The first residents of the Alexander Valley were the Wappo Indians, who had two main villages in the area including one at the Geysers geo-thermal site just a few miles from our Alexander Mountain Estate.
But it was an Illinois fur trapper who gave this place the name it still bears. Cyrus Alexander arrived in the valley in 1846. He was a lucky fellow. He'd just been given 9,000 acres on the east side of the valley as payment for managing the vast Sotoyome Ranch. At that time, sheep ranching was the principal occupation in the Alexander Valley.

Cyrus' first year here he planted wine grapes--at a site just two miles from Stonestreet Winery, and the first Alexander Valley winery was established in 1872. Wines from the area, in particular red wines, quickly achieved a reputation for high quality. Alexander Valley wines were served in the best San Francisco restaurants. But in the 1930's, under Prohibition, many of the vineyards were converted to orchards or returned to sheep and cattle ranches.

A Destiny that Could Not be Denied

It wasn't until the 1960s that vineyards once again began to be planted in earnest in the Alexander Valley. Today, most of the fruit orchards and sheep ranches that once dominated the region are gone, and vineyards prevail in the valley's lowlands, benchlands, hillsides and surrounding mountains. Increasingly, the valley's fame rests on the superior red Bordeaux varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot it produces.

Fog is part of the reason that wine grapes do so well in the valley. Fog enters the Alexander Valley after sundown, but due to the area's unique geographic configuration, does not drain down slopes in the early morning. Instead, it lingers in the valley until it burns off. Because the vineyards keep their evening cool later into the morning, grapes ripen slowly and develop optimal character.

Soil is another reason that Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in particular thrive in the Alexander Valley. Sedimentary rock underlies the valley, but volcanic subsoils can be found in the eastern hills--the result of ancient volcanic activity. The region's topsoil is alluvial material from both sedimentary and volcanic sources deposited over thousands of years by the Russian River and local tributaries. This complex geology results in a diversity of soils. The soils of the region's terraces, benchlands and hillsides are gravely clay loam and become progressively thinner and rockier as elevation increases.

A River Runs Though It

The Alexander Valley is located 75 miles north of San Francisco and flanks both banks of the Russian River as it flows southwest from Cloverdale to Healdsburg. The valley is twenty miles long and anywhere from two to seven miles wide. It includes valley lowlands, as well as parts of the Coast Range to the west and the Mayacamas Mountains to the east. The Pacific Ocean is 22 miles away. Acreage in the valley totals 76,900, of which 15,000 is planted to wine grapes.