Legacy Wines

Alexander Mountain Estate

Jess Jackson purchased this rugged 5,100-acre site in the Mayacamas Mountain Range, at Alexander Valley's eastern edge in 1995. With more than 24 different soil types, countless exposures, and growing areas that extend from 400 to 2,400 feet above sea level, the terrain does not make winegrowing easy – but easy was never the goal. Here, the vines must struggle to survive, rooting deep for water and nutrients the thin topsoil cannot provide.

The Chardonnay and Bordeaux varieties chosen for Legacy represent the pinnacle of mountain fruit, both literally and figuratively. The vines are perched above the fog line at the very top of the estate and our renowned Upper Barn Chardonnay vineyard also benefits from sunny, fog-free conditions at 1,800 feet above sea level. Year after year, the power and concentration from these high-elevation family vineyards provide the heart of our Legacy.

Jimtown Vineyard 

The tiny hamlet known as Jimtown was named for James Patrick, who founded a general store and post office along Highway 128 in the 1890s. Not far from that store at the base of the Mayacamas Mountains, sits a small hillside block of Cabernet Sauvignon with uncommon aromatics and character. Winemaker Graham Weerts discovered these exceptional vines entirely by chance, tasting some berries on his way to crush the harvest from neighboring sites. His intuition proved right, and this Jimtown block now delivers the rich Cabernet core for the Legacy Red Wine.

Field Stone Vineyard

The gnarled, ancient vines of the Field Stone estate vineyards have witnessed Alexander Valley’s winemaking history for more than 120 years. A prominent local family planted the Petite Sirah block in these stony soils in 1894. More than 70 years later, renowned viticulturalist Andrè Tchelistcheff consulted on the selection and cultivation of heritage clones of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that still thrive there today. One of Bordeaux’s greatest Right Bank châteaux attempted to buy the vineyards in the mid-1980s, but Barbara Banke ultimately succeeded in 2016 – securing this historic site for a new chapter of Legacy.