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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2019 and 2027 (based on 6 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 87.9 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 52 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by jpkc on 12/2/2022: Alexander Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is from Sonoma not Napa. The Alexander Valley Appellation is Sonoma County's largest AVA (900 views) | | | Tasted by ralaspech on 2/13/2022 & rated 87 points: Tastes like cabernet. A touch sweet and a little short on the finish but a good value (1449 views) | | | Tasted by jpkc on 9/24/2021 & rated 90 points: PnP, Distinctive Cab nose and taste, A tad sweet, but consistently a great value California Cab. Drinking nicely, years to go (1791 views) | | | Tasted by Jnkienlen on 3/28/2021: Very good. Classic. (2021 views) | | | Tasted by Worldb on 2/23/2021 & rated 91 points: Significant improvement on this bottle...at the beach with beef tenderloin. Deeper flavors of cassis with a touch of vanilla and mint and medium grained tannins that hit just right. Excellent QPR and in a really good place right now. (1985 views) | | | Tasted by JL26 on 2/16/2021 & rated 75 points: Too sweet and heavy. (1554 views) | | | Tasted by Worldb on 12/26/2020 & rated 89 points: Excellent qpr. Have had several and will get more (1611 views) | | | Tasted by smorris291 on 9/16/2020 & rated 89 points: I don’t drink much CA cabernet these days...generally I find them too oaky and not a great QPR. This is an exception for me. No tricks or manipulation, just a fresh, well-made wine. Great for the price and just an enjoyable glass of wine. (2124 views) | | | Tasted by Joshbturner on 7/25/2020: Loved this, especially for the price. On day 1 it had a lot of spunk. Day 2 maybe a bit more smooth, still delicious. I preferred it on day 1. (1727 views) | | | Tasted by Matteo1 on 5/14/2020: Lovely cassis, cherry, mint and oak aromas. Round body with a touch of sweetness and a short finish. Really delightful fresh style. Fantastic quality at price. (2398 views) | | | Tasted by bjschmitt on 5/6/2020 & rated 87 points: With 1 pan steak/potatoes/mushrooms/asparagus.
Good solid drinking wine for a middle of the week meal. (2007 views) | | | Tasted by Jamscharer on 5/3/2020 & rated 90 points: Elegant and well balanced. (1324 views) | | | Tasted by Mootsie on 5/3/2020 & rated 91 points: Consistently one of the best values in CA Cabernet. If you can keep your hands off them for a few years, they even get better. Still good as a pop and pour.
Classic cab notes, balanced, good price point. (2131 views) | | | Tasted by rmiosek@mioseklaw.com on 4/22/2020: Drank in the office for date night during COVID-19 (1334 views) | | | Tasted by HurnerG on 3/28/2020 & rated 83 points: Not bad - if it’s $20 it’s a decent value (1054 views) | | | Tasted by Smacdaddy1 on 3/24/2020: Beth liked it better day 2. Just so-so when initially opened (821 views) | | | Tasted by rahul_d_chatter@yahoo.com on 2/23/2020 & rated 88 points: Nice Cabernet tasted at the Venezia restaurant on Odessa, TX. Reserved bouquet of berries, cigar box, vanilla, and spice. Quite elegant on the palate. Definetly a pleasurable cab, with most elements well integrated. Good QPR. (1067 views) | | | Tasted by Alexander Smith on 2/8/2020 & rated 89 points: This very ripe and fruit-forward cabernet sauvignon, has notes of black cherry, black plum, liquorice, dried violet, vanilla and herbaceous notes, the palate is medium-bodied, ripe with medium plush tannins, there is bright acidity and the mid-palate is round with a lean a medium finish. (1264 views) | | | Tasted by PNIELSEN on 1/27/2020 & rated 89 points: Hadn't had this bottling in a long, long time. It strikes me as the same honest, value cab I remember. The prior tasters have pretty well articulated my experience with this bottle (except for the person who had an off bottle). Great value, will definitely be buying more. (1133 views) | | | Tasted by Baron Slick on 1/17/2020 & rated 90 points: Dusty black fruit and dark cherry notes are laced with a wonderful Bordeaux-like earthiness. This is full bodied, tremendously balanced, and shows lots of class for the price. I could drink this every day. (408 views) | | | Tasted by Mattshank on 12/25/2019 & rated 89 points: 2 hour decant. Nose: Dark fruits and dust. Palate: Blackberry contrasted by good acid levels and soft tannins. Another good base bottling effort from AVV. (1326 views) | | | Tasted by Baronfreya on 12/16/2019 & rated 87 points: Nice dark ruby sticky legs. Nose all jam hints of tobacco and chocolate. Bit of a fruit bomb not overly complex enjoyable. Had with pork tacos. You could do much worse for 20 picking a mid week sipper (1129 views) | | | Tasted by spicy1 on 10/13/2019 & rated 60 points: We show 44 vintages of this wine on CT--by far the most I remember seeing, so it must normally be a well made wine. Not sure of the ownership over those 44 years. Anyhow, I am not showing this as "flawed" since it didn't taste corked. It was just all around poor. On night two, with no improvement, I poured 2/3 of the bottle down the sink. Thin, acidic, not much fruit--no redeeming qualities. I can only guess it was handled poorly in the distribution chain. Some reviewers don't think that is the responsibility of the winery but the winery selects the distributor so I pretty much rate um as I taste them. (1285 views) | | | Tasted by Bnelson29 on 8/10/2019: Bordeaux Glass
Leslee: One of the best built Cabernets in the market for this price point. Lots of red fruit here. Cherry, strawberry + raspberry. (1268 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Alexander Valley Vineyards Producer website
Alexander Valley Vineyards is owned and operated by the Harry Wetzel family. Founded in 1975, it is located on Cyrus Alexander's old homestead.
The Wetzel Family Estate now grows fourteen grape varieties, on diverse sites stretching from the banks of the Russian River up onto the hillsides. Each grape variety is matched to a specific soil type and exposure. Vineyard Manager Mark Houser and Winemaker Kevin Hall work as a team to maximize fruit flavor in the vineyard and to create balanced wines that capture the grapes’ varietal characteristics. Hank Wetzel oversees the vineyard and winery operations, and his wife Linda continues to oversee administration. Now the third generation of Wetzels has joined the winery. Harry Wetzel, IV is assistant winemaker while younger brother Robert is the National Sales Manager.
Alexander Valley Vineyards produces 100,000 cases annually, 17 varietal wines and proprietary blends. Seventy-five percent of AVV’s production is red wine. Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon constitute roughly half of total production. Other varietals include Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Gewurztraminer, Syrah, Sangiovese, Viognier, and Cabernet Franc.Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountyAlexander Valley Alexander Valley Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia
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