Alexander Valley's Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is perhaps the most famous red grape. Its home is Bordeaux where it is was created as a cross between Cabernet Franc (red grape) and Sauvignon Blanc (white grape). Since then its popularity has spread and it is grown all around the world. It prefers warmer climates to ripen fully and even in Bordeaux some years it does not ripen. That is why Cabernet Franc is also used in Bordeaux blends as it ripens faster. What makes Cabernet so popular is not its bouquet, which can range from blackcurrants to cigar box, but its structure, typically having both tannins and acidity to create a smooth feeling in the mouth. The structure allows the blending with other grapes, perhaps the most famous pairing is Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot where the Cabernet provides the structure and the Merlot gives the wine the soft, rounded feel in the mouth. Recently Cabernet has been mixed with Sangiovese (Chianti's grape) to create the SuperTuscans.
Alexander Valley
Key Grape Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
California wine region Alexander Valley is the largest and most planted of Sonoma’s many vineyard valleys. This AVA (American Viticultural Area), in the north of the county, covers land upstream of the Russian river from Healdsburg to the Sonoma-Mendocino county line north of Cloverdale. The majority of vines are planted on the broad, flattish valley floor either side of the river, although some worthy of mention are further up, onto the hills in the east.
A wide range of grapes is grown here. Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay dominate due to market forces, with wines from the former characterised by chocolaty warmth and the latter by boldness. However, Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel seem to succeed well with regularity in the sun and soils of Alexander Valley, suggesting this region might be a natural home for them. Whatever, wines tend to have a fleshy voluptuousness compared to other Sonoma country appellations, though most are for early drinking rather than for aging.
The AVA tag brings only two rules with it for growers to follow: the first is that 85 per cent of the grapes in the wine come from that region; the seond that, if the wine is a varietal, a minimum of 75 per cent of the named variety must come from the Alexander Valley.
Grape-growing dates back to the 1850s in this valley, but the area really only came to prominence in the 1970s and has grown since then, helped by companies like Kendall-Jackson and Gallo investing in the area.
