As you all know, last week, we took you on a “pilgrimage” to the large, but prestigious wine mecca of Sonoma County (home to the even more prestigious Alexander Valley AVA).
One of the highlights of our extremely wholesome “adventure” was our visit to the aptly named Alexander Valley Vineyards, where we met with owner and brand ambassador at AVV, Katie Wetzel Murphy. Katie was generous enough to give us a full tour of the facilities, while enduring over an hour of our rambling asinine questions about everything from the estate itself to the impact of climate change and the politics of the industry. We’ll dive into that in a mome, but first, here’s a little background on Alexander Valley Vineyards…
ALEXANDER VALLEY VINEYARDS
Alexander Valley Vineyards, situated in the heart of Northern Sonoma County, boasts a rich history deeply rooted in the region's winemaking tradition. The winery's story began in 1962 when the Wetzel family purchased the original property from the granddaughter of Cyrus Alexander (THE MAN AFTER WHOMST THE ESTEEMED ALEXANDER VALLEY AVA IS NAMED).
“I like to say one too many martinis is the reason we're here”
The estate holds immense historical value, featuring beautifully restored buildings constructed by Cyrus Alexander himself. A cemetery atop the hill serves as the final resting place for Cyrus Alexander, his wife Rufina, and several of their family members, further cementing the property's historical importance. The Wetzels began planting grapes in the mid-1960s, laying the foundation for what would become a thriving winery. In 1975, following the viticultural education of Hank Wetzel (Katie’s brother) at UC Davis and experience at various wineries, Alexander Valley Vineyards (AVV) was officially established. While a senior at UC Davis in 1974, Hank Wetzel created a plan for a small winery for his senior project, serving as the foundational blueprint for AVV.
TP: So did your family have any involvement in the wine business back in So-Cal before they bought the property here?
Katie: No, my dad was in the aerospace business, they had friends up here and this property came up for sale. I like to say one too many martinis is the reason we're here, and then he went and got interested in it, and we all got interested in it.
TP: And when did you “get the bug” so to speak?
Katie: Well, the thing about the wine industry, especially for a small to medium-sized winery, is it's never boring and you're doing everything from production, farming, finance, sales, chemistry - everything. I do a lot more strategic planning now. My two nephews and our winemaker Kevin, the three of them kind of oversee most of what's happening day-to-day. But that's what makes it interesting is that there's always something new to discover, there's always something changing and it's not it's not always the same product, right?
Initially, AVV focused on Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Riesling. However, their vineyards boast a diverse array of varieties, including Chenin Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Over time, Alexander Valley gained renown for its Cabernet and red Bordeaux varietals, prompting the winery to specialize in those wines. Today, their portfolio includes a range of wines, from widely available estate grown varietal wines, to high-end reserve wines, and Cyrus, their premium Bordeaux blend.
As a family-owned and operated winery, Alexander Valley Vineyards continues to uphold its legacy of producing exceptional wines that reflect the unique terroir of Northern Sonoma County. Their dedication to preserving the region's winemaking heritage while embracing modern techniques (LIKE ME!) has solidified their position as a cornerstone of the Alexander Valley wine community and AVV continues to produce wines of unprecedented quality that are widely accessible at very affordable price points.
NEATO! Let’s dive into our chat with Katie…
A CHAT WITH KATIE WETZEL MURPHY
“Right now it's really hard for small vineyard owners to succeed or even exist.”
One of the things that inspired our visit and that prompted us to reach out to AVV about an interview was how impressed we are by the consistent quality of the Alexander Valley Vineyards Estate Cab, which typically sells for around $20 in retail and is widely available in grocery stores across the country. We’ve found that even at that price point, mass market California reds are often rather low quality and taste manipulated. (Yes, we’re aware we’ve beaten you over the heads with this gripe of ours). We’ve guessed at the underlying causes of that issue in the past, but given that AVV stands apart, we wanted to ask Katie for some insight into how they do it.
NOTE: These excerpts from our conversation have been edited and sometimes paraphrased for clarity and space
Katie: Wellthe land was something like $500-$1000 an acre back in 1962, so that helps. And then in ‘69 and again around ‘82 were the three big vineyard purchases we made. So you know, we've had our land a long time, we're not paying $100,000 an acre for it. That's a big part of it. We also want to be competitive, have a foot in that door for almost everywhere.
