Story After purchasing the historic Cyrus Alexander homestead, Harry and Maggie Wetzel strived to create a thriving agricultural lifestyle on the property. They raised their children along with their vines in Alexander Valley, providing inspiration and encouragement as they developed the estate together. Decades later, the fourth generation of their family is growing up amongst vineyards and next door to the working winery that is known around the world as “AVV”. You could call it a family tradition. We’d be inclined to agree.
Timeline 1961 1962 1963 1963 1965 1966 1968 1969 1972 1973 1975 1975 1976 1978 1979 1984 1985 1993 1995 1997 1998 2002 2008 2010 2011 2013 2013 2015 2016 2016 2018 2018 2019 2019 2020 2021 2021 2024 2024 1961: Jet aircraft played a crucial role at AVV While he was Chairman of the Garrett Corporation, Harry and Maggie traveled the world and visited many of the great wine regions. Those trips convinced them that the Alexander Valley had the same potential. When Pacific Southwest Airlines dropped their fares from $35 to $11.49, flying from Southern California for the family of six became affordable and Harry decided that making a purchase in Sonoma County was possible. He later wrote: “If it hadn’t been for that I don’t think I would have bothered. Of course the travel was the least expensive thing.” 1962: Purchased first section of land from Alexander heirs “In the summer of 1962 Russ Green told me about a property which had been inhabited by a woman in her nineties, whose heirs did not want to keep it. That winter he called and told me he had a 24 hour option on the property and did we want to buy it with them? We slept on it and in the morning agreed to buy. We had never set foot on the land.” –Harry Wetzel 1963: Children in tow, Maggie Wetzel arrives at the newly purchased Alexander homestead. The house had stood empty for years, five foot weeds surrounded the boarded up front porch and steers poked their heads through the windows. 1963: Started planting vineyards Hank began learning about the vineyards as a young boy. A year later his first job was tying canes and trimming vines. He worked from 7am-4pm earning $1.50 an hour. The real crew made fun of him, but he stuck with it. 1965: Introduced trellising to the region The stakes were placed 8’ apart and rows were 12’ wide – 454 vines per acre. Today, we’ve reduced the spacing to 4’ apart and rows are 6’ wide – vine density ranges from 800 – 1500 vines per acre with less yield per vine, but more yield per acre. 1966: Grafting Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc, Riesling & Gewürztraminer. “Newly planted grapestock is being budded to variety this month and all day long the crew, skilled and patient, move from vine to vine on their knees. They have let each child have a try at budding – it looks so easy and makes us all at once so clumsy.” –Maggie Wetzel 1968: Bottling our first Cabernet On Memorial Day the adobe was converted from barrel aging room to bottling line. This was a family project and everyone learned as they went, prepping, filling bottles, corking the wines and applying the labels. “We bottled our first Cabernet — two fifty gallon barrels. It really is surprisingly good.” –Maggie Wetzel 1969: Hank is interested in making this his life’s work After working on the property and interning at another winery, Hank enrolls at UC Davis in the Fermentation Science program. 1972: Moved Alexander Valley schoolhouse “We have succeeded in persuading Mrs. Goodyear, a neighbor, to let us have the 1868 Alexander Valley one room schoolhouse and it has been moved to a slight rise near a huge oak tree, where one day it will be surrounded by vineyard. The process of restoration has begun …” –Maggie Wetzel 1973: Hank introduces Linda to the home bottling line She jumps right in and has never stopped. 1975: Winery Construction “There is one other bold and exciting development to record. After a year of legal work, plans made … we have bids out to build a small winery at the foot of our cemetery hill. Hank will supervise the building process, be the winemaker …” –Maggie Wetzel 1975: Hank and Linda Wetzel begin Alexander Valley Vineyards The first gondola of Chardonnay grapes clattered up, Hank pushed the green plastic button to start the machines. Nothing happened. “It took half a day to get the first gondola crushed, I was totally devastated.” –Hank Wetzel 1976: Second harvest Everyone jokes that ‘at least it’s not last year’. Wine world takes notice of the region after The Judgement of Paris Tasting, in which California Chardonnay, grown in the Alexander Valley, won over the French judges. Glowing reviews of AVV 1975 Chardonnay by the press help to put AVV on the map. 1978: Sin Zin – first vintage A large second crop of Zinfandel and a family meal led to the decision to make a little homemade wine. Sin Zin gains a cult following. 1979: Katie Wetzel joins AVV She takes on sales and marketing for the growing family business. Traveling across the country, Katie poured our wines and educated wine lovers everywhere about Sonoma County, Alexander Valley and AVV. 1984: Alexander Valley is recognized as an AVA Hank Wetzel leads the committee that took the region to appellation status as a recognized American Viticultural Area. 1985: Winery expansion Tasting room, offices, permanent bottling line, barrel aging space and lab. 1993: Phylloxera strikes The silver lining of phylloxera was an opportunity to revitalize the 130 acres of estate vineyards. We changed vine density, row orientation, clonal selection and varietals, and finished replanting in 2009. This began our focus on the varietals best suited for the area; Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Merlot. 