Tony Bondi

Fort Ross-Seaview

The “Zio Tony Ranch” is named after Tony Bondi, who was the first in the Bondi family to be born on American soil. Zio Tony was the son of Paolo Antoni Bondi and Adele Gemma Cardellini, who emigrated from Italy in the early 1900’s and immediately set up farming potatoes. Zio Tony, Zio meaning ‘uncle’ in Italian, was a very charismatic man with a big booming voice who loved a good time. His broad handsome smile is still legendary in the old farming community of the Sebastopol Hills. Zio Tony was the entrepreneur of the family and began buying individual properties in the 1950’s and planting apple trees, eventually establishing the largest apple orchard in the county. The late 1960’s brought changes in tourists and a population growth that would drastically affect the production of agricultural products in the region. It became apparent to Uncle Tony that farming apples in this part of the world would have its eventual decline. So, he planted rootstock on which he planned to graft Pinot Noir cuttings. Zio Tony passed away in 1971 before his dream of becoming a grape grower was fulfilled.