TP: Yeah I mean that was sort of what we suspected, I know that's one of the reasons that a lot of these producers in the old world where they have these multi -generational estates, they don't have this constant battle to be paying off the land or whatever. I mean, I've heard of a lot of billionaires like to, for fun, buy vineyards in Napa and then they're shocked when they don't make any money. Seems like the only solution is to jack up the prices to a ridiculous level.
Katie: Well I also think right now it's really hard for small vineyard owners to succeed or even exist. You know, where we are the way we do it, for our vineyards (*the 9 acres of vineyards on Katie and her husband’s property, not the AVV estate), my husband does almost everything. But if you have a small three or four acre vineyard, and you don't want to do that all yourself, no vineyard manager wants to take it on for a price that is less than outrageous because it takes so much to get people there and get bodies there.
After reading a compelling article from Tom Wark (who has a Substack about all things alcohol, for those of you interested) about the three-tiered system, we thought it would be interesting to ask Katie what her thoughts on it were, especially in the context of the wine industry.
Katie: Cecil De Loach used to say, the three-tier system has been very good to me, and to all of us. I don't want to change it at all. I think most of what I've seen in pressure on the three-tier system and press recently comes from craft distillers, not craft wineries. Because craft wineries have been working for decades to be able to ship to almost every state to individuals. Craft distillers don't have that luxury yet because they started working on this five years ago on the coattails of what the wine industry has done, and it's not the same thing. So to be politically correct, I would say for most of the wine industry, the three-tier system and direct shipping in most states that has been allowed and worked on over the last 20 years works very well. But small distillers can't ship directly to individuals. So that's where the issue seems to come in more. Now in California, wine is kind of different because you don't need to have a distributor in California. I can sell to a store or a grocery store or a restaurant directly without a distributor. I have to, of course, then ship it, and I have to collect the money and invoice for it. And so that has historically been a set-aside for the wine industry here. I think for some wineries that are small and medium-sized and very well-run, they make that work very well. Half of them that are down the road here only sell in California. Don't sell to any retailers. It's restaurant and their mail order and wine club. And the restaurants they deal with are longtime customers that have carried their wine a long time in the Bay Area, and they just ship directly to them. So I think that system works very well for the wine industry, frankly.
TP: Okay, because I know, like, one of my buddies works over at Ridge, and he was talking about how one of the things that is a little bit trickier to navigate is figuring out when you're shipping out of state. Because if a wholesaler offers it, you can't sell directly to retailers, right?
Katie: Not to retailers, but to individuals, you can. So if people walk in and want to order, you can ship. There's, I think, three or four states you can't ship to. Now, I’ll have to pay a fee and I might have to pay taxes, and then they have to pay shipping. So if it's a wine that's available where they live, it doesn't make sense for them to ship it from here, usually, or it doesn't make financial sense. But we usually are able to, you know, I view a tasting room as 50% public relations and 50% sales. If people come in here and have a good experience, they go back to Cleveland or New Jersey or Austin, and remember they were here and buy it or order it the next time they see it. It's a long game to build a clientele and a reputation that people will continue to buy your wine.
Another issue that we were interested in talking to Katie about was how climate change might be impacting things in Sonoma. In places like Bordeaux, France, for example, it has had a significant impact in recent years, leading to warmer, drier growing seasons, earlier harvests, and wines with higher ABV, just to name a few. It has even prompted long standing regulations on things like permitted varietals to change. Of course, those sorts of strict regional regulations are not as pervasive here in the US, but impacts on the growing season and general climate are impervious to our humble little laws.
TP: Has climate change had any noticeable impact on the operations here or affected the growing season at all?
Katie: The biggest change I’ve noticed would have to be the fires. It used to be much less frequent and much less impactful, but now it happens more often and it’s a lot less predictable, with risk of major fires starting earlier in the year than in the past. It can destroy entire vineyards and facilities. In 2019, for example, we had a lot of smaller buildings that burned, but we had really good support from fire brigades that were here from all over that saved all the main buildings. Still we lost a couple wood sheds and a greenhouse and some outbuildings.
