Name Don Sebastiani | ||
Role August Sebastiani's father Children August Sebastiani, Donny Sebastiani | ||
Don Sebastiani is an American vintner and politician from the state of California.
Sebastiani grew up in Sonoma, California. Born to parents August and Sylvia Sebastiani, he was the youngest of three children, with older siblings Sam and Mary Ann. He attended St. Francis Solano School in Sonoma, Bellarmine Prep in San Jose, and the University of San Francisco (USF). In 1975, he married fellow USF student Nancy Cecchetti, of San Francisco, with whom he had three children, Donny, August, and Mia.
Sebastiani served in the California State Assembly as a Republican from the 8th district from 1980 until 1986. In 1986, he ran in the primary for California State Controller but lost. Soon thereafter, he returned to Sonoma to run his family's wine business, Sebastiani Vineyards, where he took production from little more than 200,000 cases to just shy of 8 million in his 15 years at the helm. Also, in 1986, along with brother-in-law Roy Cecchetti, Sebastiani began a negociant-style winery, Cecchetti Sebastiani Cellar (CSC). CSC developed the label Pepperwood Grove and Don & Roy grew their business to nearly 400,000 cases in 1999.
In the Spring of 2001, he left the old company and, along with his sons Donny and August, started Don Sebastiani & Sons, developing well-known labels such as Smoking Loon and Plungerhead.