Winery Visit: Alexander Valley Vineyards

I am in them midst of obsessive bicycling season right now (weird to need a long sleeved jersey in JUNE!) and I happened to be passing right by ALEXANDER VALLEY VINEYARDS, a fine, old school, family owned winery. They have caves, winery dogs, a very low key tasting room (which got totally slammed by the end of my visit)...but, anyway...

Did the reserve tasting and realaly loved the wines (just like last time a couple of years ago, actually).

Alexander Valley Reserve Alluvia Delicious and Fantastic "Rhone" blend of syrah, Grenache, and Viognier with beautiful floral tones and an an earthyness, with spicy strawberry grenache fruit.

Alexander Valley Big Barrel Syrah-(larger cask aging) This tastes like SYRAH to me, with again a restrained, old school earthyness and beautiful floral notes...even though they don't use Viognier.

2008 Alexander Valley Cabernet. I really enjoyed this Cabernet. Again...we are talking about a soft, earthy, umami style here with a pronounced but enjoyable green streak that I like to taste in cabernet! Delicious and cheap ($30s!)

Finally, 2005, 2006, and 2007 Cyrus, the blends. Very different, but I remember the 2005 as having a nice fuzzy mouthfeel on the tannins and a warm, earthy (that word again) minerally (another bad word!) blend of maturing red and black fruits.

A lovely place to visit!

Also visited Stuhlmuller Vineyards hidden down a lovely riverside (or creekside) road off Highway 128. Fantastic tangy estate chardonnay that really sang in my mouth. The two cabs also showed well, with the earthy character noted above and a hint of freshness and green that I loved. the Reserve Cab was richer, with darker berry fruit. Fantastic wines!

You were right there, you should have stopped in at Hawkes, next door to the Jimtown Store.
IMAO (A stands for Arrogant), Stuhlmuller does a good "California Classic" Chard with good fruit and lots of oak.
Hawkes' Chard (from vines on Chalk Hill Road - you need to ride that one, it's beautiful!) is aged in mostly neutral oak, and is perhaps the most Chablisian California Chard I've had. It's my keep-some-in-the-cellar "expensive" ($20) Chard. It ages beautifully, at least for the couple of years that I've been able to stand it. And they have a couple of stunning (and very expensive by my standards) Alexander Valley Cabs.
I know, so many wineries, so little time!, but did you stop again at Sausal? And have you ever stopped at Field Stone, just downhill from the Chalk Hill Road intersection?

Thanks, John! I actually did stop at the Jimtown Store but didn't want to overindulge in the wine (not fun!) while on the bicycle. I actually did not find the Stuhlmuller THAT oaky by california standards, but I love Chablis, so will definitely give Hawke a try. They had a band playing Saturday afternoon so it felt like a fun place. Missed Sausal this time...I remember liking their cab as well as the Zins.

Chalk Hill Road is definitely a standard route for me, but I had already climbed Riebli Valley and Mark West Springs Road up past the Porter Creek point and (much more serious climb) Franz Valley Road, so I stuck with Healdsburg. Of course, I discovered the awesome scenic funky strangeness that is Fitch Mountain Road and the series of rollers there probably were harder than Chalk Hill would have been so...

I love riding Alexander Valley in general. No shoulders, but 128 does not really feel threatening to me (Mark West Springs is a little less fun in its upper segment). I want to try Rockpile Road soon.

They make a pretty damn good Cabernet Franc.

They make a pretty damn good Cabernet Franc.

Alexander Valley? Cool. I love Cabernet Franc!

I just love the back roads in Sonoma County!

I just love the back roads in Sonoma County!

If only Sonoma County practiced the lost and arcane art of "road maintenance".

Sonoma County has lots of back roads, and that's a joy bundled with a problem. State and federal money is doled out by population. Sonoma County has (working vaguely from vague memory, my numbers are probably all wrong) something like the fourth most miles of road in the state, and the 10th or 12th population. The upshot is that the county supervisors were mulling over the idea of simply abandoning all maintenance of 80% of the county's rural roads and letting them become dirt once again. This last week, when they passed the budget, they tossed $8 million stolen from the "dime to get home" pile and put it into short-term road maintenance.
The net is, don't bet on anything wonderful happening! Get a mountain bike.

John