Sonoma County · Appellation

Alexander Valley

Established in 1984 along the upper Russian River, Alexander Valley trades the fog-drenched reputation of its southern neighbors for genuine warmth, its benchland soils of volcanic ash and gravelly loam ripening Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties to a fullness rare elsewhere in Sonoma County. The valley floor's alluvial deposits favor structured, fruit-forward reds, while the western hillsides climbing toward the Mayacamas produce more tannic, age-worthy wine. It remains one of the region's most reliably sunny appellations, a distinction growers have leaned into rather than fought.