Alexander Valley AVA
Alexander Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) within a valley landform located in northeastern Sonoma County, California just north of Healdsburg. The wine appellation was established as the nation's 70th, the state's 43rd and the county's eighth AVA on October 24, 1984 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after reviewing two petitions submitted by the Appellation Committee, on behalf of eighteen vintners, vineyard owners, winery operators (Group A), and another fifteen members of the local grape/wine industry representing Alexander Valley Vineyards, Robert Young Vineyards, Redwood Ranch and Vineyards, Murphy-Goode Vineyards, Jordon Winery and Vineyards, Garden Creek Ranch, Chateau St. Jean, Simi Winery, Cuneo and Saini Farm, Franeiscan Winery, River Oaks Winery, Hoot Owl Creek Ranch and Vineyard (Group B), proposing a viticultural area in Sonoma County, known as "Alexander Valley."
The proposals of Group A and Group B represented, respectively, the viewpoints of grape and wine industry members in the southern and northern portions of this area concerning establishment of the Alexander Valley viticultural area. Group A proposed an area extending northwest from the peak known as Chalk Hill to just south of the town of Asti. Approximately 11,000 of the 35,000 acres encompassed by this proposal are used for viticulture. Group B proposed an area encompassing the area proposed by Group A and an adjoining area extending northward to the Sonoma-Mendocmo County line. Approximately 1,700 of the additional 31,000 acres encompassed by this proposal are used for viticulture.
After extensive consideration of the evidence and comments presented regarding establishment of an Alexander Valley viticultural area, ATF found that the general area encompassed within the boundaries proposed by Group B merited establishment as the Alexander Valley viticultural area. Although they recognized there is evidence which would support both groups of petitioners in this matter, ATF found that the greater weight of-evidence supports the Group B proposal and that the general area encompassed within the boundaries proposed by Group B is locally and nationally referred to as Alexander Valley.
The boundaries of the appellation extends from the banks of the Russian River eastward to the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains. It is resident to over one hundred wineries and vineyards, as well as the city of Cloverdale. It is the largest and most fully cultivated wine region in Sonoma County. Highway 101 passes through, and the Russian River flows through the valley flanked on both sides by vineyards. The view from the higher elevations of the valley rim extends far south to Taylor and Sonoma Mountains.
In 1986, the boundaries were expanded to include overlapping regions of the Russian River Valley AVA. Further acreage was realigned in 1988 from Chalk Hill AVA to accommodate existing vineyards that long labeled their wines as Alexander Valley but existed across the southeastern boundary. A third amendment occurred in 1990 to include vineyards owned by Sir Peter Michael and Ellis Alden in the foothills east of Geyserville. In 2001, the Gill Creek watershed was realigned from the Dry Creek AVA reclassifying the Alexander Valley boundary. In 2008, the appellation was expanded 1,300 acres (2.0 sq mi) to include three existing vineyards along Hiatt Road and Icaria Creek, a drainage basis to the Russian River. The expansion increased Alexander Valley's total area to 67,710 acres (106 sq mi). The plant hardiness zone ranges from 9a to 10a.