April 21, 2026
Bud break finished across the Cabernet. The Petit Verdot, true to form, is still asleep — it always makes me wait. Gravel's draining well after the late rain.
2026 Vintage
Alexander Valley Bordeaux Blend
Alexander Valley, USA
Varietals
Cabernet Sauvignon · Petit Verdot · Merlot
Winemaker
Revealed on enrollment
Enrollment
130 of 220 spots filled
About this Crew
Revealed on enrollment
Winemaker
An Alexander Valley estate of 24 acres — Bordeaux varieties on the alluvial benchland east of the Russian River, gravel over clay loam, with each variety picked and fermented on its own clock. The winemaker's name is shared with the Crew on enrollment; until then the platform stands behind the data, the track record, and the samples.
The history.
The benchland was planted in 1979, some of the earliest Cabernet east of the river. Gravel over clay loam, deep alluvial fans pushed down from the hills. It was farmed for grapes for thirty years before the estate bottled under its own name. I came on in 2016; same benches, same gravel.
What this vintage is showing so far.
“Alexander Valley runs warmer than the river bench by a few degrees and the fruit shows it — riper tannin, rounder mid-palate. April was mild. The Petit Verdot always lags two weeks behind the Cabernet, so I farm it on its own clock.”
— the winemaker, updated this month
Philosophy.
I build the blend in the vineyard, not the lab. Each variety gets its own pick, its own ferment, its own barrel lot, and then we taste components and decide. Petit Verdot is the spice — a little goes a long way and too much swallows the Cabernet.
The year ahead
Every shipment, every sample, every pick.
Real dates as they're known. Updated as the vintage progresses.
May 2026
Flowering
Set window, thinning decisions block by block.
August 2026
Verijuice ships
Green Cabernet juice — bracing and grassy.
Late September 2026
Pick expected
Cabernet first, Petit Verdot two weeks later.
December 2026
Post-ferment sample
Component wines, separate by variety.
April 2027
First barrel sample
French oak, a mix of new and second-fill.
September 2027
Blend trial
Crew tastes the three components and votes the assembly.
March 2028
Bottling
After roughly 16 months in barrel.
June 2028
Wine arrives
Alexander Valley Bordeaux Blend, 2026.
May 2026
Flowering
Set window, thinning decisions block by block.
August 2026
Verijuice ships
Green Cabernet juice — bracing and grassy.
Late September 2026
Pick expected
Cabernet first, Petit Verdot two weeks later.
December 2026
Post-ferment sample
Component wines, separate by variety.
April 2027
First barrel sample
French oak, a mix of new and second-fill.
September 2027
Blend trial
Crew tastes the three components and votes the assembly.
March 2028
Bottling
After roughly 16 months in barrel.
June 2028
Wine arrives
Alexander Valley Bordeaux Blend, 2026.
Meet the current Crew
27
members
18
cities
6
countries represented
8 yrs
average tenure in wine
No individual profiles — privacy matters inside the Crew. You'll meet each other once you're in.
How it's priced
By the vine.
The winemaker sets the price per vine. Buy as few as 5 — choose how many in the next step. Your bottles are allocated pro-rata to your vines.
Alexander Valley Bordeaux Blend
Priced by the vine · 5-vine minimum
$127 / vine
From $635 · 5 vines · USD
- A share of the lot, by the vine (5-vine minimum)
- Samples across the season: verijuice, post-ferment, barrel, finished wine
- A vote at every fork — pick date, oak, where the blend lands
- Your bottles at release, allocated pro-rata to your vines
- Livestream access to every moment
90 vines left
Pickup or ship
How your wine reaches you.
Swing by the tasting room when the next shipment is ready. Free. For everyone else, ship is the default and equally smooth.
Ship to my address
Standard carrier, adult signature required. Flat fee per shipment. You can switch the destination per shipment at any time.
Ships to: US
Choose at signup. Switch per shipment anytime.
Recent updates
From the rows.
April 4, 2026
Cover crop disked in this week. We seeded a heavier legume mix on the clay parcels to fix nitrogen — those rows have always run a little lean.
March 25, 2026
27 of you on the Crew now. Welcome. The blend trial next year is the one to mark on your calendar — that's the vote that decides how much Petit Verdot spice the wine carries.
Join this Crew.
One year of your life, inside one vineyard's year. You'll follow the winemaker from bud break to bottle.