Early Residents & Visionaries | Alexander Valley AVA

Early Residents & Visionaries
Alexander Valley is approximately 20 miles long and one mile wide, with the Russian River coursing through its center. Native California sequoias, oaks and Douglas fir trees thrive on the valley floor, and scrub oaks creep up the crevices of its rugged hillsides. Originally, the valley was inhabited by the Pomo Indian tribe. In 1841, the Mexican government granted the land to a sea captain, Henry Delano Fitch, who in turn hired pioneer Cyrus Alexander—the valley’s namesake—to manage his new property.

Fitch gave Alexander his own land in 1847, near present-day Healdsburg, and the pioneer is believed to have established Zinfandel vineyards in short order. This turned out to be a visionary undertaking, as the winegrowing conditions in Alexander Valley closely resemble the French regions of Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley.