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California Wine Atlas

Alexander Valley

Sub-AVA · Sonoma County · District 3

27 CFR 9.53 · established 1984-10-24 · last amended 2008-03-11

Heat class III · 1991-2020 normals

Climate normals in three numbers

3,389°F-days

, Apr 1 – Oct 31

35 GridMET cells cover this region

III

168mm

season rain, Apr 1 – Oct 31

56 mm of it in the , Sep 1 – Oct 31

Warm and cool vintages since 1980

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Rain across the season, and at harvest

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The boundary

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Hovering a shaded region names it; a click opens its page.

Measured vineyard area

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Drought categories, year by year

Sonoma County — not Alexander Valley

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What's in the ground

6.1

pH, 1:1 water

14.3cm

, whole profile

108cm

to

Well drained

, dominant condition

Distribution across 148 · mean ◆, median │, p10–p90 bar

6.1
2.1%
24.8%
available water
14.3cm
depth to restriction
108cm

Dominant

  • 11.9%
  • 10.3%
  • 7.9%
  • 7.3%
  • 6.8%

148 map units · soil described over 93.6% of the region’s area · 5.6% is water, rock outcrop or other non-soil · 77% of the described area has a restrictive layer within the profile.

Sand, silt and clay, against every other appellation

CLAYSANDSILT

Loam

40% sand · 35% silt · 25% clay

Sandier than 41% of California appellations and clayier than 70%. Each grey point is one appellation’s topsoil; appellations nest, so this is a distribution of places rather than of land.

Plus 16% rock fragments by volume, which the triangle does not describe — the three fractions are of the fine-earth material only.

Elevation, slope and aspect

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Producers

A curated roster, not a census — only source-verified entries appear, 2772 published across the atlas.

Bearing acreage by variety

Sonoma County · District 3

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Price per ton

Sonoma County · District 3

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The appellation in federal law

The boundary, in the government’s own words (1,384 words)

