Stonestreet Estate Vineyards

Stonestreet Estate farms nearly 5,500 acres of mountain terrain in the Mayacamas range above Alexander Valley, one of the largest single estate holdings in Sonoma County. The high-elevation sites produce Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay of considerable structure and longevity, shaped by volcanic and sedimentary soils and dramatic diurnal temperature swings. The Bear Point and Christopher's Vineyard single-vineyard bottlings are the most serious expressions in the portfolio. The estate is part of the Jackson Family wines portfolio but operated independently.

Jess Stonestreet Jackson and Barbara Banke established the Alexander Mountain Estate in 1995 as a deliberate test of what California winegrowing could do at altitude. The property rises from the valley floor into the western flank of the Mayacamas, and only a small fraction of it is farmed: nearly 750 acres of vines. Across peaks, valleys, ledges, and ridges, 170 distinct micro-vineyards sit at elevations between 400 and 2,400 feet, planted in 26 different soil types. The focus is Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, with small amounts of Sauvignon Blanc, and the character is unmistakable: concentrated, structured, built by the altitude and the rocky ground. The tasting room on Highway 128 pours a four-wine mountain flight daily, each wine from a different vineyard on the mountain, served with small bites; the Mountain Excursion, offered in the morning and early afternoon, takes up to eight guests on a private guided drive up into the vineyards and tastes the wines where they were grown.