TP: Were any of the wines affected in 2019?
Katie: Not from the fires, they were probably more affected by not having power for 10 days, that was a bigger issue in 2019. We were all done harvesting because we had to evacuate, I want to say it was like the 26th of October or 25th, something like that. So we were done with harvest and everything was pretty much just sitting in tanks, but you can't use a pump and you can't bottle — you can't do anything without some electricity.
Hopefully the climatic trajectory we are on doesn’t stymie our insatiable palates too much. In the meantime, we all have to do our part to drink as much of that sweet sweet juice as possible before it’s gone, while also chipping in on the ole’ climate change front however we can. Namaste.
PLAN YOUR VISIT
We talked with Katie about a ton of other stuff, including the winemaking process and the vineyards as we toured the estate, but a lot of that information is best processed when on-site and experiencing the wines first hand. So we’ll let you dig deeper into that when you check out AVV for yourself (though of course, you can DM or comment if there’s anything you want to know and we’ll do our best to answer).
If you want to check it our yourself (YOU DO, TRUST US), you can book tastings here!
Palate: High tannin, high acidity, full body, long finish
Incredible value at under $40, with classic Barolo notes of roses and cherry, with layers of dried herbs, orange peel, leather, cocoa and earth. Long finish, delicious wine. Gittt it while it’s hot.
One too many martinis...I'm a big fan of rolling the dice with this method of decision making...whether good or bad, it's gonna be epic and memorable!
What a wonderful interview! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I've never felt particularly drawn to California...but I now find myself wanting to visit Alexander Valley and AVV specifically. It's always impressive when wineries can deliver quality and satisfaction at comfortable price points. And hearing Katie's thoughts on the 3 tier system is so interesting (I've always found it such a complicated choice to keep using).
Weirdly enough, despite feeling distanced from Cali, I think there are quite a few similarities between California and the Western Cape...a recent fire in Hermanus (in the middle of winter!!) is another reminder that fires are a real threat.
Also...look at your sweet, handsome faces!!! Thanks for the great read!
It's inteesting - I may not fully understand the three-tiered system, even though I also subscribe to Tom! But I think it's the case that retailers can't get bottles from anyone BUT wholesalers? So wineries can sell DTC, but not directly to retailers? At the very least, there are out-of-state retailers that can't go around wholesalers. So this is why I could never create a wine shop with a section for different US States - there aren't enough large producers in NY, Virginia, Texas, Michigan, Idaho, etc. The best you can do is have a few Oregon and Washintong brands alongside Cali big brands. And that really is a tragedy. But more for retaiers and consumers (who have to pay for shipping per winery they want to try) than for the wineries themselves, who (correctly or not) feel like DTC is maybe good enough.
One too many martinis...I'm a big fan of rolling the dice with this method of decision making...whether good or bad, it's gonna be epic and memorable!
What a wonderful interview! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I've never felt particularly drawn to California...but I now find myself wanting to visit Alexander Valley and AVV specifically. It's always impressive when wineries can deliver quality and satisfaction at comfortable price points. And hearing Katie's thoughts on the 3 tier system is so interesting (I've always found it such a complicated choice to keep using).
Weirdly enough, despite feeling distanced from Cali, I think there are quite a few similarities between California and the Western Cape...a recent fire in Hermanus (in the middle of winter!!) is another reminder that fires are a real threat.
Also...look at your sweet, handsome faces!!! Thanks for the great read!
It's inteesting - I may not fully understand the three-tiered system, even though I also subscribe to Tom! But I think it's the case that retailers can't get bottles from anyone BUT wholesalers? So wineries can sell DTC, but not directly to retailers? At the very least, there are out-of-state retailers that can't go around wholesalers. So this is why I could never create a wine shop with a section for different US States - there aren't enough large producers in NY, Virginia, Texas, Michigan, Idaho, etc. The best you can do is have a few Oregon and Washintong brands alongside Cali big brands. And that really is a tragedy. But more for retaiers and consumers (who have to pay for shipping per winery they want to try) than for the wineries themselves, who (correctly or not) feel like DTC is maybe good enough.