson to learn more.
What type of wine do you specialize in?
Andy Robinson, Seghesio Family Vineyards Winemaker: Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Barbera, Vermentino
Our wines serve as an homage to the family’s Italian roots. We make fine wines that are intended to be enjoyed at the table with friends and family. We strive to make wines that are focused, precise examples of the varietals, regions, and vineyards they represent. To us, this means a balance between aromas, flavors, structure, and acidity that do not overwhelm delicate cuisine and can also stand up to more boisterous dishes. They represent a living history of the past 125+ years of winemaking in Sonoma County.
Share a popular tasting experience.
Andy Robinson: Our most popular tasting experience is our Classico Tasting. The Seghesio Classico Tasting is the ultimate immersion into the heart of our legacy—bringing guests closer to our Italian heritage, deep-rooted Zinfandel expertise, and warm hospitality. This experience showcases a curated selection of our most iconic wines: Zinfandel & Italian Varietals, all expertly guided by our knowledgeable hosts. It’s more than a tasting—it’s a journey through history, terroir, and craftsmanship that keeps guests coming back time and time again.
What’s one thing you wish more people knew about your winery?
Andy Robinson: We make more than just Zinfandel! When you taste at Seghesio, we have an ever-changing tasting menu that will not be the same variety in every glass. You will get to taste our Italian varietals alongside numerous Zinfandels that all have their own distinct identity. This dedication to quality and diversity was recently recognized by Wine Spectator, which named our 2022 Sonoma Zinfandel the #1 Top Value Wine of 2025.
This honor reflects our commitment to crafting wines that express the best of Sonoma while remaining accessible to wine lovers everywhere. We farm over 300 acres in Sonoma County and partner with local multi-generation farmers for the remainder of the fruit we purchase. While one of our wines is considered large production, we make all of our wines in small lots, and each wine gets an equal amount of focus before blending together for the larger production blend.
Seghesio is not certified organic. However, we are certified sustainable in farming practices, and take a regenerative approach to soils, do not use synthetic herbicides or pesticides, and compost all waste material.
Describe your winemaking approach.
Andy Robinson: I like to learn through experience and experimentation, and let the wines speak for themselves. To understand a vineyard we are working with for the first time, we try to be very basic in our techniques and see what the grapes have to offer. Continually tasting the wine is the most important, and at larger volumes, analysis is important to help monitor the wine’s health and progress, but we want to allow the wine to reach its full potential before blending with other sites.
We take this experience back to the vineyard the next season and make any necessary changes, adjust our decision making, and try to steer the wine closer to its target each year. Ideally, if we do all the work in the field and make correct choices in the winery, we don’t have to manipulate the wine at all.
How did you get started in the wine industry?
Andy Robinson I grew up on the fringes of small, lesser-known wine regions between Niagara Falls, Ontario, and the New York Finger Lakes. From an early age, I desired to travel the world, places like San Francisco, Australia, and Europe were on the bucket list at the early age of 10. In high school, my view of food changed as I visited Toronto and tasted Middle Eastern food for the first time, opening my eyes to the possibilities and flavors of world cuisine.
I attended SUNY Geneseo, on the western edge of the Finger Lakes, and studied chemistry there. I was interested in apple cider at the time, and my chemistry advisor explained the process to me. He was an avid wine collector and made Riesling wine from his neighbor’s grapes, which he then gave half of back to his neighbor. Symbiosis at its finest! Following my studies from chemistry to chemical engineering, I became more interested in processes, fluid dynamics, processing equipment, and design. At the same time, I was pursuing a minor in environmental studies, mythology, and anthropology. Now studying in Manhattan, closer to the Long Island wine region, wine started to truly come into focus as a dream hobby.
A fellow chemical engineer friend of mine, Rosie Harris, had moved to California and was working in a winery as a wine chemist, and opened my eyes to the possibility of working in the wine industry as a career.Two months after that snowboarding trip to California, I was back on the plane headed for Charles Krug winery to work harvest as a grape sampler!
I was hooked and from that point on I strived to absorb any bits of knowledge from those I was lucky to work alongside; John Moynier, Jac Cole, Ted & Pete Seghesio, Phil Freese and Alberto Antonini.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the winemaking process?
Andy Robinson: Great wines arrive over the scale and require very minimal intervention on the part of the winemaker. Our goal towards perfection starts in the vineyard, and winemakers only need to intervene to shepherd the wines from the vines to the bottle. It sounds simple if you start with perfect fruit!
Do you remember the first time you fell in love with wine?
Andy Robinson: There were a few brushes early on with wine for me, first tasting grape juice at Finger Lakes wineries as a young child, then tasting ice wine in Niagara for the first time. The final experience that sent me towards the industry happened while traveling in Europe. A friend and I reconnected with a former high school exchange student and were welcomed to her family house. Her parents didn’t speak much English, and neither of us spoke fluent French, but her father made sure the wine paired perfectly with the raclette. When I mentioned I was interested in “wine chemistry”, I quickly learned the meaning of “oenologie,” and the conversation became so lively. To this day, I have tried to find out what wine that was. I only remember it had a chateau on the label, which doesn’t narrow it down.
Do you have a favorite story about working at your winery?
Andy Robinson: One of my favorite moments at Seghesio is when I get to step out of the cellar and see people enjoying the wines we’ve worked so hard to craft. As a winemaker, I’m deeply involved in every stage—walking the vineyards, guiding the fermentation, and blending to create wines that reflect both our heritage and our land. But the full-circle moment happens when I see guests experiencing that final step—tasting, savoring, and sharing our wines with one another.
One experience that stands out was during a Classico Tasting when I joined a table of guests who were celebrating an anniversary milestone. They told me how Seghesio wines had been on their family table for years, a part of their milestones and traditions. That’s exactly what we aim for—ensuring everyone has a seat at the table and that our wines bring people together. Whether it’s through tastings, food pairings, or simply a bottle shared at home, it’s incredibly rewarding to see how our wines create lasting connections.
What do you love about winemaking?
Andy Robinson: I enjoy being able to combine agriculture, chemistry, art, travel, and history into a product that can be enjoyed at the happiest occasions with the best cuisine, friends, and family.
How does your team help you as a winemaker?
Andy Robinson: Each team member utilizes their well-honed skills every day to contribute to the future of each wine we make. Whether it’s in the vineyards, the lab, the cellar, or the winery, I rely on their passion for hard work, seeking rewards in the form of fine wine. This extends beyond my direct team to our finance team, ensuring we can buy to make the best decisions for our wines, and our marketing and sales team, who help share our wines with the world.
Do you have any winery traditions with your team?
Andy Robinson: We like to celebrate seasonal milestones as a team. When we finish bottling and prepare for harvest, we gather for a big cookout. When we receive our first grapes, we toast to the harvest, and after harvest, we gather for a BBQ with the whole team to celebrate all of the hard work.