1995: CYRUS – first vintage The inaugural vintage of CYRUS marked 20 years at AVV. Honoring the valley namesake, this wine is a celebration of estate grown grapes, focused winemaking, extensive barrel aging and Alexander Valley. 1997: Construction begins on underground caves 7,000 square feet of naturally cooled underground barrel aging space for AVV’s growing production. 1998: Kevin Hall joins AVV Six months later he was appointed Winemaker, a position he still holds today. 2002: Third generation officially working AVV hires sales team to grow sales across the country. After growing up on the property, Harry Wetzel, IV and Robert Wetzel join AVV. 2008: Harry and Maggie Wetzel pass away Both are laid to rest in the family cemetery overlooking the land they loved. 2010: Certified Sonoma Green Business Certification recognizes AVV as an environmental leader that conserves resources, minimizes waste and prevents pollution. 2011: Organic Cabernet Vineyard Taking steps to preserve the property for future generations, AVV received certification for farming a small single vineyard organically. 2013: Winery expands again Continuing to grow, we built a second crush pad to segregate white and red grapes. 2013: Giving back to the communities that have helped make AVV a success CYRUS is named Grand Champion & Best of Show at Rodeo Uncorked! in Houston, Texas for an unbelievable third time. Our 6 liter bottle sells for a record $215,000. The total raised for charity at this event by CYRUS is now over $465,000! 2015: Celebrating 40 years of winemaking and decades on the property We are still family owned and operated; today the third and fourth generations are continuing the traditions established by Harry and Maggie Wetzel over 50 years ago on the family estate. 2016: New land, continuing family farming John, Katie and Hank are actively farming their newest vineyard themselves. The family business is growing with this 59 acre purchase across the river from AVV. 2016: Congressional recognition for AVV! We renew our Sonoma Green Business certification. AVV’s dedication to environmentally sound business practices is recognized by Congress. 2018: International acclaim for sustainable winegrowing Harry Wetzel accepts the 2018 International Award of Excellence in Sustainable Winegrowing from the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. The award was based on the winery’s on-going sustainable programs that address the three elements of sustainability: environmental, economic, social – and the taste of our organically grown Cabernet Sauvignon. 2018: Kevin Hall named Sonoma Winemaker of the Year Kevin Hall, winemaker at AVV, is honored at the 6th Wine, Beer + Spirits Industry Awards and is named Sonoma Winemaker of the Year. Kevin has helped Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley appellation rise to prominence and just completed his 21st crush in 2018 at AVV. 2019: Growing again We began construction on our business office re-model, more space is needed to house our growing staff. We moved into this space in 1985, prior to that it was our tasting room. 2019: Committed to sustainability We’re formally recognizing our commitment to sustainable farming by being approved to add the Sonoma County Sustainably Farmed Grapes logo to our wine labels. Each year more wines will be bottled with the new label, assuring consumers that our wines are produced in an environmentally friendly way by passionate stewards of the land. 2020: CYRUS – Grand Champion HLSR For a record fourth time, CYRUS has been awarded top honors at the Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition held by the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. Over 2,600 wines from 877 different brands were tasted blind by judges, at the end of three days only one wine was named the best: CYRUS 2014. Over the years CYRUS has contributed over $750,000 through the Champion Wine Auction and other rodeo activities towards scholarships for Texas youth. 2021: Another cave expansion We are once again expanding underground, digging our fourth cave. Construction began in September, when completed we’ll have about an acre of naturally cooled underground barrel storage and aging space. 2021: Appointed our new Vineyard Manager We’re excited to announce the appointment of our fourth Vineyard Manager, Isaul Macias, known to all as “Junior.” Junior grew up on the property and is like another family member, as his Dad, Isaul, has worked for us since 1978. He credits his dad’s encyclopedic knowledge of the property and the benefits of working with our three prior Vineyard Managers as invaluable experiences. 2024: Cave expansion is complete! Our fourth cave expansion is finished. AVV is home to one acre of naturally cooled, underground barrel aging spaces – one of the country’s largest wine caves. This project exemplifies the Wetzel Family’s continued commitment to producing hand-crafted estate wines. 2024: Historic 50th Harvest The first load of grapes arrived at our crushpad on August 28, beginning our 50th harvest. AVV founders Hank & Linda Wetzel eagerly awaited the arrival, much as they did in 1975.
