Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/111102
[ V&WM] What is the Seghesio family's legacy, or the legacy of your brand? [ PS ] It's a classic story of an immigrant husband and wife who were just trying to put bread on the table. We were blessed to be at the right place at the right time, and you know, we made a critical move back in '93 and '94 when the elders gave the kids the company, because it looked like it was going down. We had a huge IRS audit that looked like it was going to take us down, so they gave us the family business as a last-ditch effort, like, "Here, you try it." They were in their 70s and they couldn't make it work. © 2012 StaVin Inc. Twenty years ago, we opened our doors for business. And while some years have been better than others, we can't complain. Our innovations have far exceeded our original hopes and changed for good the way winemakers approach their craft. But that's not what we're most proud of. It's the people who work with us. They've bought their own homes, sent their kids to college and genuinely love coming to work. Which, in our book is what you'd call a dream come true. ® StaVın Inc, P.O.Box 1693, Sausalito,CA 94966 (415) 331-7849 f (415) 331-0516 stavin.com 106 V I N EYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | Mar - Apr 2013 We were tired of making cheap, inexpensive wine, and we went for it. We shrank production from 120,000 cases down to 35,000 cases. We replanted half of our acreage, we redid our winery. When we started, this place was put together with chicken wire and duct tape, and we turned it into one of the shining stars of Sonoma County. I guess it's just a great immigrant story about people trying to put bread on the table, and we managed to put a lot of bread on the table. We capitalized on what they did, and I think they would be very happy with what we accomplished. [V&WM] What are the challenges of running a multi-generational family winery? [ PS ] When you're in business you understand why you have to continue to reinvest. When you (have family members that are) not in the business, it's harder to understand why. At the same time we had some family members that wanted to cash out and retire and we had some whose health wasn't the best, and that was a big issue. You have to build an outside governance committee. You have to bring in an outside CEO or COO that has full authority to manage the family. You have to create family bylaws from the inception. Every kid thinks they're going to be in the family business, but family businesses can't take everybody. They've got to take just the best. When you have 11 owners go to 30, it becomes very challenging, and you have to build in a whole layer of non-family governance, and that's expensive. [V&WM] What are the challenges faced by family wineries today? [ PS ] We were spending so much of our time just trying to manage price-points. As good as we were – no bad labels, no dog wines, no second label, no added-on wines that you had to sell if you were going to carry Seghesio. We were getting it done in the U.S. with three people in sales. We had 20% export sales with my sister running that part, and it's still a push with distributors. They have more sales w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m