(c) Boundary. The Alexander Valley viticultural area is located in northeastern Sonoma County, California. From the beginning point at the northeast corner of Section 32, Township 12 North (T. 12 N.), Range 10 West (R. 10 W.), on the Asti Quadrangle map, the boundary runs— (1) West along the north line of Sections 32 and 31, T. 12 N., R. 10 W., and Sections 36, 35, and 34, T. 12 N., R. 11 W., to the northwest corner of Section 34, on the Cloverdale Quadrangle map; (2) Then south along the west line of Section 34 to the southwest corner thereof; (3) Then east southeasterly in a straight line to the southeast corner of section 2, T. 11 N., R. 11 W.; (4) Then south southeasterly in a straight line to the southeast corner of section 24, T. 11 N., R. 11 W.; (5) Then straight south along the eastern boundary line of Section 25, to its intersection with Kelly Road, a medium-duty road, T. 11 N., R. 11 W.; (6) Then southwest along Kelly Road to its intersection with the northern boundary line of Section 36, T. 11 N., R. 11 W.; (7) Then straight south to its intersection with 38° 45′ N. latitude along the southern border of the Cloverdale Quadrangle map, T. 10 N., R. 11 W. and R. 10 W.; (8) Then straight east to its intersection with 123° 00′ E. longitude at the southeastern corner of the Cloverdale Quadrangle map, T. 10 N., R. 10 W.; (9) Then southeasterly in a straight line approximately 11,000 feet (closely following the ridge line) to the northwest corner of Section 10, T. 10 N., R.10 W. on the Geyserville Quadrangle map; (10) [Reserved] (11) Then southerly along the west line of Section 10, T. 10 N., R. 10 W.; (12) Then S. 74 degrees, E. 2,800 feet in a straight line to the northeasterly tip of a small lake; (13) Then N. 57 degrees, E. 2,300 feet in a straight line to the southeast corner of Section 10, T. 10 N., R. 10 W.; (14) Then S. 16 degrees, E. 1,800 feet in a straight line to the point on a peak identified as having an elevation of 664 feet; (15) Then S. 55 degrees, E. 7,900 feet in a straight line to the most northerly point on the northeasterly line of “Olive Hill” Cemetery, lying on the easterly side of a light-duty road identified as Canyon Road; (16) Then southeasterly along the northeasterly line of “Olive Hill” cemetery to most easterly point thereon; (17) Then southerly 3,000 feet along the meanders of the west fork of Wood Creek to the point lying 400 feet north of the point on a peak identified as having an elevation of 781 feet; (18) Then southerly 400 feet in a straight line to the point on a peak identified as having an elevation of 781 feet; (19) Then S. 50 1/2 degrees, E. 15,200 feet in a straight line to the point lying at the intersection of Lytton Creek with the township line common to T. 9 N. and T. 10 N. in R. 9 W.; (20) Then southerly along the meanders of Lytton Creek to the point of intersection with a light-duty road identified as Lytton Springs Road in T. 9 N., R. 9 W.; (21) Then easterly along Lytton Springs Road to the point of intersection with a heavy-duty road identified as U.S. Highway 101 (a.k.a. Redwood Highway), on the Jimtown Quadrangle map; (22) Then southerly along U.S. Highway 101 to the point of intersection with an unnamed light-duty road (known locally as Chiquita Road), on the Geyserville Quadrangle map; (23) Then easterly along the unnamed light-duty road to the point of intersection with an unnamed heavy-duty road (known locally as Healdsburg Avenue), on the Jimtown Quadrangle map; (24) Then southeasterly in a straight line approximately 11,000 feet to the 991-foot peak of Fitch Mountain; (25) Then east southeasterly approximately 7,000 feet in a straight line to the peak identified as having an elevation of 857 feet; (26) Then east southeasterly approximately 1,750 feet to the peak identified as Black Peak; (27) Then southeasterly approximately 7,333 feet to the peak identified as having an elevation of 672 feet; (28) Then northeasterly approximately 5,000 feet in a straight line to the point of confluence of Brooks Creek with the Russian River in T. 9 N., R. 8 W., on the Healdsburg Quadrangle map; (29) Then east-southeasterly 2,400 feet in a straight line to the top of a peak identified as Chalk Hill; (30) Then south from said peak, in a straight line, approximately 0.2 mile to the point where Chalk Hill Road crosses Brooks Creek (on the Healdsburg Quadrangle map); (31) Then southeasterly, approximately 1.3 miles, along the roadbed of Chalk Hill Road to the point near the confluence of Brooks Creek and Barnes Creek where Chalk Hill Road intersects an unnamed unimproved road (known locally as Spurgeon Road) that parallels Barnes Creek in section 32, T. 9 N., R. 8 W.; (32) Then easterly, approximately 0.45 mile, along said road (known locally as Spurgeon Road) to the point where the road is intersected by an unnamed unimproved road (known locally as the access to the Shurtleff Ranch) in section 33, T. 9 N., R. 8 W.; (33) Then continuing along the unnamed unimproved road (known locally as the access to the Shurtleff Ranch), approximately 1.33 miles, in a generally easterly direction, to the eastern terminus of said road at a small dwelling along the north fork of Barnes Creek in section 34, T. 9 N., R. 8 W. on the Mark West Springs, California, Quadrangle map; (34) Then easterly along the north fork of Barnes Creek, approximately 0.5 mile, to the point in the northeast corner of section 34, T. 9 N., R. 8 W. where the north fork of Barnes Creek intersects the east line of section 34, T. 9 N., R. 8 W.; (35) Then north, approximately 0.65 mile, along the east lines of sections 34 and 27, T. 9 N., R. 8 W., to the point at which an unnamed unimproved road which parallels the south bank of Martin Creek intersects the eastern border of section 27, T. 9 N., R. 8 W.; (36) Then in a generally northwesterly direction, approximately 1.07 miles, along said road to the point at which the road is crossed by the west line of section 27, T. 9 N., R. 8 W.; (37) Then north, approximately 0.08 mile, along the west line of section 27, T. 9 N., R. 8 W., to the southeast corner of section 21, T. 9 N., R. 8 W.; (38) Then northerly along the east line of Sections 21, 16, and 9, T. 9 N., R. 8 W. to the northeast corner of Section 9, on the Mount St. Helena Quadrangle map; (39) Then westerly along the north line of Section 9 to the northwest corner thereof, on the Jimtown Quadrangle map; (40) Then northerly along the western lines of section 4, of T. 9 N, R. 8 W., and sections 33, 28, 21, 16, and 9 of T. 10 N., R. 8 W.; (41) Then westerly along the northern lines of section 8 and 7, T. 10 N., R. 8 W. and section 12, T. 10 N., R. 9 W. to the southeastern corner of section 2, T. 10 N., R. 9 W.; (42) Then northwesterly in a straight line to the eastern line of section 3 at 38 degrees 45 minutes latitude, T. 10 N., R. 9 W.; (43) Then westerly along latitude line 38 degrees 45 minutes to the point lying at 122 degrees 52 minutes 30 seconds longitude; (44) Then northwesterly in a straight line to the southeast corner of section 4, T. 11 N., R. 10 W., on the Asti, Quadrangle map; (45) Then northeasterly in a straight line to the southeast corner of section 34, T. 12 N., R. 10 W.; (46) Then north along the east boundary of section 34, T. 12 N., R. 10 W., to the northeast corner of section 34, T. 12 N., R. 10 W.; (47) Then west along the north boundaries of sections 34 and 33, T. 12 N., R. 10 W., to the point of beginning.