The Pocket Peak AVA is a proposed American Viticultural Area (AVA) in the eastern highlands of the Alexander Valley AVA in northern Sonoma County, California.

The petition to establish Pocket Peak as a new American Viticultural Area was filed in February 2022 and deemed perfected by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on May 19, 2022.

Read the official press release here.

The total acreage of the proposed Pocket Peak AVA is 30,755 acres, with approximately 2,915 acres planted to vine.

The proposed Pocket Peak AVA is located in the foothills of Pocket Peak, Geyser Peak, and Black Mountain, overlooking the base of the Alexander Valley and located entirely within the Alexander Valley AVA. The proposed AVA is entirely within the Northern Sonoma and North Coast AVAs.

Running along the steeper terrain east of the Alexander Valley in a northwest-southeast orientation, the area is located east of the communities of Cloverdale, Asti, and Geyserville. The proposed AVA boundary runs south from Big Sulphur Creek, shares the eastern boundaries of the Alexander Valley and Northern Sonoma AVAs, runs adjacent to the Knights Valley AVA in the east, then follows the approximate distinction in soils, slopes, and climate between the valley and highland locations to the south and west.

The area includes the highlands east of the base of Alexander Valley, including Alden Vineyards (formerly Chestnut Springs Vineyards), Alexander Mountain Estate (formerly Gauer Ranch), Rock Rise Vineyard (Ferrari-Carano), Skipstone Vineyard, and smaller vineyards located above the valley east of River Road.

View the proposed boundary map here.

The proposed Pocket Peak AVA shares common characteristics with the greater Alexander Valley AVA, but the following features distinguish it:

Topography: Slopes in the Pocket Peak area consistently exceed 10 percent grade and are more commonly above 20 percent. By comparison, slopes at the base of the Alexander Valley are generally below 10 percent, with slopes more commonly below 5 percent. View the slope map here.

Climate: Due to differences in marine inversion and air drainage, the Pocket Peak area is generally warmer.

Precipitation: Pocket Peak receives more precipitation.

Soils: Soils are more varied within the proposed AVA than on the base of the valley, where the soils are generally alluvial in nature.

The Pocket Peak area is also distinguished from highland areas to the northwest (within Alexander Valley AVA), east (outside of the Alexander Valley AVA), and southeast (Knights Valley AVA) by a combination of temperature, moisture, slope aspect (direction), name recognition, and commonality of soil types..

A thorough study completed in March 2019 looked at both the homogeneous characteristics that define the viticultural area and the characteristics that distinguish the area from the Alexander Valley and higher elevations farther to the east. The study considered characteristics that are usually necessary to establish an AVA including topography, soils, climate, watershed, and current viticulture, and compared them to areas surrounding the Pocket Peak area. The determination from that study was that the area’s unique characteristics support the establishment of a new Pocket Peak AVA.

Pocket Peak is a summit of 2,256 feet above sea level along the Mayacamas Mountains, approximately 1.25 miles east of the proposed Pocket Peak AVA. It is one of three peaks commonly associated with the eastern Alexander Valley highlands, along with Geyser Peak and Black Mountain.

Pocket Peak is identified by the United States Geographical Survey (USGS) Board on Geographic Names and is the only feature with this name in the BGN database. By comparison, both Geyser Peak and Black Mountain have widespread usage and do not allow for specific identification of the proposed area.

The proposed AVA encompasses Pocket Ranch and most of Pocket Ranch Road, and the October 2017 fire in the area was named the Pocket Fire by state and local agencies. With careful consideration to other nearby mountain names and businesses, the Pocket Peak name was selected for its ability to distinguish the area from other viticultural districts in the region and from the rest of the Alexander Valley AVA, while still holding association with the greater Alexander Valley.

Winegrowers who support and have vineyards within the proposed Pocket Peak area include:

• Jesse Katz, Founder & Winemaker, Aperture Cellars

• Courtney Foley, Executive Vice President & Second-Generation Vintner, Foley Family Wines

• JW Reynoso, Vice President, Reynoso Family Vineyards

• Tom Klein, Proprietor, Rodney Strong Vineyards

• Brian Ball, General Manager, Skipstone

• Christopher Jackson, Second-Generation Proprietor, Stonestreet Estate Vineyards

• Ken Wilson, Owner, Wilson Artisan Wineries

Much of the Pocket Peak area was omitted from the original Alexander Valley AVA created in 1984 (T.D. ATF-187). After holding a public comment period and public hearing in 1983, ATF created the Alexander Valley AVA based on one of two competing petitions, both received in 1981. However, ATF revised the proposed boundaries outlined in the petition to exclude some mountainous areas found in the eastern highlands of the AVA and did not hold a separate public comment period or public hearing regarding the boundary revisions. The current eastern boundaries were established in subsequent petitions as modifications to the existing boundaries (27 CFR Part 9 §9.53) in 1990 (T.D. ATF-300).

The Pocket Peak AVA exists entirely within the Alexander Valley AVA. It shares many common characteristics with the region and would exist as a sub-AVA of the Alexander Valley AVA. This sub-region recognizes distinctions between the base of the valley and the eastern highlands of Alexander Valley, in relation to the differences in soil, elevation, slope, climate, temperature, and precipitation.

The Pocket Peak AVA needs to exist:

• To acknowledge the diversity that exists within the Alexander Valley AVA.

• To recognize the terroir differences among the high elevation vineyards of the eastern highlands from the greater Alexander Valley AVA.

• To speak to the sub-regions of Alexander Valley with greater precision and specificity.

The primary varieties grown in the Pocket Peak AVA are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Zinfandel, Petit Verdot, along with limited plantings of alternative varieties.

The petition to establish Pocket Peak as a new American Viticultural Area was filed in February 2022 and deemed perfected by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) on May 19, 2022.