Alexander Valley

Alexander Valley

The Alexander Valley is a American Viticulture Area (AVA) just north of Healdsburgh in Sonoma County, CA.

It’s the most completely planted area of Sonoma county with 15,000 of 33,000 planted.

Originally aquired through a land grant from Mexico the valley has high mountains to the east with the Russian River flowing through it. Small wineries dot the landscape in addition to legendary vineyards of Robert Young and Jordan Vineyard and Winery.

Originally the valley was not planted as blocks of specific varietals but as ”field blends.”                                Basically, there were vineyards with mixed vines and each year whatever grape grew the best became the prominent varietal in the bottle.

As a result the valley became known as a place for mass produced or “jug” wines. In the 1960’s and 70’s things began to change and new blood began producing higher quality, varietal specific wines.

In 1984, Alexander Valley sought and received its own AVA status. It is a very warm climate often reaching 100 degrees which allows the grapes to develop full, rich flavors and color.

In the early 60’s, Robert Young began planting grapes and, because he was primarily a farmer, he began producing great fruit which he sold to established wineries. One of those wineries was Chateau St. Jean.

So impressed were they with the grapes, they mentioned the vineyard on their 1975 Chardonnay. To this day Robert Young remains the largest provider of Chardonnay grapes to Chateau St. Jean.

More information is available about the wines of the Alexander Valley at:

Alexander Valley AVA

Est.:   1984

Acres of planted vineyards:

15,000

Wineries:  ~45

Varietals Grown:

Barbera

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Sauvignon

Carignane

Chardonnay

Chenin Blanc

Gewurtztraminer

Grenache

Malbec

Muscat Canelli

Petit Verdot

Petite Sirah

Pinot Blanc

Pinot Noir

Riesling

Sangiovese

Sauvignon Blanc

Semillion

Syrah

Tempranillo

Viognier

Zinfandel